What do US F1 fans think of Speed?
F1 Fanatic’s American guest writer Gerard Hetman gives his verdict on Speed’s coverage of Formula 1.
For an American F1 fan like me the amount of commentary regarding the BBC’s new coverage has been fascinating to follow. It seems to have been well received by many people, but how good a job are Speed doing of covering F1 in the US?
The quality of the broadcast provided by Speed, and it’s parent company Fox Network, inspired a range of responses in an earlier article on this site.
The recognisable team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett, plus with Peter Windsor reporting from the pit lane, seems to be well-regarded by some fans, while other viewers express disappointment at their work and seek a higher standard from Speed. While the discussion may not approach the fever pitch of the James Allen debates, the range of opinions on the Speed group is no less colourful.
Love it or hate it, Speed could be set to be a key point of discussion in what is shaping up as a critical juncture for F1 in America. Let’s take a look at the basics of the station’s operation, and what challenges it will need to resolve in the months ahead.
The nuts and bolts
Formula 1 has been broadcast in America for many years, with the coverage bouncing around between several different broadcast companies – including ESPN and CBS – before finally settling on Speed and FOX several years ago. The combination of networks broadcasts every F1 race of the season, with Speed carrying most races live, while a handful – including the U.S. and Canadian rounds in recent years – are broadcast nationally by FOX. The North American races were carried live, with a few European rounds broadcast on tape delay after being edited and packaged to fit into a two-hour timeslot.
Each member of Speed’s broadcast team brings many years of experience in motorsport and Formula 1 to the table, with each taking a different role in the coverage. Varsha serves as lead commentator, ex-F1 driver Hobbs offers insight on sporting decisions and strategy, while Matchett provides technical analysis and feedback. Windsor, in his role as pit lane reporter, is well known for his pre-race walks on the grid. The station carries live broadcasts of Friday afternoon practice, qualifying, and the race, with a pre-race show and full broadcasts of GP2 races also presented to the fans.
Several of the broadcasters also hold other commentary positions with the network, the best know of which may be Varsha’s twice-annual commentary during the Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions. Windsor also has an extensive journalist career of his own, with an extensive amount of work for F1 Racing magazine, in addition to his start up work with the USGPE project.
Problems
While the Speed crew have plenty of F1 experience and their broadcasts are well-received by many, several issues are set to bring the station’s status as F1 broadcast rights holder in the United States into the spotlight. How the station and parent company Fox handle them could determine how Formula 1 is received in America for many years to come.
The first is the issue of renewing the network’s contract with Formula 1 Management for the rights to broadcast the sport in the United States. According to various unofficial reports, the network’s three-year deal for broadcast rights is set to expire following the 2009 season, and as of this writing, no mention of a renewal has been made public. While a contract between the network and FOM may already be in place, no public word of such a deal seems to have come up.
It may seem natural for Bernie Ecclestone to agree to a quick extension, but the issue of F1 broadcasting in America has been a key point of discussion for many years, and the wish by FOTA and FOM alike to expand the American F1 TV market may prevent an easy renewal for Speed. The network is not carried on all mainstream cable and satellite providers, with some outlets making it part of special sports network packages that subscribers must pay extra to access. F1 team bosses- both before and after the advent of FOTA – have been critical of this lack of access, and have often stressed a review of how the sport is broadcast in America.
Second, and perhaps less pressing, is the possible loss of Peter Windsor as pit lane reporter after his USF1/USGPE venture hits the grid in 2010. While he certainly has his detractors, Windsor’s years in the sport make him a familiar face to many on the grid, and he often gets pre-race interviews with a slew of F1 drivers and VIPs. While he has said that he would like to be involved in some capacity with Speed in the future, it remains to be seen if his new duties as sporting director for his team would allow for his normal role to continue unabated.
If Ecclestone and FOM wanted to look elsewhere, it remains to be seen what options are available for the American market. A simple idea is to buy network TV time and pump in a foreign feed, such as the BBC broadcasts. While die hard fans may love the concept, it would perhaps be a risky move to have a completely foreign operation as the bedrock of F1 publicity in the United States. Other networks, such as American sports broadcast king ESPN, could also be courted for the role. But assembling a quality broadcast team and operation would be a challenge, and the risk remains that a new network would badly mishandle the product in a damaging fashion, such as assembling a poor quality broadcast team.
No matter who broadcasts F1 in America, Ecclestone’s recent pattern of commercial preferences and decisions have not made life easier for any broadcast company in America or, indeed, the entire Western Hemisphere. The recent late start times in Asia have led to live races being shown in the 2-5am range in terms of start times in America, and even European races often roll off while America is just rolling out of bed on Sunday morning. With only one race in either North or South America, showing live feed at prime viewing times is difficult. While tape-delayed broadcasts are an option and can bring greater ratings and exposure, they run the risk of further alienating existing fans.
The future
For me, the Speed broadcasts are both informative and entertaining, and provide quality coverage that is often not matched by broadcasters in some of my other favourite sports. I believe each member of the broadcast team knows his subject, and the group seems to get along well as a whole. See here for an example of Steve Matchett in action.
