UK F1 coverage to return to the BBC !!!

[Giuseppe F1]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65897


F1 UK coverage returns to the BBC

By Biranit Goren Thursday, March 20th 2008, 06:16 GMT


Formula One television coverage in the UK will return next year to the BBC following 12 seasons with ITV, the Formula One Administration announced today.

The BBC lost its rights to Formula One after the 1996 season, and it was since covered by ITV, with Martin Brundle serving as commentator for the past 12 years, alongside former BBC commentator Murray Walker and later ITV commentator James Allen.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has now concluded a five-year deal that will see Formula One return to BBC Sports, which will also have exclusive rights to radio, mobile and internet broadcasting.

"I am delighted to conclude this new deal with the BBC," Ecclestone commented. "It is an exciting time in Formula One and the BBC has some innovative new ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base."

Dominic Coles, BBC Sport Director of Sport Rights, added: "The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning home after 12 years.

"We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC. F1 is a crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting.

"Fans will be able to enjoy uninterrupted, state of the art and innovative coverage from BBC Sport, across all of our TV, radio and new media platforms, for the first time since 1996."

[Giuseppe F1]

I think that ITV have done a TERRIFIC job over the past 12 years and I would sincerely hope that the base of the commentating/presenting team would be carried over to the BBC production :

Steve Rider, Martin Brundle, Louise Goodman (even James Allen - yeah I said it! :) )

[ShiftingGears]

Yeah, ITV are excellent. Would Martin Brundle and James Allen remain the F1 commentators?

[GridGirl]

Really wasn;t expecting to hear it on the news this morning.

Ahhhh F1 with no add breaks, never thought I'd see the day again. I really hope Martin moves over but ITV can keep James Allen.

[Knock-on]

Would "HE", could "HE" and should "HE" return to F1. On an interview this morning, MW didn't rule himself out :laugh:

I can't wait for F1 to come home. I don't think ITV have done a good job apart from dumbing it down a bit for the masses although some individuals have done a great job.

[AndyRAC]

Blimey, that's a surprise, I'm sure I saw an article in the last few days somewere quoting ITV boss Michael Grade, as saying how important the F1 coverage was.
So what happens to Rider & co, and more importantly the Moto GP coverage?

[ATF]

No disrespect to the job ITV has done, but just to have no adverts again will be immense!

Brundle would be good to keep but get rid of James Allen and get Ben Edwards!

[Henry Cutts]

It's great it's going back to the BBC. no ads! and I think Brundle and Edwards would be good.

[Knock-on]

No disrespect to the job ITV has done, but just to have no adverts again will be immense!

Brundle would be good to keep but get rid of James Allen and get Ben Edwards!

:up: Totally agree.

[AndySpeed]

Faaaantaaastic :D I would imagine the BBC will try very hard to keep the current commentary and production team.

[THE_LIBERATOR]

This is great news, MW coming back would be the icing on the cake!!


Wouldn't mind this back either:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i8gB8-9sQGc

[MAX_THRUST]

GO GO GO GO GO!!!!! Ben Edwards would be my choice , but James Allen would then be doing touring cars...as long as they get rid of Ted. Mr Arrogant rude git!!!!


No Adverts how good would that be.

[A Scotsman]

Now we need to persuade the BBC to take on the BTCC and support races and get rid of Setanta!!

[Simmi]

This is great news, MW coming back would be the icing on the cake!!


Wouldn't mind this back either:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i8gB8-9sQGc

Spot on about the theme tune that would be brilliant to have that back.

[BDunnell]

Excellent news. They have to bring back The Chain, and they should keep Brundle, but I would imagine that they will try and put in a new main commentator. As for who it should be, I don't feel it ought to be Murray Walker. As brilliant as he was/is, he won't be around for ever and new people need to be given a chance some time. Maybe the BBC will use David Croft from 5 Live, or move Charlie Cox over from Moto GP, or indeed hire Ben Edwards. Those, in my eyes, would seem to be the three obvious candidates.

[Tomski]

Steve Rider doesn't just do F1 so I can't see him making the change. as long as they retain Martin and Louise their on a winner.

Plus........NO MORE ADVERTS!!!!!!!!!

[AndyRAC]

Steve Rider doesn't just do F1 so I can't see him making the change. as long as they retain Martin and Louise their on a winner.

Plus........NO MORE ADVERTS!!!!!!!!!

That was one of the main reasons he moved to ITV, I think he's lost the plot since he moved though. All the fawning over Button/ now Hamilton is cringeworthy.

[BDunnell]

Steve Rider doesn't just do F1 so I can't see him making the change. as long as they retain Martin and Louise their on a winner.


It was the reason he moved across. He only started doing football for them when they realised that their presentation team at the 2006 World Cup was too weak.

As for ITV's Hamilton fixation, I don't think this is down to Rider, who I still think is the best sports presenter out there. Like it or not, Hamilton is a valuable commercial commodity to any British publication or broadcaster covering F1.

[SkyTom]

if they could get Murray Walker back alongside Martin Brundle, that would just be perfect.

