uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by justracing

In my opinion Ben Edwards is head and shoulders above most who have taken up the microphone. His commentary right the way back to Champ cars, is always well informed, generally unbiased and he has the ability to "read" the race as it progresses without becoming too excitable.

I agree except for one key word.... Change is for was, head and shoulders above.

Back in his champ car Eurosport days he was one of the best, he just isn't the same now.

[BSchneiderFan]

I like Ben Edwards. He's always seemed clear and concise, as well as well-informed, and he and DC obviously get on well together. I hope he moves across from the BBC. Put those two together with Lee MacKenzie and Gary Anderson and you'd have a fantastic line-up.

[AdrianM]

Gary Anderson suffers from grumpy old man syndrome too much these days. Always moaning on about the bad rather than the good.

Hopefully they'll get Ben Edwards on board. For me the commentator is what makes or breaks F1 coverage. I couldn't give a monkeys about the endless build-up and post-race analysis with all the talking heads it's the race that matters.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Gary Anderson suffers from grumpy old man syndrome too much these days. Always moaning on about the bad rather than the good.

You mean he's a motorsport fan?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Adam43

You mean he's a motorsport fan?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not wanting to state the obvious but gaming is about beating your opponent, whether that's another gamer or AI in the game. So yes, they do know the players, coaches etc. but in the context of the game, otherwise in the real world, they aren't that bothered.

I've had my son staying with me for the last couple of days and I asked him about motorsport and motorsport games and how popular both are within his peer group.

He said he and his pals basically don't find motorsport entertaining. The cars effectively go round and round. I said that there's much more to it than that, to which he agreed but that still doesn't change the initial perception.

When I asked about games, he said that you have to think on your feet and that's what he likes about them. I said the same thing applies if you're playing a motorsports game, particularly something like an rFactor mod, where if you want you can set the car's break balance, tyre pressure etc. He admitted he didn't know that some racing games could be that involved. Again though, he said the lack of appeal goes back to the initial perception of cars just going round and round.

I then asked him how many people in his immediate peer group at uni were interested in motorsport and he said 1 out of about 10.

I know I've only asked my son and one person isn't strictly representative of his generation but I have a gut feeling that what he told me is pretty much how many others in his generation view motorsport. If that's the case then it doesn't bode well for future TV audiences or track attendance.

I'd like to know if other parents, on 10-Tenths have had similar discussions with their children about what they think of motorsport?

It sounds like your son is a similar age to me.

The problem with motorsport is that on the television, it really is just cars going round and round.

I would suggest most of us enthusiasts had that first magical moment when everything changed, when you decided that motor racing was the best thing on the planet. Usually that happens at the track - for me, it was sitting on my dad's shoulders on the banks of Indianapolis during night-time qualifying at Le Mans 1998, and getting my sense absolutely pumelled by the sound, speed and smell. I was only 4 years old, but I still remember it clearly and will do for the rest of my life.

TV doesn't show the noise, it can't re-produce the smell, and it certainly doesn't convey the speed.

I live very close to Rockingham and mates of mine who went to the high school in Corby used to get free tickets to Formula 3, British GT and BTCC. It was always fascinating going with them for the first time - they hadn't anticipated how much it feels like another world once you're past the entry gate. All the nuances, the size of it, the sound - it was all completely new to them, despite every kid on the planet having seen at least one GP and owning a copy of Gran Turismo or Forza. They were almost angry at the fact this planet existed right on their doorstep, and nobody had told them.

I've also taken a total of 6 mates to Le Mans over the years, none of whom had ever been to a race before. I've sold the trip on the proviso that there will be lots of beer and stupidity, but what's been unanimous with all my mates is an initial burst of wonder and barrage of questions at the start of the week, which turns into a religious listening to Radio Le Mans and fierce protests at the mere suggestion of heading back to the tent before the sun's risen while the race is on.

3 of those 6 I have introduced to motor sport now watch every single Grand Prix from start to finish; one of them, in fact, probably watches more than I do if you're counting practice session. And these aren't nerdy kids who hadn't found their niche before, either - they've simply had their understanding of the subject completely transformed by their experience.

What I've learned over the years is that if you want to get someone into motor sport, there is no substitute to getting them on the spectator banking and showing them what it's all about. Secondly, the whole motor sport community, from the FIA down to your local karting club, needs to do more to get people to the circuits. The first thing I'd do would be to drop ticket prices for less fancied race meetings - my soccer team is Derby County, and seasoned fans are baulking at the thought of paying £35 for a cup game against Manchester United. That's about what Silverstone charge for the WEC. Unless you know what the WEC is, there is no way you'd spend that amount of money testing something out to see if you like it.