I also enjoy Windsor’s pre-race grid walks, as he often snags some of the biggest names in the business – he twice pressed Bernie Ecclestone on the subject of a future United States Grand Prix last season, which was a welcome sight. I believe Ecclestone and FOM would be wise to stick with Speed, with perhaps some specifics for more exposure, such as allowing more races to be broadcast on FOX at certain points in the season.
But for as much as I enjoy Speed, I realise that some of my fellow fans don’t share my view. Many have experienced F1 broadcasts in other countries, and would like to see standards and habits used by other networks adopted by Speed.
No matter what you think of the current deal, the future of F1 in America is becoming a hot topic, and broadcast rights are just part of the package. While Fox and Speed- whose studios are very close to the USF1 home base- will be pushing for a renewal, we all know that things can take some crazy turns when Bernie is in charge.
Do you watch F1 in America on Speed? What do you think of their coverage? Leave a comment below.
If you watch F1 on ESPN Star Sports in Asia check out this post by F1 Wolf for his thoughts on their coverage.
i live in the uk! I dont get Speed TV, but thank phuq they get interviews from drivers straight after races!!! #:) makews a whole lotta fun in between !!!
I personally am just grateful to be able to see F1 in HD and with good commentary. I think Speed does a great job and it would be a shame to see them lose the rights a la Setanta Sports or Fox Soccer Channel not being able to broadcast World Cup or Euros.
I have been watching F1 since I was kid growing up in the UK. Watched with Raymond Baxter and Murray Walker on the BBC.
I moved to the US Pacific NW in 82 and have watched F1 on ABC, NBC, CBS , Fox , ESPN and finally Speed.
Some of the network broadcasts were dreadful with the commentators leaving much to be desired.
Speed is great. I have nothing but good to say about the quality of the broadcasts and the the crew Hobbs, Varsha, Matchett and even Windsor when he can tone down his adoration of a certain British driver.
Sure the race times are inconvenient, but that’s what DVR’s are for.
The only thing I would like is Speed F1 to broadcast in HD.
Fox showed a few broadcasts in HD and they were pretty impressive.
Great site Keith, I discovered you last year at end of the season. Been visiting regularly ever since.
No F1 race has been shown in HD as the FOM feed for F1 isn’t recorded in HD, FOX just shows an upscaled widescreen feed.
I agree! (Apart from the DVR thingie – we don’t have one.)
I moved here in 89, and it took me forever to find F1 coverage on the telly; most of the coverage was truly awful.
As a rule, I like the Speed coverage. (I hated it when they shared the season with CBS – they made those races painful to watch!) Depending on what I have to do the next day, I’ll either stay up and watch the race, or hope like heck there’s a repeat when I can watch it.
The only thing I would change is to send the team to the race – I think that would lead to better coverage. The commentators at the NASCAR races look out over the track, but the F1 one commentators are looking at the same pictures as the viewers. It just adds something “extra” when they can actually soak up the atmosphere.
Carolyn Ann
I would agree with you. Although there are certainly areas we could all find that could be improved, overall this is by far the best coverage we have had in the U.S. in the 20+ years I have been watching F1 on the various U.S. media outlets. My biggest beef is not liking Windsor (looking at him with those huge headphones, etc during his pit walks reminds me of Les Nessman on WKRP). Thankfully, for me, this should be his last year, if USF1 launches as planned. I wish they would replay the qualifying sessions later in the day, as they do with the actual races, but at least they show them. No other network was willing to devote the time to do that. Also they don’t edit and shorten down the race rebroadcasts (aside from the edits this year in Malaysia when they cut out a lot of the time when everyone was just sitting around, with their cars parked, waiting on the rain, before the race was called).
Speed does an excellent job. High production values, lots of resources devoted to making the product cutting edge and first-class. And to get Friday practice as well as qualifying is such a great bonus. They get an A+ in my book.
As for the loss of Windsor, what are John Bisignano and his turned-up collar doing? He had the passion…
(I would see the coverage going to Setanta or Versus both as steps backward).
How come you get it in HD???
I presume its not actual proper HD, just upscaled SD. That’s what the Australian channel (One?) gets, I think.
Correct, it is not true HD, rather just upscaled SD.
Very unexpected… being an American who usually prefers everything to be British, regarding television – but, I don’t mind Speed.
I think they do a very good job with the limited resources they have, and I commend their efforts.
With that said, I preferred the ITV coverage and like the BBC coverage more, but I still respect Speed for what they’ve done.
Very interesting article.
Maybe people who watch other broadcasts around the world may like to write similar ones.
Thats what I intend to do.
Im from romania and my bradcater is wfull,but thanks to the internet i can watch it from bbc,speed,rai sport(they are really good).hat i dont like about speed transmision is that they put comercials every 15 minutesthats why im watching now on BBC and RAI!