[Dave B]

Beaten to starting the thread by one minute! :angryfire : :p

I'm delighted - no more ad breaks and definately no more bloody "Can I Play with Madness?" :D

My personal wish-list, which I've posted on the BBC's Sport Editor's blog, looks like this:

1) All practice sessions to be shown. I accept that these don't have mass appeal so could be "relegated" to an interactive stream.

2) All qualifying sessions and races to be shown live, no matter what unsociable hour they take place or what soap operas they might clash with.

3) A sensible contingency plan in place every session for over-runs. If they means switching to an interactive stream or BBC Three (for example) then so be it, but please don't rush off the moment the winner has crossed the line.

4) HD. I don't need to expand on that!

5) Don't listen to those clamouring for a return of Murray Walker. If he genuinely wants to come back then I'll be the first in the queue to welcome him, I genuinely miss him; but respect his reasons for retirement. Of course, there's always the possibility of him presenting special features once in a while.

6) The Chain. You know it makes sense! I guarantee that if you listen to it even now, on a damp Thursday morning, it'll make the hairs on your neck stand up.

7) Give F1 it's own dedicated show. Don't just lump it in with whatever the 2009 equivalent of "Grandstand" will be and cut away every few minutes for the cricket scores. That's acceptable on Five Live, but not on TV.

8) Don't be afraid of carrying over some of ITV's personnel should contracts allow. On balance they get more right then they do wrong, and they've built up some invaluable contacts over the last decade. If it ain't broke...

9) Lastly, don't just fixate on Lewis Hamilton. Hopefully he'll be world champion by the time your contract begins (and deservedly so in my opinion) but please remember that every one of the drivers on that grid are exceptional sportsmen who deserve their fair share of airtime.

[shazbot]

What great news. Bring back Fleetwood Mac, Martin Brundle, and Murray Walker for the first race. I was watching an '89 season review the other day and realised just how much I missed the theme tune, Walker and Hunt. Do you remember that for some races James and Murray sounded like they where talking on the phone? Maybe they should start fresh. Leave those great memories alone?

I also remeber cutting away from live F1 races to cover the cricket or horse racing - probably why I hate those sports to this day.

[JovialJooles]

As much as I loved Murray, I think his time has past. I didn't think much to his Race of Champions commentary.

I think either Ben Edwards or David Croft would make excellent commentators.

James Allen could do A1GP. There are plenty of crashes, so that would keep him happy. :D

[acorn]

Now we need to persuade the BBC to take on the BTCC and support races and get rid of Setanta!!

a btcc fan:"As a few people have been mentioning in other threads, Setanta are telling people theyre still showing BTCC in 2008, is that the case or are they just saying it to keep customers?"

alan gow's reply:"I have no idea why they would say that, as they have no arrangement to broadcast the BTCC.

Perhaps it's nothing more than a simple case of one department of Setanta not informing the other."

so part of your wish has already been fulffilled.

[Valve Bounce]

I nominate DC to partner Martin next year.

[acorn]

f1 on the bbc with no adverts will be great BUT AT WHAT COST? the bbc is funded from the tv license which comes from all viewers regardless of whether they watch f1 or not. the question is will the license fee go up or will some other departments budgets be cut.
as the switch from analogue to digital progresses, they can make more use of bbc 3 and 4 but for now the bulk of the coverage must stay on the terrestrial analogue channels

commentators.... ben edwards or perhaps martin haven

theme tune... definitely "the chain".

[BeeJ_UK]

Spot on about the theme tune that would be brilliant to have that back.


If you want the Chain back please sign my petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bbcchain/petition.html


Please spread the link

[Dave B]

f1 on the bbc with no adverts will be great BUT AT WHAT COST? the bbc is funded from the tv license which comes from all viewers regardless of whether they watch f1 or not. the question is will the license fee go up or will some other departments budgets be cut.
as the switch from analogue to digital progresses, they can make more use of bbc 3 and 4 but for now the bulk of the coverage must stay on the terrestrial analogue channels

commentators.... ben edwards or perhaps martin haven

theme tune... definitely "the chain".

£200 over 5 years, according to Media Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/20/bbc.sportsrights

That might sound like a lot, but it's a comparitive drop in the ocean compared with what Sky / ITV / five pay for football rights.

There's no question whatsoever of the licence fee rising as a result.

[CNR]

if they could get Murray Walker back alongside Martin Brundle, that would just be perfect.

last year and the year before he was co commentating on the f1 for ten Australia and he was not that good.

[ATF]

No Adverts how good would that be.


Don't you mean: How good WILL that be!!! And yes, The Chain is a must!! :up:


Like others have said, it MUST be a stand-alone programme. How about making it interactive like they have done in the past with some football matches and Wimbledon - options of commentary, angles etc - maybe a bit like the old digital F1 channel of 2002!

Doubt Murray would ever come back, BBC should look to the future - Ben Edwards surely? He and John Watson weren't that bad while the UK digital channel existed.

Or...already employed by the Beeb, simply for enthusiasm...how about Charlie Cox?! :p :

[BDunnell]

Like others have said, it MUST be a stand-alone programme.

It will be, now that the BBC has scrapped the Grandstand brand.

