80 replies to this topic

[underdog13]

Hello everyone.

 I have been watching F1on TV in the USA,(Northern California and Norther Nevada) since ESPN started showing races back in the early 80's. Used to watch Monaco taped delayed on ABC way back when... I have been throughout the whole SPEEDTV, Fox, and now NBC stuff.

 

When I frist learned of the NBC switch , I thought it might be a good thing as the other coverage was pretty played out. I had read they are going to stream practice and have better coverage....Sadly I found it very disappointing.  We currently have Direct TV, and while we have all the NBC channels, I found that things weren't always on when they said they were going to be. 

 

 In my frustration I started searching for online coverage. I found a couple of good links for SKY TV coverage.... WOW! You have to put up with a LOT! of pop up pages and add's but I seem to find my way through all the BS stuff and was able to watch ALL practice session and Qualifying sessions!!! LIVE! and all press conferences as well.... and then get all the live commentary from all the people at the track.( no offense to Will Buxton! I like his coverage)  It truly blows US coverage away. I understand that the US audience is vastly smaller so doesn't warrant the British coverage but NBC could do a far better job.

 

 I watched most of the second half of the season on my computer. There's nothing like having so many staff at the track, plus the former drivers...Hill ,Herbert, Brundle,and Davidson to give a drivers perspective. If there was a way I could subscribe to SKY TV I would do so ASAP.

 

 Cheers All

 

Looking forward to a very interesting season.

[jonpollak]

Today they replaced that shouty Aussie with the sublime Bob Varsha 

 

It was heaven !!

 

Jp

[Afterburner]

Today they replaced that shouty Aussie with the sublime Bob Varsha

It was heaven !!

Jp

I have to be honest, it was rather nostalgic to hear the three of them working together again. I think it's time they nab him for F1 and move Leigh to Indycars, for which they'd both fit better, in my opinion.

[nonobaddog]

Is there such a thing as a 'Diffey Filter'?  Something that would filter out his voice completely?  I would pay a lot for one of those.

 

I actually like Hobbs' commentary.  

Matchett is ok but he likes to repeat what somebody just said like he just thought of it and then over-explains it like he is trying to understand something simple himself.  It is very hard to believe he was an engineer.  

Buxton used to be stupid silly.  The only person that thought he was funny was himself.  Lately he has been a little better, maybe finally maturing a bit.

[SR388]

Today was terrible. The number of commercials is out of hand. They also can't seem to stand to have a quiet moment. You don't have to talk the entire broadcast.

[AustinF1]

Hell, y'all are just talking about the normal NBC stuff there. Today was extra-awful, including, but not limited to missing almost the entire first round of pit stops with a commercial break, coming back from a commercial break to a shot of the crowd when we could all see in the PIP that Lewis was lining up Seb for a pass for the lead...and, of course, returning right after the pass to let us know that it had happened. Gee, thanks.

Edited by AustinF1, 14 May 2017 - 23:32.

[SR388]

Hell, y'all are just talking about the normal NBC stuff there. Today was extra-awful, including, but not limited to missing almost the entire first round of pit stops with a commercial break, coming back from a commercial break to a shot of the crowd when we could all see in the PIP that Lewis was lining up Seb for a pass for the lead...and, of course, returning right afterward to let us know that it had happened. Gee, thanks.

You act as though they told us immediately what happened with the pass. They took their sweet time. It robbed the moment of its excitement.

They seem happy to show soccer contests with no commercials. Maybe they should do the same with F1. Univision manages to do so.

[AustinF1]

You act as though they told us immediately what happened with the pass. They took their sweet time. It robbed the moment of its excitement.

They seem happy to show soccer contests with no commercials. Maybe they should do the same with F1. Univision manages to do so.

LOL, that's right! Totally forgot about that. It was like it hadn't even happened.

 

Please, FOM...I know you guys read this board. Please work out a way for us to buy Sky coverage here in the states. I've met a few of the folks on the NBC team, and they're really awesome, but it seems NBC isn't giving them much to work with.

[Marc Sproule]

Is there such a thing as a 'Diffey Filter'?  Something that would filter out his voice completely?  I would pay a lot for one of those.

 

I actually like Hobbs' commentary.  

on my remote it's called the mute button.

 

as for buxton....he needs a rather large dose of tranquilizers.

[JacnGille]

Is there such a thing as a 'Diffey Filter'?  Something that would filter out his voice completely?  I would pay a lot for one of those.

 

I actually like Hobbs' commentary.  

Matchett is ok but he likes to repeat what somebody just said like he just thought of it and then over-explains it like he is trying to understand something simple himself.  It is very hard to believe he was an engineer.  

Buxton used to be stupid silly.  The only person that thought he was funny was himself.  Lately he has been a little better, maybe finally maturing a bit.