Been watching the Speed F1 coverage since it was Speed-Vision way back …. ( and before that ESPN in 80’s )
It’s like home to me now after so many years, really no complaints
to think of, don’t need to get nitpicky.
It does come in 16 by 9 wide now but not pure HD which is ok.
I try to watch both coverages Speed and BBC thanks to the beauty
of the internets ( and rapidshare,torrents,and megaupload
I’ve been watching speed since 2002 in the US, and I have to say, because of the magic of bittorrent I prefer the BBC coverage.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy watching a race on Speed – Steve Matchett is a wonderful and unique voice to have. Bob Varsha gets on my nerves because he has that “weatherman” persona, but david hobbs is so unknowingly offensive at times I always crack a smile. peter windsor really annoys me for some reason, mostly because of his bogus pitwalks.
My biggest complaint about SPEED is this – instead of rebroadcasting practice or qualy during the day at a reasonable hour, they fill the schedule with re-runs of NASCAR reality shows. Bogus! Their coverage of european auto racing in general is dismall at best.
I much prefer to get up early, start a torrent download of the Beeb’s coverage and wake up later to watch it. martin brundle has an amazing ability to call a race and an intelligence we don’t get in the US. Jonathan leggard is decent and having post-race commentary from eddie jordan and david coultard is great – they really do speak their minds.
Speeds covers pretty middle of the road as far as commentary goes. But it shows all sessions live which is more then Canada or Australia can say (where i live).
However, I think the speed network is the best option for F1 in America. It’s a specialized network so it can show races a decent times.
If they turn the coverage over to ESPN it will get lost in the shuffle, just like it used to. Football, Baseball, Sportscenter, College sports, drag racing are all more important to American sporting culture then an F1 race in Belgium.
ESPN was good. There is nothing I love more then a 2 hour race cut down to an hour and shown at 3am on Tuesday. Oh ya, cram sum pre-race into the hour too. Love it.
Anywho….let Speed keep the coverage. There is nothing better that any other network can offer. Anyone else will move it to the bottom of the food chain just after trick shot pool.
Hi here in Asia, we watched F1 on Star Sports which is a part of ESPN. Asian version hosted by Steve Dawson and Paula Malai Ali with race commentators Steve Slater, Alex Yoong (A1GP driver Malaysia & former F1 racer) are very good. Although ours have commercial breaks so their might be some scenes which might be clipped during the coverage. But overall they’re good & not biased.
I’ll echo the sentiments of those above and will say that I’m just happy to be able to see the race live each week. The commentary isn’t quite up to par with what I’ve heard from watching some the of qualifying sessions on the BBC online but it’s passable.
The only problem I have with Speed is that it markets itself primarily to the NASCAR fan. The network devotes at least 16 hours or so of coverage to the NASCAR series (Nationwide, Sprint Cup, Trucks) every weekend and promotes programs about drag racing muscle cars, modifying muscle cars, reality challenge shows centered around muscle cars, etc.
I think the potential American F1 fans out there have no interest in most of what Speed is marketing, so when they see something like “Formula 1″ on the guide they assume it’s more of the same. I think it would be a brilliant gamble by a major network to buy the rights to F1 and show four to five races a year live or on tape-delay and then show the rest live and tape-delayed on a popular cable channel like USA, TNT, etc.
Once Americans catch on to what a big deal F1 is, they’ll easily get over the fact that there isn’t an American team dominating the field. Just like at the high ratings ESPN has received for showing the Euro and UEFA cups.
I do agree!SPEED predominantly caters with NASCAR.They should air F1 live during qualifying and race day.Live coverage is definitely much better.
Last year I had both tsn and speed and prefered tsn which used itv…speed usually had more commercials and the sound/picture was lackluster compared to itv. I also prefered itv commentary, however speed shows practice and the full interviews afterwards so it was nice to have and I could switch over when tsn went to commercial.
I only have tsn/bbc feed now…the new commentary isn’t the best but still good.
Over all F1 presentation is great… Team has huge knowledge of the insides in F1.
Two facts that turn me of from American broadcast First is that i have to spend $60 a month in order to have SPEED package. Second there are comercial brakes every 6 to 7minutes (each 2min or more long). This is just getting rediculus. I watched few races in England when I was visiting my faimly and let me tell you there were only 5 to 8 comercial brakes total.
I like Speed, but I wish they had a different parent company. Fox has done everything to hide European racing with the vain belief of NASCAR uber-alles. Instead of showing WRC races, they have 50 million repeats of Pinks, American Fattest TowTruck drivers, and other reality junk. I wish that ESPN would set up their own motorsports network (It is not like they have 15 ESPN channels anyways) and buy F1, MotorGP, WRC, IRL, and LeMans rights to go along with their NASCAR coverage. Fox management has squandered and destroyed Speed as a motorsports channel. Instead they have turned it into one lame reality show, with a big heaping of NASCAR, and only a slice other motorsports. I think there is an opportunity and market for another to exploit.