[Spoonbender]

Martin Brundle only please. The rest can go off and make an ITV equivilent of Top Gear, probably called "Naff Gear" in which James Allen, Louise Goodman and Ted Kravitz sit on a sofa talking about cars and saying the word "c*ck" on TV.
I think DC will retire from GP and Join Martin in the commentary box, he'll have to learn to curb his language on live telly though.

I'm with everyone else, GP without adverts, as it should be :)

[acorn]

£200 over 5 years, .........


bloody hell, even i could have topped that bid

[Dave B]

bloody hell, even i could have topped that bid

I may have missed out the word "million" :p

[seppefan]

If you want the Chain back please sign my petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bbcchain/petition.html


Please spread the link

Signed, good one. It would be great to get it back.

Lets hope they leave Blundell behind as he says nothing ever of any consequence and cannot get a sentence right. Also they need to leave the rubbish programmers as the chat between Hamilton and HK was so bad and they were so embarrassed, it was so bad.

Ben Edwards and DC could be great. Please no James A either.

[Daniel]

They should bring Charlie Cox in :D

[V12]

Best news i've heard in ages!!! And yes I hope they bring The Chain back, none of that rubbish that the ITV play on their intro please!!

EDIT: Signed the petition - I do hope they go through with it, afterall when BBC got Premiership highlights back from ITV they brought back the classic Match Of The Day theme...

[turves]

Signed, good one. It would be great to get it back.

Lets hope they leave Blundell behind

Definately, I can't stand him...

Keep Brundle and get Ben Edwards in, but please, no Martin Haven either!

[taffy]

Martin Brundle only please. The rest can go off and make an ITV equivilent of Top Gear, probably called "Naff Gear" in which James Allen, Louise Goodman and Ted Kravitz sit on a sofa talking about cars and saying the word "c*ck" on TV.
I think DC will retire from GP and Join Martin in the commentary box, he'll have to learn to curb his language on live telly though.

I'm with everyone else, GP without adverts, as it should be :)

Agree 100% with you there.. maybe take Louise Goodman along though..

[wedge]

Holly Samos should be promoted as well. She does excellent interviews and gets straight to the point without watering down her questions.

If Steve Rider doesn't come back to the Beeb then who's going to present F1? Hopefully not Suzi Perry, she can stick with 2 wheels as far as I'm concerned because that's where her passion lies and a reason why I make an effort to watch MotoGP these days.

Can't think of anyone else who can present F1 with enthusiasm.

I reckon they'll move everyone over onto the Beeb. Most of the production team signed up with ITV contracts when the Beeb lost F1 coverage.

[BDunnell]

If Steve Rider doesn't come back to the Beeb then who's going to present F1? Hopefully not Suzi Perry, she can stick with 2 wheels as far as I'm concerned because that's where her passion lies and a reason why I make an effort to watch MotoGP these days.

What would be utterly ghastly is the thought on the part of the BBC's bosses 'Cars = Someone from Top Gear'.

[Robinho]

Charlie Cox and Martin Brundle please.

not sure about Holy Samos, but i think Holly Willoughby could do a job in the pit lane ;)

The chain is a must - on the radio one news this morning they used the chain as part of the report on the F1 rights strory so i think someone in the bbc is already thinking that way.

i notice a lot of noise being made about internet streaming etc, but ITV are already doing that this year, so not entirely a new (or unreasonable) idea.

Murray should just be invited in every now and again to give his thoughts, i don't want him jetting round the world to make more mistakes, at his age the schedule would probably kill him.

[AndyRAC]

I've seen a few suggestions for Suzi Perry, if I remember rightly, she doesn't particularly like F1. Hope she stays with MotoGP, amd that BBC don't drop it.
Anyway, keep Brundle, but the rest - forget it, even Rider- he's lost the plot recently.

[Iain]

Good news. :D Charlie Cox commentating would definitely make me want to watch it more. I could watch a paint-drying contest if he was doing the commentary. :laugh:

As for presenters, well as long as they get someone who knows what they're talking about and not somebody from the BBC's vast presenter network like Ben Fogle or Nick Knowles. :laugh:

[Daniel]

Too right Iain. My favourite Charlie quote below :)


"He needed that like a third armpit."
Charlie Cox commentating on the British Moto GP after Nicky Hayden slid off a wet track into a gravel trap.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/funny_old_game/7147584.stm

[BDunnell]

I enjoyed this one from Charlie Cox during the brilliant BTCC race at Donington in 1998 that Nigel Mansell led, on which Cox and John Watson delivered one of the finest live commentaries I've ever heard. Describing the rather battered front of John Cleland's Vauxhall Vectra, he said: 'There's been tons of contact. The front of that car looks as though it's been munching away on a steel gate.'

[Daniel]

I enjoyed this one from Charlie Cox during the brilliant BTCC race at Donington in 1998 that Nigel Mansell led, on which Cox and John Watson delivered one of the finest live commentaries I've ever heard. Describing the rather battered front of John Cleland's Vauxhall Vectra, he said: 'There's been tons of contact. The front of that car looks as though it's been munching away on a steel gate.'
Australians do have a talent for just saying things that Brits would keep in their head :D

[philipbain]

This is what i've been looking forward to ever since the coverage went to ITV in '97. I'll admit that, yes, ITV have got much better at thier F1 coverage over years and it would be nice if certain elements of the coverage were retained (Martin Brundle is a must, also Mark Blundell for comedy reasons, please no James or Ted!!), but ultimately the most important factor is uninterrupted coverage, no ad breaks, which plainly don't work with F1. As for other things i'd like to see, high on the list is interactive coverage via the red button, choosing audio feeds between the TV commentators and Five Live (as they do on football matches) and possibly extra cameras etc if it can be supplied by FOM. Looking forward to 2009 already!!!

