Ben Edwards to join BBC commentary team
Television
Ben Edwards
Ben Edwards will commentate on F1 for the BBC in 2012, according to the presenter.
Edwards told his Twitter followers: “So, it looks as though it’s really happening. I will be the BBC F1 commentator in 2012 and I can’t wait.
“It took a while for things to be sorted, and thanks to ITV for being so understanding. Really looking forward to working with the crew.”
Edwards previously commentated on F1 on Eurosport and on the pay-per-view F1 Digital+ channel which ceased operations in 2002. He has also voiced many of the F1 season review DVDs.
He has commentated on a range of other motor racing series including the British Touring Car Championship on ITV.
The BBC have already confirmed Jake Humphrey Lee McKenzie, Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard will remain on their team in 2012. Last week Sky announced David Croft, Anthony Davidson, Natalie Pinkham and Ted Kravitz had left the BBC to join them for next year.
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Image © BTCC.net
Jim1601 (@jim1601) said on 13th December 2011, 17:37
Great news!
His commentary for Eurosport on F1 and then CART was brilliant.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th December 2011, 17:39
Couldn’t agree more. Here’s a couple of great moments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twROX0iXZUY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZQZ6MjtGPQ
BasCB (@bascb) said on 13th December 2011, 21:19
Thanks Keith, I have very good memories from Edwards commenting as well.
TheBrav3 said on 13th December 2011, 22:51
Nice one bbc they’re so ashamed of loosing martin brundle they won’t even make an announcement that he’s been replaced.
@keithcollantine at least there are real reporters still at work for those of us who couldn’t give a monkeys about twitter.
porridge90210 (@porridge90210) said on 13th December 2011, 21:59
WOW…….. that Michael Andretti/Juan Montoya finish is unreal, never seen it before, respect to Montoya for keeping the foot down, he didn’t have a whole pile of room!!
thespuditron (@spud) said on 13th December 2011, 22:00
After watching those videos Keith, my mind has been made up for me. I don’t care if half the races aren’t live. I think I may well be saving my money next year and going for the BBC coverage if that is the level of commentary we are going to have.
Fantastic stuff. Really very, very good. :D
UKFan (@) said on 13th December 2011, 22:58
Sorry but I used to think that he talked too much, maybe my problem was with Watson, I cant recall too young.
Chalky (@chalky) said on 13th December 2011, 23:09
Agreed. I have great memories of Ben commentating on CART.
M.M.C (@mmc) said on 13th December 2011, 17:41
Who needs Brundle, eh? :P
snowman (@snowman) said on 13th December 2011, 18:50
Who’s Brundle :)
was he that fella who disappeared on to Sky never to be seen again.
SennaNmbr1 (@sennanmbr1) said on 13th December 2011, 17:51
Finally they get it right. Not that Brundle and DC were a bad combo, but Ben Edwards is very good. Should’ve gone with him from the start instead of Legard.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th December 2011, 17:55
@SennaNmbr1 I must say given his previous connection to Sky I’m surprised he didn’t end up there.
d3v0 (@d3v0) said on 13th December 2011, 17:54
I too enjoyed his commentary, so we will see how this hashes out.
However, it is going to take a mammoth effort for the beeb to keep up with the quality of Sky’s broadcast. As both versions of coverage are available to me via alternative means, I will be watching coverage of the same races from both coverage teams to see which I think is more enjoyable. Some watch SpeedTV, some watch SpeedTV with the sound off to listen to 5 live commentary, some watch the Beeb with MB and DC, some watch the beeb with 5 live radio.
Me, I will watch each entirely on its own and see how the quality shakes out.
In before “cool story bro”
If you want to know how I watch all different forms of motor racing, there is a method of torrenting which involves a highly secretive and exclusive website. I am not a part of this website, but I am a part of a less-exclusive and less-secretive website where other users post that exclusive coverage. Confused yet? Dont be. Shoot me a message.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 13th December 2011, 17:56
Ben Edwards is one of my favourite commentators ever. He really makes the show and can make anything seem exciting.
I’m a little bit annoyed that Sky didn’t pick him up, as I’ve dreamt for years of a Brundle-Edwards commentary line up. That would have been the ultimate pairing.
It’s just disappointing that we’re finally getting him, but he’s going to be on the BBC, which, to be honest, not a huge amount of people are going to be watching I shouldn’t imagine.
Scribe (@scribe) said on 13th December 2011, 18:02
Many more people have the BBC than have Sky.
The BBC’s feed will probably still be the world feed.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 13th December 2011, 18:12
I’m not so sure. I think OneHD (Australia) might be going with Sky. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. It’s going to be a touch choice who to listen to though! I might end up watching every race twice at this rate…
snowman (@snowman) said on 13th December 2011, 18:55
Don’t know what way the world feed will be, but in the UK, Sky subscription viewing figures are nothing compared to BBC.
Dan Brown (@danbrown180) said on 14th December 2011, 11:09
It’s lunacy to think more people will watch on Sky than BBC.
taurus (@taurus) said on 13th December 2011, 18:00
Bit of a shame for the BTCC
robk23 (@robk23) said on 13th December 2011, 20:50
I agree, it’s great that Ben is moving to commentate on Formula 1 but it’s a huge loss for the BTCC. Him and Tim Harvey were a great commentary duo.
clerkofthecourse said on 14th December 2011, 20:51
And for GT1
Scribe (@scribe) said on 13th December 2011, 18:06
Weal, Sky are welcome to Pinkham. Disapointed that the BBC lost Croft, for I always harked after he, fantastic that we (those that won’t ever pay Murdoch a penny) got Ben Edwards, and kept Coulthard.