However that said, for how pathetic motorsports journalism is in the United States, the US F1 broadcaster does ok. I really don’t have a problem with any of them except for Windsor. I discuss this in a post on my blog, but how is there not a conflict of interest with him setting up a team AND reporting on the grid. I am afraid that Speed is going to turn into the USGPE cheerleading network. It is going make James Allen’ affair with Lewis seem tame by comparison.
I think SPEED as one of the worst channels to watch F1 or anything else. The constant commercial “breaks” during practice, qualifying or the actual race are driving insane! Every 5-7min there is a commercial break. They even cut the coverage during moments of overtaking, crash, or some other exciting moments.
During the last 9min of the 2009 Australian GP, Bob Varsha actually said, and he was surprised by it, that there will be “no commercial breaks for the rest of the race”(and that is before the finish line is crossed). I’m so angry at SPEED because of this that I just don’t watch them anymore, instead, I just find an online broadcast.
The other thing is that the three commentators are no commentators. Compared to the BBC coverage with Brundle, SPEED’s team is just there to “entertain” us. I’m not saying that they are incompetent, but they are just past their time in commentating F1.
I hope SPEED changes its policy on commercial “breaks” and let us watch F1 properly.
I can’t stand them!
Thank you BBC!:)
If you notice, their commercials during the races are not even paid commericals. They are promotions for other shows on the channel. I think throughout the broadcast, there was only one or two legitimate commericals during the broadcast. Just pathetic on Speed’ part.
It drives me insane when Eurosport do the same thing – interrupting live coverage (GP2, usually) for ‘house adverts’. If you can’t even sell proper advertising in your ad breaks, why compromise the quality of your coverage by leaving the breaks in? Madness.
Gotta agree with Viktor — not that I hate the Speed-TV team, but they are past it. With the pre-Senna era war stories and the British jingoism, it comes across as a bit of an old boys club. Windsor’s pre-race walks are often embarrassing since people just ignore him, whereas Brundle — a still respected driver — muscles right in and gets the interview. Windsor is just too busy being polite and not offending anyone. Now that we in Canada get a choice between coverage with the BBC commentary or coverage on Speed-TV, we always watch the pre-race on Speed, then switch to Brundle and Co. as soon as their coverage starts up. Brundle is the best F1 commentator, in English at least, around at the moment.
Being in Canada, we have access to SPEED as well as the BBC broadcast.
What I find I end up doing is watching SPEED for qualifying and pre-race, but I find I tolerate the BBC commentary better during the actual race. I don’t know why but that’s my preference.
Observing the past years when Martin B was ITV. As a team Speed rocks.
As entity Martin is awsome but his mates mmmmmm…
I enjoy Speed neutral comentary, and honest FIA crittical position.
But then again, in Canada I can view both and download others.
as an american i have never seen a sporting event without commercial breaks so untill now the breaks never got me mad but now that i now things can be done without the breaks i feel kind of cheated
how does the bbc pay for there programing
the bbc pays for its programming via a ‘tv license fee’.
every house in the uk has to pay a yearly fee of about £150 to have a tv. The bbc takes that money and produces programming for 9 television channels (2 terrestrial, 7 digital) and 10 national radio stations and 49 local radio stations. All of which contain no advertising whatsoever.
The BBC is a government run channel and gets its money from the TV tax. From my understanding, households pay a tax for every tv set they have.
we all do, tax payers pay for it.
Sadly, there is no better alternative than SPEED here in the US. I prefer the BBC broadcast by a mile. I travel overseas regularly and almost always find foreign broadcasts better, even if I can’t understand the language. I always feel as if it is GroundHog Day on SPEED, with Matchet and his extraordinarily predictable comments: “Get on it Boys!, If your going to do it, do it now” If I had a dime for every time I heard that, I’d have a few hundred bucks. I miss Murray Walker.
Good article. I agree with most all of it. Speed does an excellent job with the F1 races. Sure, they are not perfect, but the question should be “as compared to what?” Speed does a much better job than either ABC or (now) Versus does with the Indy Racing League, both of which sound like extended informercials for the IRL. Also, Matchett’s and Hobbs’s expert commentary is much more insightful than what passes for such in other U.S. sports telecasts: “Gee, Jim, with the Lions down by 17 points, they need to score more points.”
As has been pointed out in the other comments, Speed runs far too many commercials and sucks some of the enjoyment out of the race. But, I can’t hold the guys and gals who make the production responsible for the decisions of their evil corporate overlords. Overall, the production is great, and I hope it stays with Speed. Also, jinyourhead is absolutely right that F1 will get lost in the shuffle if it moves to any other U.S. network. We won’t get practice, qualifying, or any other F1 content other than a tape-delayed race.