[Mark]

Steve Ryder took about 10 years getting away from the BBC so he could do F1 coverage just for it to go back to the BBC 2 years later!

[FIA]

Will they show qualifying on the BBC?
Would they also show Ausyralia and Jaopan live?
Or will it be dumped to BBC3?

I never saw it on BBC, so was it good, did show a decnet amount of talking and the race and did they show qualifying?

[DazzlaF1]

I think its great news no more ad breaks and races with hopefully full interactive coverage as well (if it means showing free practice in full via the red button then all the better) Also hopefully the likes of Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell and Louise Goodman will also make the switch (leaving the annoying James Allen behind thank god)

Maybe Charlie Cox could be transferred from the Moto GP commentary to do F1 for the BBC, that would be soo awesome

[Powered by Cosworth]

No more ads! :D

But I really hope they get Martin Brundle and Ted Kravitz to commentate. I think he'd do a much better job than James Allen.

[VkmSpouge]

I'm really happy that there will be no more adverts but BBC will have to match ITV's good coverage. Hopefully they could show the practice sessions live too on BBC3 or BBC4. Using The Chain as the theme music is an absolute must. Hopefully the BBC will bring in Martin Brundle and either Ben Edwards or Charlie Cox to commentate.

[DazzlaF1]

I'm really happy that there will be no more adverts but BBC will have to match ITV's good coverage. Hopefully they could show the practice sessions live too on BBC3 or BBC4. Using The Chain as the theme music is an absolute must. Hopefully the BBC will bring in Martin Brundle and either Ben Edwards or Charlie Cox to commentate.

Seconded, that title music is legendary.

As for Commentator, i'd love it to be Charlie Cox but i believe it'll be more than likely they'll bring over the 5live radio commentator David Croft, i dont think it'll be Ben Edwards because of his BTCC and A1GP work (did he use to do F1 for Eurosport a few years back?)

[BDunnell]

Seconded, that title music is legendary.

As for Commentator, i'd love it to be Charlie Cox but i believe it'll be more than likely they'll bring over the 5live radio commentator David Croft, i dont think it'll be Ben Edwards because of his BTCC and A1GP work (did he use to do F1 for Eurosport a few years back?)

But if the money was right...

[BDunnell]

I never saw it on BBC, so was it good, did show a decnet amount of talking and the race and did they show qualifying?

F1 coverage was a bit different then, with less of the football-style build-up and use of studio pundits. The BBC certainly started showing qualifying of most races live, if I remember correctly.

[DazzlaF1]

F1 coverage was a bit different then, with less of the football-style build-up and use of studio pundits. The BBC certainly started showing qualifying of most races live, if I remember correctly.
They started covering the full season live in 1978, dont know about when they started showing qualifying though

[BDunnell]

They started covering the full season live in 1978, dont know about when they started showing qualifying though

I'm afraid that's not correct. The Grand Prix programme that started in 1978 was only edited highlights, though the British GP was shown live. It took many years for every race to be shown live in full, and even then, right up into the 1990s, not all the commentaries were done from the circuits.

While we're on this part of the subject, there is also the belief on the part of some that, apart from the British GP, no live races were shown on British TV at all before 1978. Again, that isn't right. The BBC used to cover certain high-profile GPs live, such as Germany, Monaco and Italy, and were doing so in the 1960s. ITV dabbled for a while as well, notably showing the 1976 Japanese GP which was also broadcast by BBC TV and radio. There's a thread in the History and Nostalgia forum about this somewhere.

[DazzlaF1]

I'm afraid that's not correct. The Grand Prix programme that started in 1978 was only edited highlights, though the British GP was shown live. It took many years for every race to be shown live in full, and even then, right up into the 1990s, not all the commentaries were done from the circuits.

While we're on this part of the subject, there is also the belief on the part of some that, apart from the British GP, no live races were shown on British TV at all before 1978. Again, that isn't right. The BBC used to cover certain high-profile GPs live, such as Germany, Monaco and Italy, and were doing so in the 1960s. ITV dabbled for a while as well, notably showing the 1976 Japanese GP which was also broadcast by BBC TV and radio. There's a thread in the History and Nostalgia forum about this somewhere.
Thanks for that, i might have got mixed up there with 1978 beign the first season where they began showing either live coverage or highlights from every race

[fabricator/61]

Definately got to have The Chain as the theme music, Martin Brundle to do the commentary with Charlie Cox. Steve Rider will jump at the chance to go back because one of his other loves is golf and he,ll be able to do The Masters at Augusta again and The Open,because Gary Liniker was painful to watch.