[ArrowsLivery]

I switch to the spanish broadcast whenever NBC starts spamming their commercials. Bernie missed a loophole there because the spanish broadcast must've been a lot cheaper for them to go commercial free. Hopefully Liberty can work out a fix for the next deal.

I think NBC's commentary team is pretty good, especially Hobbs is hilarious at times. I would love for Varsha to come back though he is super.

[Wes350]

You act as though they told us immediately what happened with the pass. They took their sweet time. It robbed the moment of its excitement.

They seem happy to show soccer contests with no commercials. Maybe they should do the same with F1. Univision manages to do so.

 

 

This x1000...

 

I just don't get, it even with the commercials in American Football, baseball and basketball, they would never dream of cutting away in the middle of the action.

 

Why is motorsport on the english language networks ran so shabbily?

 

Univision is an American Cable company - so the whole "need to show tons of commercials to pay the bills" spiel we get from the english language  broadcasters is nonsense!

 

 

I switch to the spanish broadcast whenever NBC starts spamming their commercials. Bernie missed a loophole there because the spanish broadcast must've been a lot cheaper for them to go commercial free. Hopefully Liberty can work out a fix for the next deal.

I think NBC's commentary team is pretty good, especially Hobbs is hilarious at times. I would love for Varsha to come back though he is super.

 

I usually DVR, but last canada race when I watched live, switching to the spanish broadcast was heaven - it would have been better if iI spoke spanish...

 

And if you're not down with Davis Hobbs you should really look in the mirror and reflect on what a bad person you are.

 

But Diffy has to GO. Period. Get Varsha. This is F1 not WWE.

 

 

.

[SR388]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of diffey. I know he is a nice man who works hard at his craft, but his voice is not easy on the ears. He also feels the need to shout, constantly.

Something NASCAR broadcasts do well is they will allow some periods of no talking. On NBC F1, they fill every second with talking.

I would love to get Alan bestwick a go. I think he has a great voice and his contract with Espn is ending. He's the voice of racing I grew up with, besides bob varsha and Eli gold.

Nothing better than Eli Gold calling a NASCAR race on TNN.

[loki]

The amount of time per hour NBC broadcasts commercials never changes.  It's 16 mins an hour (8 mins every half hour) which is the normal US allotment.  Like it or not that's how it is and without paying for some sort of non commercial service it's not going to change.  It seems like there are several because of the way the break them up at times and more often than not it seems they break away at the most inopportune time.

[loki]

This is F1 not WWE.

 

 

No, it isn't WWE.  We know because WWE is popular in the US and is always scripted packed full of excitement...

 

 

 

 

   

[TecnoRacing]

Diffey was also going on and on excessively about a prospective penalty for Hamilton for the rejoin after getting pushed wide by Vettel...

 

Was this ever on the cards or a topic of discussion on other networks?

[Wuzak]

Diffey was also going on and on excessively about a prospective penalty for Hamilton for the rejoin after getting pushed wide by Vettel...

 

Was this ever on the cards or a topic of discussion on other networks?

 

Sky commentators also discussed it, Croft was happy that he didn't go around the bollard because, well, he is Hamilton and he was forced off (in their opinion).

 

But they actually did some digging and found in the drivers briefing notes that it was actually OK (ie didn't go over/through the speed bumps).

[Wuzak]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of diffey. I know he is a nice man who works hard at his craft, 

 

Calling what he does "craft" might be a little generous!

[Wuzak]

But Diffy has to GO. .

 

We in Australia have voted, and have decided that he must stay over there....

 

Although, to be honest, if he came back commentating here I probably wouldn't notice, as we get the sky commentators on pay TV (all races), or the channel 4 commentators on free-to-air (half of the races). They may use local commentators on FTA for the Oz GP, but that's OK because a) I watch on pay TV and b) I am usually at the track. And he may call the V8s, but I hardly watch them now anyway.

[dgsg]

We should be happy they show it at all here. I really miss WRC coverage!

[maximilian]

I have stopped watching US Formula 1 coverage a LONG time ago.  It is simply unwatchable.

[SR388]

The amount of time per hour NBC broadcasts commercials never changes. It's 16 mins an hour (8 mins every half hour) which is the normal US allotment. Like it or not that's how it is and without paying for some sort of non commercial service it's not going to change. It seems like there are several because of the way the break them up at times and more often than not it seems they break away at the most inopportune time.

So how do they get around it with soccer contests? Also what about Univision?

I realize how entitled I sound, but a F1 race is 1.5 hours. Much like soccer, there is that one "moment" in a race that can decide everything. Sometimes it happens at the start, sometimes it happens in the middle, but if that "moment" is missed, it spoils the event.