And, to echo what ExPatBrit said, this is a great site. I also found it at the end of last year and read it regularly. Congratulations on all of your success, Keith. It is well deserved.
let’s not forget, the legendary sam posey is still able to write and narrate the intro to every speed/fox f1 race.
i get speed sd here, and picture quality for the PAL-NTSC conversion is terrible. i do get fox hd, and the races looked very good on it – particularly monaco (not FOM produced).
i like the present crew, even if it will become a trio. what comes up lame is the fact they’re states-side, watching tv along with me. it feels very disconnected – i want to be immersed in the event i’m watching.
the pre-produced pieces are pretty good, but too brief. the supplemental material on the website is good, but the site itself kinda stinks.
the play-by-play and color commentary is comparable to martin brundle – very knowledgable, enthusiastic and funny, but a bit less attitude. after all, it’s only 1/3 david hobbs
maybe the biggest gripe i have against speed is it feels dumbed-down, just like itv/bbc. i appreciate the fact that f1 is complicated (to say the very least) and they are trying to present it in a way pleasing, or at least tolerable, to the casual viewer, but…
nobody watching live at 4am is new to f1!
i don’t need to be told what a !@#$% diffuser/carbon brakes/whatever is for the eleventy thousandth time!
i’d like to see speed keep the f1 rights, mostly because of the crew. i’d also like to see rupert spend a few bucks to put them on location.
“See here for an example of Steve Matchett in action.”
you seem to be missing a link, so i’ll add my own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2-fwAt1GMg
I usually watch the SPEED broadcasts. My biggest gripe about SPEED as a network is that they do not show nearly enough road course racing and it does seem like there are an excessive amount of commercials during the F1 broadcasts. I like the commentary, but I think the pre-race show could be a lot better. Using the miracle of the internet and a torrent site, I have been able to watch the BBC broadcasts. The pre-race show on the BBC is pretty extensive and it just gets me a lot more excited for the race. Just as F1Yankee said, the SPEED guys are not live at the track. The pre-race show on SPEED really suffers as a result of this. Also, I watched the ITV coverage for half of last year and started watching only SPEED because I just not take the constant Lewis cheerleading. I’m American and of course I will be cheering for USF1, but I hope SPEED doesn’t treat the team like ITV treated Lewis in ‘08.
I think until F1 is pushed by ESPN and Fox Sports, but more the former, it will be difficult for F1 to grab a foot hold in America. I love watching the races every two weeks but a lot of my friends, who are very knowledgeable on sports, dismiss it out right because they consider all racing to be similar to Nascar, which we are simply not interested in.
ESPN, when they own the rights to something, hype it like no other company. They use their power over TV, Radio, Website, and Magazine to make America care about things. I know they currently have a deal in place with Indy/Kart, but I believe Americans would enjoy F1. We enjoy “first class” leagues in Basketball and Baseball, and getting first class racing pushed by ESPN my succeed.
Speed does a good job and its great to have the qualifiers and training sessions live. I have a bit of a problem with their very obvious bias for British drivers, particularly Lewis Hamilton. Their treatment of Alonso the year he was in Mcclaren was embarrassing. I think it would be more profesional to tone their preference down, get the facts right and stick to them without prejudice.
Good point, but I have never really picked up on the British drivers preference. I was not watching in 2007, but last year I diden’t see any emphasis towards Hamilton or others. Indeed, after the epic finish in Brazil, David Hobbs was not talking about Hamilton, or Massa, but Vettel and his very bright future in F1.
The trouble with F1 being pushed by ESPN or Fox Sports is that to be more mainstream it will be dumbed down.
I use to watch it on ESPN or ABC ten to fifteen years ago and the inane commentary would get on your nerves.
Things like “well bob, the motors for these cars are in back just like that Beetle you had in college!”
Or pointing to the lack of tread on the tires. Very different from your chevy.
I will stick with Speed and hope the internet evolves enough that I can watch in HD on a 60inch big screen in real time.
First, my thanks to everyone who has read and/or commented on this. As I always say, it is absolutely amazing to see people from around the world comment on something I write
I agree with many of you that the SPEED coverage is good- I did not realize that some of you, living in places where F1 is pretty big, don’t get practice, qualifying or the GP2 races.
I suppose that the USGPE team will get a good bit of coverage on SPEED, as the factory and HQ will be in the same city as SPEED’s studios. But I don’t think it will be biased in any way- hopefully the team can fight enough to merit some mention on results alone.
Happy viewing everyone!
I’ll leave my (positive) views on Speed to another post. But first, thoughts about what network F1 should be on in the US.
First, F1 in its current image (no American drivers or races) will never gain a bigger following in the U.S. if it stays on Speed. It simply gets very, very little publicity on other TV channels or in print. On a Sunday night, SportsCenter on ESPN might show a minute or two of highlights from a race, but they really don’t tell any of the story. Compare this to the daily half-hour of NASCAR news that ESPN shows. As for print, F1 gets a short blurb in most sports pages every weekend, excepting the occasional longer piece on Lewis Hamilton (in the last year, in both the NY and LA Times).
The current TV contract serves the devoted fan pretty well, but does nothing to bring in new viewers. It’s nice that FOX shows its 4 races a year on national TV, but they do *zero* advertising for these races. I’ve never even seen an ad during the previous day’s baseball coverage. Because of this, you have to be flipping channels at 10AM in the middle of June/July to randomly happen across an F1 race. It doesn’t help that the FOX telecasts have a lot of ads–to me, it seems like more than Speed usually shows.