[UKOG~Will]

Suzie Perry for presenter :p

[BDunnell]

Steve Rider will jump at the chance to go back because one of his other loves is golf and he,ll be able to do The Masters at Augusta again and The Open,because Gary Liniker was painful to watch.

For that alone, I do hope so. Lineker as a golf presenter needs putting out of his misery — and ours.

[Daika]

Never saw this coming. A shame i can't receive BBC no more.

[Bezza]

I still think I'm dreaming. I've been waiting 12 years for this. I actually want the 2008 season to end so that we can get on with 2009.

No more adverts is the key. So infuriating. The fact thats theres one without fail about 7 minutes into the race.
I think ITV have been very average with their programming. There is never a proper end-of-race montage. This may seem like a small thing, but it really adds a glossy finish to a really good race. Instead we have Moby "like a banana" over some very badly edited race highlights.

The Chain. I don't think there is any doubt that this will return. The song embodies F1 and IS F1. No other song could take its place.

As for commentator - anybody but James "Lewis or Ferrari" Allen. The guy is not as bad as he used to be, but is still not up to it. Blundell is poor. Kravitz is average. Goodman is useless.

Bring over Martin Brundle and get either Charlie Cox as the commentator - the only guy apart from Murray Walker who sounds "realistic" when excited - or the 5Live guy David Croft.

This is a great guy for sport. No more adverts at last.

[BDunnell]

I think ITV have been very average with their programming.

Des Lynam has said that whenever ITV gets hold of any sports rights, they are too anxious to try and be 'different'. The subtext to that is that the coverage ends up not being very good. There simply has to come the point, you might think, when ITV realises that this is a mistake and that its deep pockets are all very well, but that the end result doesn't hack it. ITV is always on a hiding to nothing when it comes to sport, because people see the BBC as its natural place. It is amazing that this is still the case when you consider how many rights the BBC has lost in recent years. In truth, their F1 programming has improved of late despite James Allen, and their BTCC coverage is fine.

Lynam, of course, is the living embodiment of the maxim that almost any presenter (as opposed to commentator) who makes the switch from BBC to ITV becomes rubbish.

[Stuartf12007]

please do not get Gabby or that twee scottish woman too present the coverage.

Louise Goodman lol she is terrible aswell.

ITV have never done a good job at presenting F1, adverts adverts adverts and sometimes they never even showed live qualifying.

All 2009 races will be shown live on the the bbc website worldwide aswell as the tv, so all our international friends will not have to suffer there own countries lazy or non coverage for much longer.

[Dave B]

All 2009 races will be shown live on the the bbc website worldwide aswell as the tv, so all our international friends will not have to suffer there own countries lazy or non coverage for much longer.
As I understand, the internet coverage will not be available outside of the UK due to rights issues.

Of course, there are ways and means... ;)

[Ranger]

If they don't have Allen as a commentator they'd be well advised to keep him as the pitlane reporter, as he's obviously no dummy. TBH I really never thought he was as bad as many people here make him out to be.

Hopefully no ads in BBC coverage means no ads back here in Oz! :D

[Valve Bounce]

They should bring Charlie Cox in :D

.................or Sam Newman :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuL5uSEvgoU

[DazzlaF1]

I still think I'm dreaming. I've been waiting 12 years for this. I actually want the 2008 season to end so that we can get on with 2009.

No more adverts is the key. So infuriating. The fact thats theres one without fail about 7 minutes into the race.
I think ITV have been very average with their programming. There is never a proper end-of-race montage. This may seem like a small thing, but it really adds a glossy finish to a really good race. Instead we have Moby "like a banana" over some very badly edited race highlights.

The Chain. I don't think there is any doubt that this will return. The song embodies F1 and IS F1. No other song could take its place.

As for commentator - anybody but James "Lewis or Ferrari" Allen. The guy is not as bad as he used to be, but is still not up to it. Blundell is poor. Kravitz is average. Goodman is useless.

Bring over Martin Brundle and get either Charlie Cox as the commentator - the only guy apart from Murray Walker who sounds "realistic" when excited - or the 5Live guy David Croft.

This is a great guy for sport. No more adverts at last.

I think there was one time (San Marino 2005) where we were watching a thrilling end of race battle between Alonso and Schumacher for the win and with 4 laps to go they decided to take an ad break, they then rejoined halfway through the final lap.

That infuriated me big time.

As for commentary, Cox & Brundle, im already dreaming that. Cox is to motorsport like Chris Kamara is to Football, his commentary during his time with the BTCC produced some memorable moments

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q-R665bquMg

aah the memories

[Tazio]

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20165.html
?

[Valve Bounce]

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20165.html
?

Interesting. First of all, let me say that I am glad the Poms are paying for me to watch Advert free F1 races. So Thanks!! guys!!

Secondly, I have to go along with the last sentence of that link about the number of F1 teams based in England.

Thirdly, I would add that probably many, many mechanics and crew of the F1 teams come from the United Kingdom.

So it is a very short sighted view of someone who probably hates sport, and has no need of considering who in the UK can get a job in a vital industry.

[71minus2]

this is the only thing you need to see/hear to remind you how it used to be!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JEP8vYDPy7A

Richard

[Valve Bounce]

How many times :(
How many times :(

How many times :( are we going to have this link on this thread? :(

Maybe I should download it as a ringtone.