When motor sport first started, it was right in the heart of communities. Races were run on public roads and streets, and seeing people dice with death on your front door-step is going to grab your attention. As motor sport moved out from the towns and cities and into the countryside, the general public had to go looking for it. With the cost of attending races has risen above inflation, it is no wonder that interest in motorsport has dwindled.

Get children into race tracks, and the rest will follow. It really is that simple for me.

[BMR]

"With the cost of attending races has risen above inflation, it is no wonder that interest in motorsport has dwindled.

Get children into race tracks, and the rest will follow. It really is that simple for me."

After 5yrs or so of sitting on the sidelines (mainly because sooner rather than latter someone out there is smart enough too voice an opinion that is similar to mine &#128521 I feel compelled to agree whole heartedly to the above.
Social media, pay tv etc etc? Who cares. The future is about bums on seats as motorsport is at the top of the list when it comed to being there to truely experience it.
S'pose its really uncool for a first post to be off topic. Sorry😊

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by BMR

"With the cost of attending races has risen above inflation, it is no wonder that interest in motorsport has dwindled.

Get children into race tracks, and the rest will follow. It really is that simple for me."

After 5yrs or so of sitting on the sidelines (mainly because sooner rather than latter someone out there is smart enough too voice an opinion that is similar to mine &#128521 I feel compelled to agree whole heartedly to the above.
Social media, pay tv etc etc? Who cares. The future is about bums on seats as motorsport is at the top of the list when it comed to being there to truely experience it.
S'pose its really uncool for a first post to be off topic. Sorry😊

Well it's on-topic insofar as suggesting Sky and C4's efforts to bring in new fans are ultimately futile

Welcome to the forum!

[Paradise City]

I got interested watching F1 on the TV and I didn't have ready access to a track to see it live back then.

The cars were large and muscular and each Grand Prix came across as a major.

While, I don't personally mind how the current crop of cars look. As in they've improved over the previous incarnation of scaffolding-on-wheels; it's difficult to call them large and muscular from the pov of the TV. They look fairly underwhelming from that perspective.

I dunno if I'd engage with the sport if I was youngster now. I've made this point a few times on the Indycar forum. Great racing isn't enough - you need to have cars that the kids will want to have posters of them hung up on their bedroom wall. I don't think we have that.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I got interested watching F1 on the TV and I didn't have ready access to a track to see it live back then.

The cars were large and muscular and each Grand Prix came across as a major.

This is the main point I think. There are too many races on to many nondescript tracks. Like you I was brought up with infrequent TV coverage. I had to read newspapers to find out about the races. Notably the Daily Express was heavily into motorsport.

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I dunno if I'd engage with the sport if I was youngster now. I've made this point a few times on the Indycar forum. Great racing isn't enough - you need to have cars that the kids will want to have posters of them hung up on their bedroom wall. I don't think we have that.

Agreed.

[djinvicta]

I was hung on the picket fence at Druids (Brands Hatch) by my nappy at 2 years old watching Jim Clark/Innes Ireland and Co in Ford Galaxies trying three abreast on the approach. Hooked me!!
Good luck Channel 4. I still prefer the Sky coverage and enjoy Ted's Notebook live.

[chillibowl]

my first experiences with racing came from the TV. different time though. for sure the cars were the big draw but also the venues too as these were, for the most part, places i had never seen before. i imagine now days seeing a place like Monaco, for example, holds much less mystique as anyone can see what it looks like at anytime via the internet or movies. back before the internet age i would only see Monaco once a year and only if i was fortunate enough to either wake up in time or if no one else in the house got to our 1 TV first. so i looked forward to it and it was unique and magical really.

Originally Posted by Paradise City

..I dunno if I'd engage with the sport if I was youngster now. I've made this point a few times on the Indycar forum. Great racing isn't enough - you need to have cars that the kids will want to have posters of them hung up on their bedroom wall. I don't think we have that.

do kids still put posters up on their walls? back in the day sports and car posters were on sale everywhere....now days i cant recall the last time i even saw a poster rack in a store.

i take your point though so am wondering what the modern equivalent to posters for kids are? wallpapers for the devices?

accessibility has to be an issue here. paywalls are fine for people with disposable income but how many kids have disposable income and/or are the ones making the purchasing decisions for their households? and maybe its on in your house but is it on at your friends house as well?

kind of think this is an issue with a lot of sports now in so much as the viewing experience is a more of a solitary event rather than a social event. i would say social media is a great thing but in a kind of ironic way i can watch the sport by myself and still connect with people via a forum or twitter but basically that means its ok for me to watch it by myself. its sort of a illusion that i watch along side a wider community...back in the day it was so much more social as people were more inclined to gather together and watch together.

not sure how you can recreate that experience today.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

do kids still put posters up on their walls?

Now it would be the background on your mobile phone, or computer.

Richard

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

It sounds like your son is a similar age to me.

