Thread: BBC vs Sky - The Story so Far
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19th July 2012, 08:39 #1
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BBC vs Sky - The Story so Far
So, 9 races in, almost halfway, lets compare BBC v Sky.
First of all I must say it is absolutely fantastic that we have TWO channels with F1 here in the UK. I have Sky so it didn’t affect me as much as some others when the deal was announced last year.
Picture/Sound quality (HD): Sky > BBC. As Dave B has alluded to in another thread, the Silverstone roar was much more audible on Sky (and I was at the GP, it was loud!) whereas BBC you couldn’t quite hear it.
Special features: BBC > Sky. Quite a close one, but the BBC’s relaxed manner wins out, my fave being Jenson & Lewis trying to do their jobs!
Overall channel/additional input: Sky > BBC. A dedicated channel has been a godsend. Old races, season reviews, special features, support races, legends interviews, additional coverage and multiple chances to watch highlights give Sky a big thumbs up. The F1 forum is excellent and the BBC do a good job with what they have, but with the resources of a dedicated channel, Sky wins out.
On to the teams:
Humphrey vs Lazenby: BBC > Sky. Jake has a comfortable edge, Lazenby at times is cringeworthy such as in Barcelona when the pit fire happened, he was just reeling off speculative events “we’ve just heard that a man came out with his legs on fire” is something that should be not be said by a sports presenter. Decent effort from Sky, but Lazenby needs to improve.
DC/EJ vs DH/JH: BBC > Sky. Quite comfortably DC & EJ as the analysers to Jake, Damon is not bad but Johnny Herbert is poor and reminds me too much of Blundell. If I was Sky, I would work hard to persuade Jacques Villeneuve to come on permanently, as he is the “says what he thinks” character they need.
Croft vs Edwards Sky > BBC. I am surprised by this as I didn’t like Croft prior to this seasn, but he sounds more natural as lead commentator of F1 to me, Ben a close second, vast improvement over Legard /Allen!
Brundle vs Coulthard. Sky > BBC. Brundle makes me watch the Sky coverage during the race, he is still fantastic at his job. DC isn’t bad, but he just isn’t quick enough to read a race like Brundle does, with his dry wit along the way.
McKenzie vs Pinkham. BBC > Sky. Quite easily McKenzie. I like to see women in F1, but they need to not play up to a stereotype of “flirty attitude” towards F1 drivers. Lee McKenzie is fantastic at not doing that while still getting the information out of the drivers. Pinkham flirts uncomfortably, especially with Paul di Resta.
Anderson vs Kravitz. BBC > Sky. A close one, Kravtiz hasn’t done much wrong, but Anderson’s technical knowledge is second to none.
Georgie Thompson/Anthony Davidson – not real point in them being there, they do not add anything to the coverage. Davidson, along with McNish and Chandhok, represents a dedicedly average F1 driver judging much better drivers.
Overall then
BBC 5 Sky 4 - A very close call!
What does everybody else think?Niente č vero, tutto č permesso
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19th July 2012, 13:41 #2
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I'll take your points one at a time:
Originally Posted by Bezza
First of all I must say it is absolutely fantastic that we have TWO channels with F1 here in the UK. I have Sky so it didn’t affect me as much as some others when the deal was announced last year.
Picture/Sound quality (HD): Sky > BBC. As Dave B has alluded to in another thread, the Silverstone roar was much more audible on Sky (and I was at the GP, it was loud!) whereas BBC you couldn’t quite hear it.
Special features: BBC > Sky. Quite a close one, but the BBC’s relaxed manner wins out, my fave being Jenson & Lewis trying to do their jobs!
Overall channel/additional input: Sky > BBC. A dedicated channel has been a godsend. Old races, season reviews, special features, support races, legends interviews, additional coverage and multiple chances to watch highlights give Sky a big thumbs up. The F1 forum is excellent and the BBC do a good job with what they have, but with the resources of a dedicated channel, Sky wins out.
On to the teams:
Humphrey vs Lazenby: BBC > Sky. Jake has a comfortable edge, Lazenby at times is cringeworthy such as in Barcelona when the pit fire happened, he was just reeling off speculative events “we’ve just heard that a man came out with his legs on fire” is something that should be not be said by a sports presenter. Decent effort from Sky, but Lazenby needs to improve.
DC/EJ vs DH/JH: BBC > Sky. Quite comfortably DC & EJ as the analysers to Jake, Damon is not bad but Johnny Herbert is poor and reminds me too much of Blundell. If I was Sky, I would work hard to persuade Jacques Villeneuve to come on permanently, as he is the “says what he thinks” character they need.