So, some possibilities for the next time FOM negotiates the TV contract:
* The idea of FOM buying network TV time and doing its own broadcast is interesting, but I can’t see it happening. Mostly because FOM doesn’t care enough, but also because there isn’t much Sunday time to spare on the big networks. No single network out of ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX could carve out a 2-hour chunk every Sunday from April to November. For a start, FOX, NBC, and ABC all take different parts of the NASCAR season. And CBS has NFL, tennis, and golf obligations.
Now, the current NASCAR TV deal is up for renewal soon, and NASCAR is far less popular than it was the last time they made a TV deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the current networks dropped out, and NASCAR ends up relegated to ABC/ESPN. This could leave FOX with Sundays free from April to the NFL season in mid-September.
* A different cable channel picking up F1. I could see this happening–Versus (a channel known for cycling, hockey, and fishing/myriad outdoors shows) just started their new TV deal for IndyCar. They seem committed to doing a good job on the broadcast, which is in stark contrast to ESPN/ABC, who did a largely crummy job. I’m not sure that Versus could take on both IRL and F1 though, and there are no other (non-FOX) sports networks that I could see doing it. ESPN would be able to promote the hell out of F1, but they didn’t do it for IndyCar.
* Or, just keep the same contract going. Yeah, we have complaints, but they are relatively minor compared to other countries. The commentary team is good, we get to see Friday practice, qualifying, and the race live, there’s widescreen, and a few races get national broadcasts. Seeing as how Bernie clearly doesn’t care about the American market, we could be doing so much worse.
I really hope Versus doesn’t pick up F1. Did you see the ratings for the first IndyCar race? Something like 233,000 viewers! That is absolutely horrible. Certainly a large part of the terrible ratings is the limited availability of Versus, but those are disasterous numbers any possible way you look at it.
As much as I dislike the way SPEED and FOX are run the coverage of F1 is excellent. Very good production and the commentary team is very knowledgeable. I havent yet watched the new BBC coverage but I preferred SPEED over last years ITV.
I think the best way to increase exposure without alienating fans would be to keep the team together with live broadcasts on SPEED and tape delayed broadcasts on FOX. Only the hardcore fans watch races live and they all have SPEED anyways. I would be worried about bringing in other commentators especially from their NASCAR broadcasts. NBC covered one ALMS race last year and it was probably about the worst commentary I have ever heard. They had their NASCAR team do it and they didnt know a thing about sports cars or racing strategy.
as a very new f1 fan i think that the speed covrage is good. i played american football for a big school and after stoping i feel in love with f1. some times you dont think about how complicated f1 is. i have loved racing but never followed till now and speed did a great job of giving a new unknowing fan a way to understand why a race finish takes a week to sort out
Well you can say a lot about Speed’s coverage — I was watching them during the Indy debacle, and I wanted to strangle Hobbes for suggesting that the drivers who had withdrawn be stripped of all their points, as if his entertainment was more important than (what was apparently) a safety issue — but the one thing I miss in their coverage is since there are no US drivers, we don’t have to listen to how bloody wonderful Lewis Hamilton (sorry, typo there, I meant Jenson Button) is.
ITV, and BBC before and since, indulge in unabashed homerism that really detracts from the coverage.
Just cover the event. Don’t play favorites.
If it was not for SPEED I would not know of F1. I like the coverage and the pre race. I like the extra shows ie inside grandprix and F1 debrief. This gives me more to F1 and I dont think any other channel can do it better. I dont like the races on Fox due to they only talk to the winner of the race and then cut away and we dont get anymore from the 2nd and 3rd and there is no pre race talks which I like. As for commericals well… They have to pay the bills and commericals pay them so I deal with it. I hope it stays as over the last few years I have come to enjoy F1 a lot.
a fence-straddling American viewer.
Think of a American CART refugee looking for a fix on TV. Tries F1. The obfuscation sometimes provided by someone too sophisticated and knowledgeable an F1 expert could easily work against nurturing the USA initiate.
Actually, I don’t speak for myself. I myself would prefer the F1 BBC feed (can’t get it); it (the coverage) provides so much of what I consider right atmosphere. Besides I’m a Brundle fan). But consider too, am so buts I want someone to carry Euro sidecar racing again (with British commentary please). But that’s another forum…
nuts, not buts. lol
My main problem with Speed’s F1 coverage is Bob Varsha. This guy does not pause for breath. He talks endlessly. Bob has his little fact-sheet out and he constantly goes on and on and on about worthless trivia that has nothing to do with the race. Bob often keeps talking even when there is an important event going on on the track.
In summary: I wish Bob wouldn’t talk quite so much. Take a breath.
As a Brit domiciled in Canada, we have the choice of TSN using the BBC feed or Speed. Both suffer from adverts although this year TSN continue to show the action without commentary in a small split screen window whilst the adverts are playing.
