Originally posted by D.M.N.
That has to be a joke. ITV's coverage in 1997 was a [B]huge step up from the coverage BBC offered in 1996 - it was only in the last few years [say since 2006] where viewers have really become critical of ITV's coverage with the "Hamilton effect" playing its part. [/B]
I would grade ITV-F1 coverage over the 12 seasons like this:
1997 *****
1998 ****.5
1999 ****
2000 ***
2001 ***
2002 ***
2003 ***
2004 **
2005 **
2006 *.5
2007 *
2008 *
Really, apart from hiring silly Murray, ITV's coverage in the first couple of seasons was superb. They started with Simon Taylor and Tony Jardine in the studio with Jim before and after the race. The Murray & Martin Saturday show was nice in the evenings, and the build up features were entertaining and the post-race analysis was decent.
Sadly, Simon Taylor was gone by 1998, but the rest remained the same. Another good year for F1 fans in Britain.
By 1999 they had ditched the Saturday evening show, which was a disappointment. Overall though, the coverage was still good, and they had lots of different guests in the studio for different races (team bosses, ex drivers, F3000 guys, etc.)
So a great first 3 years for ITV-F1, but in 2000 their commitment seemed less. They didn't show the United States Grand Prix live on ITV1 which was very disappointing for those affected. Also, by 2000 the quality of pre-race features has slumped somewhat.
2001, 2002 and 2003 were alright, but it was annoying when they did those ridiculous Beverley Turner features.
It was disappointing that Friday practice wasn't shown live, but a logical decision none the less.
2004 was the first year when it really took a drastic turn for the worse IMO. Gone was the studio and instead Jim and Tony (or Mark) would stand around in the paddock. It really seemed as though the budget had been cut significantly. The obsession with Jenson Button and his family was also extremely irritating. Never before had ITV shown this obsessive side to their coverage... even back in the early days with Hill still around they didn't obsess over him in the way they were now doing with mediocre JB with his string on 3rd place finishes. :/
2005 was much the same as '04, although to some degree the Button thing was tamed by the BAR team being far less competitive and the season being far more exciting generally, giving scope for plenty of more interesting discussions (Renault vs McLaren).
2006 was terrible though. The Button obsession was back with a vengeance and Steve Rider's addition to the ITV crew made no obvious impact, although his voice and manner is less annoying than Jim's IMO.
2007 and 2008 needs no explanation .... the Hamilton thing just totally took the piss.....
So basically they started off very well but got gradually worse and finished off crap. Pity.
Shame they dumped the whole program a few years ago.
