Leigh Diffey in at NBC Sports Network for both F1 & IndyCar

[GRW1983]

Aussie Leigh Diffey has been confirmed as joining the NBC Sports Network as lead commentator for both their F1 & IndyCar coverage, where he will replace the retiring Bob Jenkins. He'll be joined by David Hobbs/Steve Matchett for their F1 coverage, whilst Will Buxton (pit reporter) has been linked to doing both F1 & IndyCar as well. No news yet on the futures of Jon Beekhuis, Wally Dallenbach, or the rest of the NBC IndyCar crew. Seems that most of the SPEED crew are being recruited, although Bob Varsha will not be involved as he'll still be under contract to FOX for 2013. Seems like a very good move from NBC Sports Network.

If only ABC would revamp their broadcast team, as Marty Reid & Scott Goodyear need to go. How about Paul Page & Tommy Kendall for ABC next season???

[00steven]

Now it's ABC's turn.

[call_me_andrew]

I was hoping for Eli Gold, but Leigh Diffey isn't bad.

[jimispeed]

Leigh Diffey IMO is a great choice! Paul Page and Jon Beekhuis? Tommy Kendall? Paul Tracy?

[garyshell]

How would Will Buxton do both F1 and Indycar. Thats a hell of a lot of Skymiles!

Gary

[FIAT1]

This is good news, but then again the bar wasn't set very high. Will be much better for sure.

[DBell]

How would Will Buxton do both F1 and Indycar. Thats a hell of a lot of Skymiles!

Gary


I'm guessing Will would only be able to do IndyCar when F1 isn't scheduled that same weekend. The bigger question is how is Diffy going to do both? Is IndyCar going to be called from a studio now? That is the only way I see Leigh being able to do both as there is bound to be several weekends when both F1 and IndyCar have races on the same day.

Leigh will be a huge improvement over Jenkins. I would like them to find a way to get Tommy Kendall in the mix. I'll miss Varsha in F1. I expect ABC to keep going with their sleep inducing team.

[Jag_Warrior]

Sounds great - so far, so good. As far as F1 was concerned, I was really worried about "the band" getting split up. Hopefully Varsha will be able to jump over in 2014, although I do like Leigh Diffey. On the IndyCar side, this also sounds great. As I've said before, I like Jon Beekhuis, but compared to Steve Matchett, his data acquisition geek skills are pathetic. If he wants to be involved still, he is welcome to come to my house and watch a couple of races a year with me... as long as he brings the cold drinks. Wally Dallenbach can stand outside the window and watch... as long as he remains (completely!!!) quiet and doesn't disturb the dog.

Assuming IndyCar doesn't further implode before the season kicks off, at least NBC Sports seems ready & willing to pick up where Speed Channel is leaving off. Also, I agree with those above who would like to see a real personality, like Tommy Kendall or Paul Tracy, in the booth at IndyCar races.

[zako85]

What's going to happen to Speed TV now? Is there going to be some good racing on it at all besides Aussie V8 supercars? It could be good if they covered something else, like FIA GT, WTCC, or BTCC.

[zako85]

By the way, is NBC ever going to change the screen format. I mean, look at this:


[HD] IndyCar 2012 - Sonoma (Finish) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz0OCvBTxg8)


Could there possibly more clutter and distraction than this? Why do they waste so much space at the top with those dark area? Why the line constantly scrolling? This is just terrible to watch. Why can't they do it like F1 broadcasts?

[call_me_andrew]

What's behind the dark area that's so important?

The line constantly scrolls because that's what Fox came up with when they started covering NASCAR in 2001 and everyone has copied it ever since.

[zako85]

What's behind the dark area that's so important?


How about they don't waste that area? Either make it transparent, or move information display up a bit so that the viewable area is bigger.




The line constantly scrolls because that's what Fox came up with when they started covering NASCAR in 2001 and everyone has copied it ever since.

Just because everyone is copying it, does not mean that it's good. The whole screen format looks amateurish to me, too much flash and eye candy without a purpose. I find the scrolling line terribly distracting.

[GRW1983]

Just a quick update. NBC Sports Network has released their 2013 F1 & IndyCar line-up. As expected, Leigh Diffey will be lead commentator, alongside analysts Wally Dallenbach Jr, and Townsend Bell. Jon Beekhuis is going back to being a pit reporter, alongside Marty Snyder and Kevin Lee. Robin Miller will also be a roving reporter as well. Not too many changes, but I think a good move to swap Townsend Bell and Jon Beekhuis, as Townsend Bell has driven the DW12 and should be able to give a more up-to-date analysis in the booth. Looking forward to the season starting now.

[millencolin]

I remember leigh's commentating from back in the v8supercars days, he did a hell of a job then. So he will work a treat for the NBCSN.

[Butplug Maximus]

OK, Was I hallucinating last night? Or was Bob Varsha not on NBCSN hosting the F1 coverage in Maylasia?

[garyshell]

I heard and thought the same thing. Guess he got an early release on his contract at Speed.

Gary

[FIAT1]

I heard and thought the same thing. Guess he got an early release on his contract at Speed.

Gary

....or borrowed for some events,in any case it was good to see him there

[FIAT1]

I remember leigh's commentating from back in the v8supercars days, he did a hell of a job then. So he will work a treat for the NBCSN.

I thought broadcast was pretty good,but still think that closer shots and different angles would be much better than high up above shots.

[GRW1983]

OK, Was I hallucinating last night? Or was Bob Varsha not on NBCSN hosting the F1 coverage in Maylasia?My guess is that NBCSN will "borrow" Bob Varsha when Leigh Diffey is covering IndyCar later in the day. At the moment, Malaysia, Bahrain, Belgium and Japan are the only F1 races that have a clash with IndyCar, so I reckon Leigh Diffey will still do the other 15 races and Bob Varsha will just fill-in on occasions.