Brundle was excellent last year, but it’s clear that he’s in it for the money. And while thats fair enough, after all his pre-sky twitter rubbish it’s just made me loose a ton of respect for him.
Edwards involvement in the high moments make him absolutley top class, great capture by the BBC.
George (@george) said on 13th December 2011, 18:10
I dont think so. It seems to me he didn’t want to stay with a broadcaster who’d only be doing half the races, and less chance to do in depth pieces. I imagine he was being paid fairly well by the beeb in the first place.
Gridlock (@gridlock) said on 13th December 2011, 18:26
He was complaining (!) about paying 50% tax so that puts him North of 150k at the beeb, depending on his other income.
He always lamented the lack of technical coverage of F1 so I’d imagine the pitch was more about what Sky can do with that than monetary – and given the choice you’d choose the broadcaster with the all-races-live deal too, no?
peteleeuk (@peteleeuk) said on 14th December 2011, 0:40
He’s said fairly straight that the decision was swayed heavily by the way the BBC made the deal without consulting the production team and then failed to inform them before the information was given to the press. Basically, he didn’t want to work for people that treated him like that. And who can blame him?
Since then he’s been spouting the live coverage line, which I don’t doubt is somewhat true but is mostly the corporate line and a bit of subtle promo.
I don’t think he is exactly in need of a few quid, can’t imagine money is a major factor at all.
bpacman (@bpacman) said on 14th December 2011, 13:49
@Scribe – I disagree that Brundle did it for the money. Imagine if you were Brundle and had the two choices before you…
On one hand, you have the offer from Sky who are screening every race live, launching a brand new channel for the coverage and have publicly committed to improving the standard of F1 broadcasts.
On the other hand, you have the offer from BBC to commentate live on only half of the races, with less airtime for you, less build-up and coverage for the races that are not being shown live and doubts about the corporation’s commitment to the sport in future years.
Are you saying that you would prefer the BBC offer?
What if a few years down the line the BBC quit F1 altogether? By then, Sky would likely have a lead commentator entrenched (Crofty/Ben Edwards) and you (you still being Martin Brundle) may be unable to commentate live on the races at all.
George (@george) said on 13th December 2011, 18:07
Great news! I’ll at least be watching the races that are live on the BBC, so relieved they’ve hired the best man for the job :)
sato113 (@sato113) said on 13th December 2011, 18:10
so he’ll leave the BTCC commentary next year?
UnitedKingdomRacing (@unitedkingdomracing) said on 13th December 2011, 18:59
Thats the sad part of it. I wonder who is going to join Tim Harvey for that job.
I know that some of you wouldn’t agree but I always enjoyed James Allen alongside Brundle in his ITV years. But Allen might be a bit to much involved in F1 only to commentate the BTCC.
sato113 (@sato113) said on 14th December 2011, 1:58
who will be lead commentator for sky? surely crofty isnt the back up guy?
PieLighter (@pielighter) said on 13th December 2011, 18:16
Spoilt for choice now, Edwards was awesome on A1GP. I’ll probably follow Brundle to Sky, but don’t hate on me, I’m not paying the bills! XD
91jb12 (@91jb12) said on 13th December 2011, 18:19
I thought i read somewhere Ben Edwards was not a keen flyer
Gridlock (@gridlock) said on 13th December 2011, 18:27
I’d drive to the races if someone gave me a job that meant I needed to be at all of them!
suffolk (@suffolk) said on 13th December 2011, 18:34
Finally.
I look forward to the interviews over the radio as the drivers are on the drivers are on the warm up lap, waiting behind the safety car or straight after crossing the finish line!
Seriously though he is responsible for my interest in F1 from his time on Eurosport. I was very young at the time but whenever possible I would watch all the practice sessions and Friday qualifying. Ben seems to have an ability to draw the audience in and make them feel like they are part of the event with his no nonsense commentary, knowledge, excitement, seriousness and professionalism.
The conspiracy theorist in me has always suspected that there was something in the past that has kept Ben off of the BBC. I have never found out what it was…
tflb1 (@) said on 13th December 2011, 18:45
As someone who has the choice of BBC or Sky, I think maybe I’ll watch the pre and post race stuff on Sky and the race on the BBC. I love Edward’s commentary, but I do hope he’ll continue doing the BTCC when he can.
snowman (@snowman) said on 13th December 2011, 19:02
Will Sky not have advertisements post and pre race??
tflb1 (@) said on 13th December 2011, 19:04
Yes, but I like the sound of Brundle’s technical things.
snowman (@snowman) said on 13th December 2011, 19:28
u may record the BBC’s pre show then watch it later and if really into F1 record the Sky race and watch it later. 8 or 9 hours later u will b done!
snowman (@snowman) said on 13th December 2011, 19:00
Excellent news for a change from the BBC. I personally was having nightmares of Legard coming back.
I know I will be in the minority but would rather have Coulthard for the analyst role than Brundle so this line up is perfect.
kinggp (@kinggp) said on 13th December 2011, 20:13
completely agree with you i absolutely hate brundle he always gets things wrong, misses obvious pieces of action and his voice and attitude just annoys me. dc is better but last years commenty was s***
idea line up would be croft and davidson but if not edwards and dc will be good mainly due to edwards though
zippyone (@zippyone) said on 13th December 2011, 19:09
Me too @snowman, if Legard had come back that would have been the nail in the coffin for me!