The problem with motorsport is that on the television, it really is just cars going round and round.

I would suggest most of us enthusiasts had that first magical moment when everything changed, when you decided that motor racing was the best thing on the planet. Usually that happens at the track - for me, it was sitting on my dad's shoulders on the banks of Indianapolis during night-time qualifying at Le Mans 1998, and getting my sense absolutely pumelled by the sound, speed and smell. I was only 4 years old, but I still remember it clearly and will do for the rest of my life.

TV doesn't show the noise, it can't re-produce the smell, and it certainly doesn't convey the speed.

I live very close to Rockingham and mates of mine who went to the high school in Corby used to get free tickets to Formula 3, British GT and BTCC. It was always fascinating going with them for the first time - they hadn't anticipated how much it feels like another world once you're past the entry gate. All the nuances, the size of it, the sound - it was all completely new to them, despite every kid on the planet having seen at least one GP and owning a copy of Gran Turismo or Forza. They were almost angry at the fact this planet existed right on their doorstep, and nobody had told them.

I've also taken a total of 6 mates to Le Mans over the years, none of whom had ever been to a race before. I've sold the trip on the proviso that there will be lots of beer and stupidity, but what's been unanimous with all my mates is an initial burst of wonder and barrage of questions at the start of the week, which turns into a religious listening to Radio Le Mans and fierce protests at the mere suggestion of heading back to the tent before the sun's risen while the race is on.

3 of those 6 I have introduced to motor sport now watch every single Grand Prix from start to finish; one of them, in fact, probably watches more than I do if you're counting practice session. And these aren't nerdy kids who hadn't found their niche before, either - they've simply had their understanding of the subject completely transformed by their experience.

What I've learned over the years is that if you want to get someone into motor sport, there is no substitute to getting them on the spectator banking and showing them what it's all about. Secondly, the whole motor sport community, from the FIA down to your local karting club, needs to do more to get people to the circuits. The first thing I'd do would be to drop ticket prices for less fancied race meetings - my soccer team is Derby County, and seasoned fans are baulking at the thought of paying £35 for a cup game against Manchester United. That's about what Silverstone charge for the WEC. Unless you know what the WEC is, there is no way you'd spend that amount of money testing something out to see if you like it.

When motor sport first started, it was right in the heart of communities. Races were run on public roads and streets, and seeing people dice with death on your front door-step is going to grab your attention. As motor sport moved out from the towns and cities and into the countryside, the general public had to go looking for it. With the cost of attending races has risen above inflation, it is no wonder that interest in motorsport has dwindled.

Get children into race tracks, and the rest will follow. It really is that simple for me.

You make some very good points.

From my own experience my interest really took off when my dad finally got round to buying a colour TV. I was watching the year's sports review on Grand Stand, which for those of you too young to remember, or who weren't around at the time, was the BBC's Saturday afternoon Flagship sports show.

This was in 1971 and they did a recap of that year's F1 season and I saw this blue car on the the screen and it was Jackie Stewart driving a Tyrrell. It was a combination of the colour and the look of the car and I was hooked. If it had been a B&W TV, I don't know if it would have made the same impact. It wouldn't be until April 1973 that I actually went to my first race.

I think one of the big problems today is overexposure. Televised races were few and far between and so were something to really looked forward too. Of course in hind sight, some of those races were be just as dull and processional as races today but the big difference was fewer were televised and so it was a special event. Even when GPs expanded to 17 races a season, each race still had something special about it. Now the calendar has increased to 20, that's only three more races, I think that's enough to do it as far as overexposure is concerned and next year it will be 21.

[VIVA GT]

My own interest in/fascination for all forms of motorsport grew out of a keen interest in cars & engineering from an early age. Being born in 1956 means I suppose that I grew up in an era where owning a car was an exciting adventure for my parents, plus we were one of the lucky families who could afford a car. Initially my interest was fuelled by what I could see on TV here in Britain, which in the 1960's was maybe a couple of Grands Prix (Monaco & The British I suppose), and then the diverse stuff shown on BBC Grandstand (rallycross, mud-plugging hillclimbing, autotests, and something strange involving army vehicles) and ITV's World of Sport (mainly rallycross). As I got older and a (slightly) stronger cyclist I could make the 8 mile journey to Mallory Park and once I had motorised transport, could go much further afield for race and rally spectating. I was in a group of 4 or so like-minded mates who would move heaven & earth to ensure we could watch something if it was on every possible weekend (and that was before we got more involved ourselves).
Sadly, I don't see that interest/passion in what we generally call the 'Youth of Today'. They (mostly) expect more instant gratification because this is what they have become accustomed to with (unrealistic) video games and suchlike. (I also think they have a much less realistic attitude towards danger thanks to these damned things that can just be re-started if things go wrong. You can't do that in real life but that is not a subject for this thread so I'll get off that particular soapbox!). They don't have the patience to wait and see what's happening as a race develops for example. This is also something I notice with my Son (22) when he sits watching some sort of TV series with us that's he's not been following. He's constantly asking questions and trying to second-guess the outcomes of things instead of patiently waiting & seeing. (Yes, you're right, it does p*** me off!).
So, unfortunately, to make 'our sport' appeal to the next generation, sadly I think we are going to have to allow it to be manipulated so that there is something happening all of the time so as to retain their interest, it won't make the racing be how we old fuddy-duddies remember it to be 'back in our day', but it could then have a future.
I think then that this will leave Endurance Racing (not just WEC) as the remaining sport for true (or proper) racing enthusiasts (old & young alike). The sort of people who don't expect or demand excitement every few seconds and are prepared to use their own brainpower to analyse what is going on, appreciate and understand the finer details of the racing, leaving all of the whizz bang circus entertainment to entertain everyone else...