The new BBC format is great and they are certainly improving although picking up Anthony Davidson from BBC radio would be a favourable additon.
The Speed Team of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett, with Peter Windsor doing his walks do a great job but for reasons unbeknown to me some of the advertised programs are subject to blackout…perhaps they don’t pay Bernie enough readies. I particular like the round table sessions which can be viewed on line.
By the way I like your site alot…keep up the good work Keith.
Any of you ever check out MotoGP’s internet subscription offer?
I’ve watched many races in Europe with the subscription multicast (I think Nascar either does or tried something similar in the US). As a diehard fan, it’s great. Germany’s Premiere offering is fantastic.
How many would be willing to pay for either a subscription TV or internet broadcast?
interesting, but sounds expensive
The downside of Speed is the mentioned limited access in many markets. I would love to see F1 available without having to pay and extra fee for the sports package. Keep the same commentating team just move it to a network available on the standard package. How about Verses or get Fox to run them all. ESPN, why haven’t you started an EPSNRacing network?
As far as time of day is concerned, I can record them as well as they can. Run them live and for the die hards may be on Speed and tape-delay for the masses on a more accessible network.
I was lucky enough to see Speed TV’s coverage of a Grand Prix last year and have to say you guys over in the US are very lucky..Matchett & Co are hilarious! Plus the quality of your coverage is far, far better than anything we get in Australia
I really enjoy watching Speed’s coverage. The commentators come across as very knowledgeable and honest. They realize that most of their viewers are fans already and so they don’t need to “dumb down” the commentary or feign enthusiasm. David Hobbs is unafraid to criticize the state of affairs in F1. Compare this to the commentary you get for other series like IndyCar where you get commentators who scream into the microphone and get all melodramatic and cheerleading for the series.
I don’t want to knock Hobbs but there is SO much more to be had when you have a current or recently retired driver making comments. A lot of times Hobbs is very close to that “well back in my day we….” line!
)
One of those topics any F1 viewer loves to talk about: their tv team. As a relatively recent fan of F1 (2007 was my first full season) I never really witnessed the earlier versions of F1 on TV here in the states. That first year I loved the “Three Amigos” of Speed. But throughout that year I kept wanting more; more coverage, more information, more insight on strategy and tech. Instead what Speed gave me was more of was Extendz and Viagra commercials and Hobbs making engine noises.
So I discovered pipelines and inroads into the ITV and BBC feeds. This has completely spoiled the campy Speed experience. The guys, not being trackside, miss many many stories especially during the race. The commercials come in flurries (but this does seem slightly improved through two races this year) and the infernal time-slip for the editing of quali makes following F1’s live timing useless. It’s unfair to compare the outstanding state-sponsored BBC coverage with specialty network of Speed. I usually make the comparison of a man bringing a spoon to a gunfight.
That said the absolute worst place for F1 to wind up is ESPN. You’d still have the guys commentating while watching the world feed in Connecticut rather than trackside and I suspect there would be even more commercial interruption. Similar to the coverage of the UEFA Champions league; you have exactly two hours blocked out for the game and the commentary is piped in from offsite with world feed pictures. I also have no doubt they’d farm the practices and qualification to their new online espn360 service rather than try to cram it into the family of networks. Versus would have been the ideal channel with its collection of niche sporting programming, but with Indy cars now locked into a long deal this is extremely unlikely.
Lots of rambling but basically… Speed is perfect for growing the new F1 fan here in the states. It’s simple, the guys play up the soap opera aspect quite regularly, and have identifiable catch phrases you can come to echo (or drink to). But once you become a fan of the world of F1 rather than just a viewer you quickly come to want much, much more from the coverage. It’s up to Bernie if he just wants eyeballs or if he wants to build on the rabid stateside fan-base.
“I also enjoy Windsor’s pre-race grid walks, as he often snags some of the biggest names in the business – he twice pressed Bernie Ecclestone on the subject of a future United States Grand Prix last season, which was a welcome sight.”
i thought this was fascinating:
eddie jordan: (somber tone) bernie, do you think brawn gp are good for f1?
bernie: oh yeah, they’re doing very well blah blah blah
ej: but
bernie: blah blah blah
ej: (oh, i get it now. i should move on if i know what’s good for me)
Sports broadcasting in America seems to get worse by the day. With College sports they tend not to be harsh on the players because they are amateurs. I can live with that, however in Pro sports they never are critical if it is warranted because they all tend to be former players or coaches looking to stay buddy buddy with the current players in coaches. They never want to burn a bridge to a future job.
The SPEED coverage of F1 is the exception. I recall Hobbs just drilling a Ferrari in one of the first races I watched in 2007 because he couldn’t pass a Spyker way in the back and I was sold. High comedy, high entertainment and totally justified. Things always are changing but I hope this doesn’t for a long while.
I have written this before (in fact, I’m taking it from my comment in a recent entry on this site on “how we will be watching F1 in 2009″), so here is how I feel on Speed.