[Anubis]

Beaten to starting the thread by one minute! :angryfire : :p

I'm delighted - no more ad breaks and definately no more bloody "Can I Play with Madness?" :D .

That's the high point of the ad-break for me, but then I'm something of a Maiden nut :D

This is very good news. Although I think ITV have upped the general presentation of F1, the dumbing down and general fawning over drivers (Button, then Hamilton) has been cringe inducing. I don't care what Lewis had for dinner or what his Dad likes on his toast, just show the race. That said, Murray did tend to champion Our Nige and Damon, so I don't think we can let the BBC off the hook totally. ITV certainly went too far towards the lowest common denominator, and it was painful sometimes. I don't need Mark Blundell's matey "awight geeza" chit chat at the end thanks very much. Hopefully the Beeb will be less hindered by commercial pressure, so can up the IQ level a tad.

As for the commentary team...though Murray is undoubtedly a complete legend, please don't bring him back. He may well still have the enthusiasm, but he's had his day. By all means have him pop in as a guest for the British GP or a few European races, but let's have some fresh (for F1) blood. General opinion seems to be Brundle and Ben Edwards/Martin Haven.

One thing I think everyone agrees on...the music. In the same way the Ski Sunday theme IS skiing, and the BBC snooker theme IS snooker, The Chain IS F1 for me. I just don't see how they can't use it.

[Valve Bounce]

That's the high point of the ad-break for me, but then I'm something of a Maiden nut :D

This is very good news. Although I think ITV have upped the general presentation of F1, the dumbing down and general fawning over drivers (Button, then Hamilton) has been cringe inducing. I don't care what Lewis had for dinner or what his Dad likes on his toast, just show the race. That said, Murray did tend to champion Our Nige and Damon, so I don't think we can let the BBC off the hook totally. ITV certainly went too far towards the lowest common denominator, and it was painful sometimes. I don't need Mark Blundell's matey "awight geeza" chit chat at the end thanks very much. Hopefully the Beeb will be less hindered by commercial pressure, so can up the IQ level a tad.

As for the commentary team...though Murray is undoubtedly a complete legend, please don't bring him back. He may well still have the enthusiasm, but he's had his day. By all means have him pop in as a guest for the British GP or a few European races, but let's have some fresh (for F1) blood. General opinion seems to be Brundle and Ben Edwards/Martin Haven.

One thing I think everyone agrees on...the music. In the same way the Ski Sunday theme IS skiing, and the BBC snooker theme IS snooker, The Chain IS F1 for me. I just don't see how they can't use it.

We can solve all this by hiring Finn, one of Kimi's close relatives. "p"

[V12]

If they don't have Allen as a commentator they'd be well advised to keep him as the pitlane reporter, as he's obviously no dummy. TBH I really never thought he was as bad as many people here make him out to be.

Hopefully no ads in BBC coverage means no ads back here in Oz! :D

There was never anything wrong with James Allen the pitlane reporter don't get me wrong - it's just IMO he doesn't have the natural charisma to be a commentator - let alone the lead commentator (if you consider that Brundle's role is the James Hunt/Jonathan Palmer ex-racing driver).

To be fair there's not many people that would fit the bill either. Although having recently taking up watching MotoGP I wouldn't complain at Charlie Cox getting it. Being realistic Murray ISN'T going to come back, he aint getting any younger and although he was in great form on his Radio 5 cameo at the Nurburgring last year, it was his decision to retire and I doubt he'd be up to travelling the world all year.

Having said that, maybe getting him in for one final fling at Silverstone wouldn't go amiss...

[WSRfan82]

thats a big shock

but how does that work with ITV showing this season championship or is this for next year

[Somebody]

Richard Hammond to present? (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article3593917.ece)


Hopefully they could show the practice sessions live too on BBC3 or BBC4.
One of these days, people will realise that (a) BBC3 and 4 don't broadcast during the day and (b) the broadcast space is turned over to two kids channels during the day, so they can't just "open them up".

They do have some additional streams (two on Freeview, five on cable/satellite), but they're used for everything from tennis, to cricket commentary with scoreboard, to looped Doctor Who trailers, Eurovision-with-on-screen-lyrics and Celebrity Hair-Cutting (I kid you not on that last one - although it was called "Celebrity Scissorhands)


As I understand, the internet coverage will not be available outside of the UK due to rights issues.
Almost certainly correct.

[CNR]

Top Gear's Richard Hammond in pole to take over F1 coverage on BBC (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article3593917.ece)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article3593917.ece

[BDunnell]

The idea of Richard Hammond presenting is too ghastly for words. What sports coverage needs is a sports presenter. The spectacle of Craig Doyle attempting to present motorbikes and the Winter Olympics was not one the BBC should be proud of, nor seek to emulate. And then there was Vicki Butler-Henderson doing the BTCC...