[Mike Harte]

And, from a spectating point of view, it doesn't help put bums on seats if you keep holding races in places where there is little enthusiasm for motor-racing, let alone the most expensive race to promote, F1.

My passion for motorsport was founded at Brands Hatch where, on the so called Indy circuit, if you spectated at the right place, you could see the whole circuit and thus every bit of the action. Even when the GP circuit was in use, you could still see all of the Indy ciircuit which was where 2/3rds of the action took place; nearly as true still today.

Nowadays at most circuits you can only see a very limited amount of track, and to have any perception about what is happening during a race, you need to be positioned where there is also a jumbo screen. And some times, spectators take it a further step. The last time I attended the Japanese GP, after the race had finished, around a third of the spectators stayed on to watch a re-run of the race on the screens. A somewhat surreal experience; all we wanted to do was get on back to Tokyo and an near 8 hour drive beckoned.

[steve_r]

Channel 4's live races now announced:-

April 3 Bahrain (Round 2)
May 15 Spain (Round 5)
June 19 Europe/Azerbaijan (Round 8)
July 10 Britain (Round 10)
July 24 Hungary (Round 11)
August 28 Belgium (Round 13)
September 4 Italy (Round 14)
October 2 Malaysia (Round 16)
October 30 Mexico (Round 19)
November 27 Abu Dhabi (Round 21)

Apart from the British & Belgium GPs, they seem to have ended up with some of the likely mundane races. No Monaco (Iconic, but I don't suppose its going to be a classic), no Australia (season opener), no Canada, no Brazil.

Still, I think we should enjoy the free to air races while they last...

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Channel 4's live races now announced:-

April 3 Bahrain (Round 2)
May 15 Spain (Round 5)
June 19 Europe/Azerbaijan (Round 8)
July 10 Britain (Round 10)
July 24 Hungary (Round 11)
August 28 Belgium (Round 13)
September 4 Italy (Round 14)
October 2 Malaysia (Round 16)
October 30 Mexico (Round 19)
November 27 Abu Dhabi (Round 21)

What they have done is for the most part, picked the European time zone races, this will cause less disruption to their Sunday schedules
Saturday horseracing can slip onto either More4 or Film 4 during the Lunch time Qually.

To me for a first season this is a very sensible approach.

[Paulaweybridge]

The chances are that DC will be back and maybe Jake Humphrey too.

http://thejudge13.com/2015/12/22/dav...ith-channel-4/

Whoops it's already been announced and mentioned here ...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Paulaweybridge

The chances are that DC will be back and maybe Jake Humphrey too.

http://thejudge13.com/2015/12/22/dav...ith-channel-4/

Whoops it's already been announced and mentioned here ...

Did many F1 fans really lament the loss of Humphrey?!!

On here at least it was minimum 70/30 against!

[Mystery]

He's a presenter. Whatever. I don't watch very much coverage outside of five minutes either side of the race or qualifying, and I don't think we're getting much qualifying.

Personally, I think he's fine but easily avoided if he's not your thing.

[NaBUru38]

Monza and Mexico are far from mundane.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Did many F1 fans really lament the loss of Humphrey?!!

On here at least it was minimum 70/30 against!

I would stick that stat the other way. He was definitely popular here. I think people had somewhat low expectations having a new guy with a children's TV background hosting, and he did a really good job.

Didn't bat above his stations, very warm, and embraced his role.

I for one would be happy to have Jake back.

Selby

[S griffin]

He's definitely a genuine fan of F1 as well as a professional sports anchor

[Paradise City]

Humphrey is the new breed of 'one of the lads' kinda broadcaster. I prefer the old school style but I don't mind the guy either.

I'm kinda more interested in the movements of Eddie Jordan at this stage.

I presume Anderson won't return to broadcasting.