I’m American, I have Speed. It’s a decent team that I used to like a lot more than I have recently.
But it’s probably not as great as I once thought it was. Matchett is easily the class of the field. He’s relatively neutral and provides a unique perspective absent from most F1 broadcast teams. If you haven’t had a chance to read his books, by all means, try to do so. He has a fiery passion for the sport and its history and is easily the most accurate on the team. His fuel calculations are on target and he can frequently diagnose any problem or situation at a given time. And best of all, he keeps his trap shut when it doesn’t need to be open. Because of that last part, he is the only one who would ever potentially have a shot of being employed on a non-American F1 broadcast.
Hobbs used to get me sometimes, but what’s impressive (or maybe not) here is that he’s actually better than Varsha. His personality makes him a babbler and sometimes a foolish one, but in reality, he gets it wrong less than Bob. Not a particularly great guy in a booth and he was totally outclassed by TV newbie/American racer Townsend Bell at the Italian GP in 2007 when Hobbs was attending to personal issues. That kid blew him out of the park. But as a whole, for someone who has been out of the sport for so long, he has a decent grasp on the sport.
But Varsha though. For someone who really puts words together well and has a flair (and usually an honest, non-plastic flair) for TV and PR, he gets flustered much more than I once thought. He is incredibly biased, perhaps even rivaling Peter Windsor. He makes countless errors each broadcast and is the one most susceptible to hype and unfounded beliefs in the sport. And since he is obviously the #1/PBP in the booth, that’s just unacceptable. And he nearly has almost as much TV experience as Hobbs (and maybe even more if you consider outside the booth). And that’s a lot. Blowhard comes to mind.
Windsor I give a free pass to because his purpose IS to be an opinion guy. It’s his job and always will be in his capacities…this is why he writes.
i agree, matchett would be a very strong addition to any english-speaking broadcast.
As many others have mentioned, considering the popularity of the sport in this country, the coverage we get here is pretty good.
Hobbs just has to go in my opinion. He’s constantly reminiscing about the old days which is nice but I’d much rather have the relevant and insightful commentary by a recent driver with a good way with words like a Coulthard. Why can’t they get someone a little younger as the “driver” on their team. Plus, Hobbs kills me with his purposeful mispronunciation of almost everyone’s name… Louiiseeee Hamilton? Bob Kubica when Robert’s said repeatedly he hates being called Bob? Hikey instead of Heikki? Cmon man you’re a professional just do it right.
And Windsor’s a biased sonuva… And it would be great if there was an additional 15 minutes of post-race coverage with interviews like the BBC does.
On another note, watching the BBC commentary for Malaysia after watching the race on SPEED, I noticed that the SPEED guys made less mistakes in that broadcast, including with the rules around the rainy race being called, than the BBC guys did. In fact I was a bit shocked at the number of mistakes the BBC’s broadcasters made during that race. I can’t remember the exact ones now though…
I love this article I was considering this very issue during Australia. I was trying to decide which station I would watch Speed, or BBC by means of pirate feeds care of a great f1 site
. After watching Australia from BBC and on Speed. The verdict was obvious, BBC is the clear winner. Yes they both have impressive backgrounds, the more impressive on the part of the BBC, but the simple fact is BBC is more exciting. Varsha is boring someone above said he was sounds like a weatherman, that sounds about right. Martin Brundle knows how to comment on a F1 race. I love his enthusiasm, he sounds like he loves the sport. Varsha sounds like he’s commenting out of obligation. That slow and mellow commenting in good for NASCAR, which I watch, But F1 is a short fast paced race that demands an exciting commentator like Brundle. Furthermore, I though Windsors paddock watch wasn’t as aggressive as Kravitz. You need to be aggressive to get good interviews.
i envy people that can watch quality TV with no commercials.
SPEED is good and all, but commercials destroy all live sports broadcasts. Many times I have missed position changes and pits during the breaks. Its ridiculous.
Steve Matchett, David Hobbs and Bob Varsha are probably the best lineup of broadcasters heard on US sports television. I can’t think of any team that I am more happy with in any sport on ESPN or otherwise.
The knowledge, humor and presentation are always great.
The one thing about the broadcasts that is never great is Peter Windsor. His constant man love with Lewis is beyond reprehensible. Back before they had him live in the pit and on the grid before the race his in depth interviews and planned pieces were incredible. Since he has a current voice throughout the weekend it is nothing but a headache.
F1 in HD on Speed with the 3 guys in the studio is by far superior to any other sports coverage. It would be silly to change anything, has been incredible for years.
Being an ExPat Brit now living in the US i can tell the difference between SPEED and ITV/BBC coverage of formula one.
All i can say it is like night and day. No comparison at all really. I can’t say anything about the 2009 coverage on Speed. but 2007/2008 was really bad compared to the british coverage.
I’ve seen the BBC coverage and didn’t know how much lacking Speed’s coverage was until I saw the BBC one. If there was a way to see it and dvr/pvr the BBC coverage, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
That said, I’ll take what I can get here in the states.