[Daniel]

The idea of Richard Hammond presenting is too ghastly for words. What sports coverage needs is a sports presenter. The spectacle of Craig Doyle attempting to present motorbikes and the Winter Olympics was not one the BBC should be proud of, nor seek to emulate. And then there was Vicki Butler-Henderson doing the BTCC...
Agreed. Personally I think it's a load of bull poo poo's

[acorn]

in an earlier post i mentioned costs. on bbc teletext a LABOUR mp, andrew mackinlay, has questioned the costs and said editors should have probed senior managers for details. he also said the announcement was too celebratory and that the money should have been spent on REAL sports.

didn't bernie give the labour party a large sum of money?

[BDunnell]

in an earlier post i mentioned costs. on bbc teletext a LABOUR mp, andrew mackinlay, has questioned the costs and said editors should have probed senior managers for details. he also said the announcement was too celebratory and that the money should have been spent on REAL sports.

didn't bernie give the labour party a large sum of money?

A long time ago, and he got the money back, albeit in return for the ban on tobacco advertising being delayed. I don't think this has anything to do with it.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I like the idea of combining Top Gear and F1, but maybe as an extra feature. It would bring a new audience to F1. However, they obviously shouldn't let the F1 coverage turn into a Top Gear joke.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

As for commentators, Cox and Brundle would be better than what we have now. Hopefully they don't get Ben Edwards, not because he's bad (he's good), but because I want him for the BTCC.

[FIA]

Will They Show All Of Live Qualifying?

[Stuartf12007]

someone start a petiton to stop Richard Hammond becoming the presenter, cant stand the little squirt.

BBC will be showing live qualifying.

Extra recorded and Live action will be available via the red button(uk people know what that means)

Every single grandprix will be availbable to see again via the BBCIplayer for 7 days after the race.

[Daniel]

Will They Show All Of Live Qualifying?
More To The Point Will They Capitalise Every Word!

[wedge]

A large consensus for Charlie Cox. For some reason I think he's better suited to Touring cars.

What I do like about JA is the geeky insights he picks up on and which Martin Brundle can't help agreeing these days, but then again some people think F1 is far too technical sport for most people to enjoy.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

A large consensus for Charlie Cox. For some reason I think he's better suited to Touring cars.

What I do like about JA is the geeky insights he picks up on and which Martin Brundle can't help agreeing these days, but then again some people think F1 is far too technical sport for most people to enjoy.

The geeky insights that JA picks up on are usually things that he stole from Martin Brundle in the last race.

[wedge]

The geeky insights that JA picks up on are usually things that he stole from Martin Brundle in the last race.

No, it's usually over the course of the weekend. JA has a good eye for detail. I enjoy reading his stuff, such as this every Friday:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42072

[Brown, Jon Brow]

No, it's usually over the course of the weekend. JA has a good eye for detail. I enjoy reading his stuff, such as this every Friday:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=42072

There isn't much in that link that any other F1 fan in Malaysia couldn't tell you. He just seems like JA states the obvious all the time.

James Allen's prediction - 'Ferrari will bounce back here because they have to, but Hamilton will again be very hard to beat.'

You don't say! :rolleyes:

[wedge]

There isn't much in that link that any other F1 fan in Malaysia couldn't tell you. He just seems like JA states the obvious all the time.

James Allen's prediction - 'Ferrari will bounce back here because they have to, but Hamilton will again be very hard to beat.'

You don't say! :rolleyes:

Do most fans know what is going on during the practice sessions or do they go on the quickest lap times set? Do most fans have access to team members to acquire additional information from, to analyse and interpret from?

To say he states the obvious, well isn't it obvious not much has changed in 12 months and we the same pattern emerging between Ferrari and McLaren?

To the haters who say James Allen has no clue and states the obvious is harsh attacking a man who worked for Autosport, ESPN, ITV, written biographies on Mansell and Schumacher. Apart from charismatic voice, what else is missing in his CV. Driving the damn thing? Oh wait, we've got Brundle for that one.

[Mark]

The BBC only started covering every qualifying session live in its last two years when they moved from two sessions to one hour long session. Even then they did not always show the whole thing live . quite often the would only join about 20 minutes in. It was particularly infuriating as they were not covering other live sport... just reading out results from others.

Used to be in the early 90s there was no race build up. you joined during the formation lap. There were certainly no on camera presenters and no grid walk and there was no detailed analysis after the race.

[BDunnell]

There were certainly no on camera presenters

That started at overseas GPs in 1994, at Imola. This proved to be a blessing as it meant the BBC was able to cut back to Steve Rider in the pits after Senna's accident, otherwise everyone would have had to have watched the rather intrusive scenes of the crash scene that the main feed was showing.

[THE_LIBERATOR]

I'm really surprised to see praise for Charlie Cox, he (& Steve Parrish) get so much flak for their Moto GP commentary.

[FIA]

The BBC only started covering every qualifying session live in its last two years when they moved from two sessions to one hour long session. Even then they did not always show the whole thing live . quite often the would only join about 20 minutes in. It was particularly infuriating as they were not covering other live sport... just reading out results from others.

Used to be in the early 90s there was no race build up. you joined during the formation lap. There were certainly no on camera presenters and no grid walk and there was no detailed analysis after the race.

I don't like the sound of that.

[VkmSpouge]

One of these days, people will realise that (a) BBC3 and 4 don't broadcast during the day and (b) the broadcast space is turned over to two kids channels during the day, so they can't just "open them up".