I would gladly pay $100 a year for no commercials and no commentary.

[Wes350]

The amount of time per hour NBC broadcasts commercials never changes.  It's 16 mins an hour (8 mins every half hour) which is the normal US allotment.  Like it or not that's how it is and without paying for some sort of non commercial service it's not going to change.  It seems like there are several because of the way the break them up at times and more often than not it seems they break away at the most inopportune time.

 

 

So how do they get around it with soccer contests? Also what about Univision?

I realize how entitled I sound, but a F1 race is 1.5 hours. Much like soccer, there is that one "moment" in a race that can decide everything. Sometimes it happens at the start, sometimes it happens in the middle, but if that "moment" is missed, it spoils the event.

I would gladly pay $100 a year for no commercials and no commentary.

 

Univision is an American cable company. Catering to a spanish speaking American audience.

 

They are subject to the same financial demands as their competitors like NBC. (which somehow manages to show soccer uninterrupted)

 

In fact they are at a slight disadvantage in that the have no free to air station like the big four networks...

 

No need to pay anything extra we are just being taken for a ride because $NBC$ says so.

 

You are not being "entitled" when you are simply pointing out how you are being ripped off!

 

.

Edited by Wes350, 16 May 2017 - 00:42.

[Wes350]

We in Australia have voted, and have decided that he must stay over there....

...

 

Does the bastardry of the Australian people know no bounds!  

 

First there was Crocodile Dundee I, II, & III, then you gave us Steve Irwin, and if you think we will ever forgive you for Fosters beer you have another thing coming!

 

To top it all off you now stiff us with Leigh Diffey...

 

You are a cruel and malicious people. 

 

Just because you live on a continent where everything wants to kill you is no reason to pass your misery on to us!

 

.

Edited by Wes350, 16 May 2017 - 00:54.

[Ricardo F1]

 

I just don't get, it even with the commercials in American Football, baseball and basketball, they would never dream of cutting away in the middle of the action.

 

Well that's because those three sports are based around TV coverage and advertising breaks.  They have rules implemented to make space for commercials - including commercial timeouts!!

 

F1 is always going to be hit and miss unless it's commercial free.  NBC has long gone with the philosophy of "get the commercials out of the way so we can see the last laps" which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.  The picture in picture Hamilton on Vettel cutting to an arty aerial picture (non live) of the crowd and some trees was possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen a sports director do on this planet mind - somebody CLEARLY wasn't watching the PiP or just had a pre-determined shot list that was followed.

 

The commentary team I'm fine with but the advertising is a tad extreme.  We're in Europe now so we DVR it and watch it first thing when we get up in the morning ; spent an awful long time fast forwarding this weekend . . . 

[JacnGille]

Could be worse...could be Derek Daly.

 

 

 

 

 

apologies to Young Frankenstein  

[Wes350]

Could be worse...could be Derek Daly.

...

 

We already have him! 

 

In his defense though, we are a nation of English colonists, and early in our history we though that if we let some Irishmen come over we might be able to get some work out of them; once we converted them to Protestant Christianity and got them to stop drinking.

 

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

 

.

Edited by Wes350, 16 May 2017 - 01:13.

[loki]

Univision is an American cable company. Catering to a spanish speaking American audience.

 

They are subject to the same financial demands as their competitors like NBC. (which somehow manages to show soccer uninterrupted)

 

In fact they are at a slight disadvantage in that the have no free to air station like the big four networks...

 

No need to pay anything extra we are just being taken for a ride because $NBC$ says so.

 

You are not being "entitled" when you are simply pointing out how you are being ripped off!

 

.

 

Univision has over the air broadcast.  They are UHF 16 and 16.2 in Las Vegas.  They and Telemundo are as big as any of the broadcast stations in town.  

 

As for why they choose to sell commercials, it's simple.  That's the business model they use.  It's a product.  You aren't being "ripped off".  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  It doesn't matter what other broadcasters provide for other sports.  If you want to watch F1 on you own NBCSN feed there will be commercials.

[Nathan]

I'm so glad I have free-to-air access to SkyF1

 

I do like to see Will Buxton's stuff on YouTube.

[AustinF1]

We should be happy they show it at all here. I really miss WRC coverage!

MavTV

[AustinF1]

So how do they get around it with soccer contests? Also what about Univision?

I realize how entitled I sound, but a F1 race is 1.5 hours. Much like soccer, there is that one "moment" in a race that can decide everything. Sometimes it happens at the start, sometimes it happens in the middle, but if that "moment" is missed, it spoils the event.

I would gladly pay $100 a year for no commercials and no commentary.

I'd gladly pay at least that much just to get a good clean HD feed of Sky's coverage. I hear some people bitch about the Sky coverage. Y'all have no idea how good you have it.