Croft vs Edwards Sky > BBC. I am surprised by this as I didn’t like Croft prior to this seasn, but he sounds more natural as lead commentator of F1 to me, Ben a close second, vast improvement over Legard /Allen!
Brundle vs Coulthard. Sky > BBC. Brundle makes me watch the Sky coverage during the race, he is still fantastic at his job. DC isn’t bad, but he just isn’t quick enough to read a race like Brundle does, with his dry wit along the way.
McKenzie vs Pinkham. BBC > Sky. Quite easily McKenzie. I like to see women in F1, but they need to not play up to a stereotype of “flirty attitude” towards F1 drivers. Lee McKenzie is fantastic at not doing that while still getting the information out of the drivers. Pinkham flirts uncomfortably, especially with Paul di Resta.
Anderson vs Kravitz. BBC > Sky. A close one, Kravtiz hasn’t done much wrong, but Anderson’s technical knowledge is second to none.
Georgie Thompson/Anthony Davidson – not real point in them being there, they do not add anything to the coverage. Davidson, along with McNish and Chandhok, represents a dedicedly average F1 driver judging much better drivers.
Overall then
BBC 5 Sky 4 - A very close call!
What does everybody else think?Useful F1 Twitter thingy: http://goo.gl/6PO1u
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19th July 2012, 14:38 #3
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Depending how fussy you are over sound/picture quality then BBC wins it on presentation alone.
I'm surprised how awful Natalie Pinkham is because she was solid on 5Live as pit reporter. She's become more Beverly Turner than Louise Goodman - at Sky's behest it seems.
DC feels too gangly and awkward during the grid walks especially as he struggles for ad hoc interviews. Brundle was the uber professional: time to scrape the barrel with the likes of D-list celebs to fill time.The world according to Taki Inoue: https://mobile.twitter.com/takiinoue/st ... 7249326080
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20th July 2012, 16:39 #4
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Originally Posted by henners88
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20th July 2012, 20:56 #5
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I haven't watched a minute of the Sky coverage this year, and haven't really felt like I've missed out. I think that says it all, 9-0 to the BBC in my eyes!
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21st July 2012, 11:17 #6
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Yeah I agree about Lee MacKenzie. There's something about the way she DOESN'T flirt that makes her classy. She also doesn't overcompensate and become too anal and serious (like I feel Karren Brady on the Apprentice does a little bit, incidentally, but anyway...)
- in short she is perfect, so much respect to her. And yes, she does also happen to be very attractive. The fact she doesn't seem to "know" this or use it in any way is very worthy of respect.
Jake is just brilliant - very talented and makes it look easy. Whatever curve-ball situation is thrown at him, he always handles it naturally and brilliantly. I didn't really know who he was before seeing him on F1, but I hear that maybe he was maybe trying to overcompensate in the beginning to lose the tag of kids presenter (i.e. not serious enough). I think he's just fine as he is.
DC has done very well and for me shows improvement all the time. He does just fine in the commentary box and I don't feel he's out of place at all. Yeah I admit the grid walks are maybe a little more awkward than Brundle's (I've only seen one!) but this can come. All in all, if someone had told me 10 years ago that Coulthard would be doing a central commentary and pundit role, and be doing so very competently, I would have been shocked, for during his McLaren days, he always seemed very uptight, wooden and monotonous.
I now blame much of this on Ron Dennis and his neurotic ways, cos when David moved to Red Bull, he seemed to become a new man and loosened up brilliantly.
I like EJ, especially when he questions team bosses, especially Christian Horner. It's always a laugh. OMGosh when he suggested to Christian Horner he was being insincere when he congratulated Mark Webber for winning Silverstone 2010, that was a priceless moment. The sad thing is, I never SAW that...SPAM - Going off topic to give you the deals you don't want.
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21st July 2012, 11:32 #7
Usually watch it on Sky but have watched a couple of races on the Beeb. I've thoroughly enjoyed both and found them pretty closely matched with Sky maybe just edging it thanks to Brundles excellent input.
The emergence of the new 'Rainmaster' - Mad Max at Interlagos 2016!
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21st July 2012, 18:33 #8
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Originally Posted by Bezza
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21st July 2012, 20:45 #9
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I've watched quite of lot of Sky coverage this year (don't ask me how) and the thing that strikes me is that Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill really have nothing to say. They seem to search for words all the time and don't bring anything to the broadcasts.
“Leave me alone!”
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21st July 2012, 20:54 #10
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Originally Posted by DexDexter
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