Really? I haven't actually watched the CBBC or Cbeebies channels, so I have a good excuse for my ignorance :p : But maybe the BBC will show it on CBBC, it could be part of the BBC's plan to bring in new viewers, catch them while they're young :D

As much as I love Top Gear I'm hoping any rumours of Clarkson, Hammond and May doing anything with the F1 show are just an early April Fools joke.

[slinkster]

Glad to hear its going back to the Beeb interms of getting rid of irritating ad breaks... I hope they hang on to Martin though, and Louise too in terms of the team. I won't be sad to see James Alan go though...

[ShiftingGears]

The idea of Richard Hammond presenting is too ghastly for words. What sports coverage needs is a sports presenter. The spectacle of Craig Doyle attempting to present motorbikes and the Winter Olympics was not one the BBC should be proud of, nor seek to emulate. And then there was Vicki Butler-Henderson doing the BTCC...

It would be awful. What ITV have is decent, so I hope the BBC don't mess it up.

[Stuartf12007]

Charlie Cox is too cocky.

Make Brundle the main commentator now.

[gloomyDAY]

Hamster as a presenter? No.

That's about as annoying as Paul King in the WRC.
I cannot stand that patronizing voice.

ITV line-up is great

[Ranger]

This is great news, MW coming back would be the icing on the cake!!

Ah, that must be the nostalgia cake.

Because there is no way in the world they should let him back near a microphone.

I mean Murray's a legend and all but can we PLEASE leave him in peace and drop this topic??

He was pretty much past it even in the 1990's. At the '06 and '07 OzGP's he was making three times the number of mistakes that Allen would be absolutely crucified for, despite not even being the main commentator.

[Daika]

Did Hamilton got the ratings up or not? Or is this due to many races not broadcasting on prime time?

[wedge]

Did Hamilton got the ratings up or not? Or is this due to many races not broadcasting on prime time?

ITV decided to let go in the middle of a 5 year contract.

No-one knows why ITV did this and how much the BBC pay to buy out the contract.

[BDunnell]

Did Hamilton got the ratings up or not? Or is this due to many races not broadcasting on prime time?

The Brazilian GP got the highest UK ratings for any sporting event of last year. I'm not sure about the rest, but ITV has said that in general the ratings weren't brilliant. The message it has been trying to put across is that the ratings still didn't justify the outlay, but I think there is a bit more to this than meets the eye.

[djparky]

mmm well good on the BBC for getting it back- wonder whether BTCC will follow suit in a year or so- I wonder whether ITV's lack of interactive/HD was part of the issue??

having watched some of todays Malaysian GP (and slept through the second half of it) I'm hoping that the Beeb will get rid of James Allen- for years he wittered on endlessly about his beloved Schumi and now all he can talk about is Lewis Hamilton (whether he's a factor in the race or not)- there are 21 other drivers out there you know- and 3 of them beat Hamilton today

go Kimi!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nikki Katz]

While it would be great to lose the adverts I am a little cautious about this. I think that ITV's coverage is, in general, really good. It's pretty much the only thing that ITV still does well, the majority of its other output has become incredibly low-brow in the past few years. Also, ITV have a lot of channels to mess with so that races and even qualifying are now all broadcast live at least somwhere. The BBC has the same number of channels but neither start until 7PM, and both are frankly under threat due to the criticism received from cutbacks that the BBC have made in other areas. I really hope that they do broadcast qualifying in full and they don't have someone like Gary Lineker commentating. The BBC made a complete hash of the ChampCar races that they broadcast a few years ago.
But at least the old Fleetwood Mac theme will be back, ITV's themes change every other year and each is a little bit worse than the one before. The graphics on the credits are incredibly cheesy too. I can't help but laugh at that bit with Coulthard and the roulette wheel.

[FIA]

Will the Positions Graphics change?

[Stuartf12007]

Once again the GP had adverts adverts adverts, and the constant James Alan Lewis Hamilton love fest is doing my head in as is Hamiltons father.

[AndyRAC]

Once again the GP had adverts adverts adverts, and the constant James Alan Lewis Hamilton love fest is doing my head in as is Hamiltons father.

Don't ITV listen to the views of people? And another thing- what happened to Heikki in the press conference? They just left it without hearing from him.

[ShiftingGears]

Once again the GP had adverts adverts adverts, and the constant James Alan Lewis Hamilton love fest is doing my head in as is Hamiltons father.

As a positive they didn't show Lewis' dad at all during the GP coverage! Lifes little gems!

[stevie_gerrard]

Be good to see it on the BBC, just for the theme tune :D which i'm hoping they will bring back.

[Mark]

The position graphics are part of the TV feed ITV gets so they will not change.

[xyz123]

I think there is little danger of the qualifying sessions not being shown live.

In 1996, the last year the BBC had F1 coverage, every qualifying session was shown live on BBC1 or BBC2, why should they do anything worse then they did before?

As someone said earlier before then, qualifying coverage was often only the last ten or twenty minutes, but the old 2 day format used before 1996 was not TV friendly. If Friday was dry and Saturday wet nobody had any chance of beating their time so hardly anyone would go out.