Thread: BBC Coverage

Awww does anyone know where James Allen has gone? Has he been dropped or something?

Originally Posted by rjbetty

Awww does anyone know where James Allen has gone? Has he been dropped or something?

I have wondered this on the practice session on Radio.

I would also like to know where he has gone.

Strange, I thought I heard Legard's voice on the practice session Saturday morning. Allen seems to have gone along to the race anyway. I can only speculate that maybe he's lost his voice or something?

So this was the first race that I watched both coverage of. I have to agree, the BBC has by far the better package. The pre and post race shows are much better.

The one very sore weakness in the Beeb's lineup, in my opinion, it this Garry who does their pit wall reporting. He didn't contribute a single thing that the main commentators hadn't already mentioned, he mumbles his words and is very hard to understand when there is no background noise, and he clearly doesn't know how to yell into his mic when the cars are going around him.

Annunciation is an important skill for a TV presenter/reporter. I have no idea whose idea it was to hire him, but he should be dropped IMMEDIATELY.

Allen has said in his website that he will be back for Silverstone.

If you have a good ear and especially if you're a local, Gary Anderson kinda has a muddled accent! Northern Irish-Northamptonshire accent. The way he pronounces Vettel is prominent. Its exactly how we would say 'kettle' for instance. We're lazy prouncing 't's' and more emphasis on the phonetic sound that proceeds it.

Gary works best pre and post race. Quite frankly you don't need fancy presentation. A pen and paper is perfectly suffice, after all they say ideas come from scrap paper and empty fag packets.

Where has Damon Hill disappeared to off Sky's coverage?

I don't believe he has been around since the Spanish Grand Prix.

Anybody an idea??!

Originally Posted by Bezza

Where has Damon Hill disappeared to off Sky's coverage?

I don't believe he has been around since the Spanish Grand Prix.

Anybody an idea??!

There must be a consipracy to abduct British F1 Broadcasters! Find James Allen and we find Damon Hill!

Originally Posted by henners88

I quite agree Paddy but I think the Beeb are likely to lose all of its 'live' rights in the next couple of years.

That would be a shame.

How many will give up watching if the BBC lose its rights? How can bernie think its a good move to have fewer followers??

Originally Posted by henners88

I find this astonishing, drop Gary Anderson???!!! Are you winding us all up?

He's probably one of the BBC's best assets in comparison with Sky. I suggest you watch any of the previous programmes and witness his strategy calls for the team and observe how often he gets it right.

Doesn't matter how many times he gets it right if I don't understand a bloody thing that comes out of his mouth. For all I know, he can be the personification of Stirling Moss and Rory Byrne in one body but that is of no use to me if I don't understand a word of what he says! And I don't think it's just the Irish accent. I work with an Irishwoman everyday, I grew up watching documentaries and movies about the conflict so I was exposed to the Irish accent from both sides from a very young age. But Garry's speech is something else... I think African-American rappers in New Orleans pronounce more of the letters in their words than him!

For the record, my girlfriend (an Aussie) watched the BBC coverage with me, and she couldn't make any sense of what he was talking about. I really doubt anyone outside UK would be able to understand many of his sentences.

Which makes me wonder, do any overseas broadcasters still carry the BBC feed? Or have they all switched to Sky? I know that in Australia, Network Ten has switched to Sky but I think the BBC commentary (and prior to that, the ITV commentary) was carried in many other countries as well.

Gary is good for post race analysis and the forum, but he's no good as a pit lane reporter.

Originally Posted by aryan

Doesn't matter how many times he gets it right if I don't understand a bloody thing that comes out of his mouth. For all I know, he can be the personification of Stirling Moss and Rory Byrne in one body but that is of no use to me if I don't understand a word of what he says! And I don't think it's just the Irish accent. I work with an Irishwoman everyday, I grew up watching documentaries and movies about the conflict so I was exposed to the Irish accent from both sides from a very young age. But Garry's speech is something else... I think African-American rappers in New Orleans pronounce more of the letters in their words than him!

For the record, my girlfriend (an Aussie) watched the BBC coverage with me, and she couldn't make any sense of what he was talking about. I really doubt anyone outside UK would be able to understand many of his sentences.

Which makes me wonder, do any overseas broadcasters still carry the BBC feed? Or have they all switched to Sky? I know that in Australia, Network Ten has switched to Sky but I think the BBC commentary (and prior to that, the ITV commentary) was carried in many other countries as well.

Firstly, as an Irishman, I will say that Gary's accent is particularly difficult to understand at times if you can't catch all of the nuances of the dialect. However, I think most people can catch what he is saying. It's not like a foreign person speaking in broken English.

Secondly, for what it's worth, Setanta Sports use the BBC feed for their showing of the races. But they only use the race commentary i.e. the programme doesn't include the BBC's pre-race show and, during qualifying sessions, the break between Q1, Q2 and Q3 does not include the analysis from the BBC presenters. We just get on-track and pitlane shots with ambient noise.

Originally Posted by Mark

Gary is good for post race analysis and the forum, but he's no good as a pit lane reporter.

I disagree. I think he's suited to the pitlane. The biggest problem I have is his location. I wish the directors could come to some kind of compromise with regard to where they station Gary. It seems that every time Ben and David ask him for analysis or updates during the race, a stream of cars come racing down the straight and he gets drowned out. Yet, when there are no cars passing, he's crystal clear.

But Sky don't have Adrian Chiles scaring viewers away!

Originally Posted by henners88

Well the BBC pulled in on average 13m viewers for the final of Euro 2012 last night. I think that sends out a clear message to Bernie and Sky that the Beeb have the power to bring the sport to more viewers than they would like to admit. When Sky are struggling to average 800k a race and lower when the Beeb share the coverage, this type of viewing power will not got unnoticed by some in the sport and Bernie's statements about Sky being the best option for the sport just fall apart when viewed with logic.


Euro 2012 final: Spain's win watched by more than 13m on BBC1 | TV ratings - 1 July | Media | guardian.co.uk

Yes but the Beeb dont have Bernie's wonga...

Originally Posted by aki13

Yes but the Beeb dont have Bernie's wonga...

Bob Diamond aside, who does?

Note that the buildup for Silverstone is on BBC1 / BBC1 HD but the race and post race is on BBC2 / BBC HD

Heh. But it's important if setting it to record. Just recording the buildup and missing the race would be rather rage inducing!