55 replies to this topic

[freemantang]

This is what I wrote to ESPN Star... (No replies from them yet, unsurprisingly...)


That's it, stop insulting F1 fans and fire Steve Slater

Dear Management of ESPNStar,

I'm sure I am not alone, please spend a few minutes and search online to see what fans think of Steve Slater. He is annoying, possess no knowledge in mortorsport & F1, do stupid chuckles, and most of the time gets things wrong in terms of drivers and race progression. His co-commentators cannot stand him (just ask Chris Goodwin, he's a good guy btw) And oh, he gets on viewers' nerves by his silly repetitive one-liners.

Please Management, I invite you to watch a few races, be it F1, GP2, MotoGP, NASCAR, LeMans... Listen to their commentary, and I dare to say, none can be worse than Steve Slater. For example, your GP2 & MotoGP coverage, their commentators are no well-known superstar, but their commentaries are top class. Now, open your eyes & ears to BBC's F1 coverage, and you'll be amazed how badly us Asian fans are treated in terms of coverage.

I've been wanting to send this to your attention for a long long time, but what pushed me to really do this is watching your F1 Classics re-run of 1994 Australian GP. It's totally absurd for Steve & Alex to "re-commentate". Without doubt, their commentating qualities are poor as usual. But on top of that, they try to create excitement and make believe that they're not sure what happened just like live tv? My god! This race happened 15 years ago! Why not just buy the right to broadcast these races, and pay a few quid more to get Murray Walker's commentary too, and don't insult and fool us fans in the process?

I have one simple suggestion for Star Sports to improve your F1 coverage in one master stroke....

BUY BBC's RACE FEED TOGETHER WITH THEIR COMMENTARY.
(Canadian & Australian broadcasters do this)

You can still do a pre-race and post-race feature show if you want. But fans will be properly treated to top class commentary. It's not only fans who benefit. I'm sure proper commentary will correctly educate and entertain "casual" fans, so they will watch more of your coverage. You have no idea how Steve Slater annoys and turns off casual and hardcore fans alike. Oh, did I mention you can cut your headcount to balance the books by doing this?

Please, spend some time to see what fans say on forums about Steve Slater. I only watch Star Sports F1 Live coverage just because I HAVE to. Wait a few years and online streaming improves their quality to live TV standard, I will surely watch overseas feeds if you still keep the "self proclaimed Petro-Head Steve Slater".

I'm pushed to my limit to tolerate Steve Slater. I'm actually going to draft a proposal to Mr. Ecclestone to recommend proper coverage and how to attract new fans in Asia (his booming market), and unsurprisingly, the #1 action plan will be to REMOVE STEVE SLATER.

ps. sorry for my strong and negative tone, but I'm just speaking out after years of tolerating an incompetent commentator in a sport I love.

Thanks for your attention,
Freeman Tang
Hong Kong
17 Nov 2009

[vipul_singh]

I too have to watch F1 on STAR in India, and completely agree with what you said.

Do you ever get the feeling that STAR's commentary team (esp Steve Slater) is not at the venue for most Grands Prix (especially the ones in Europe)? That is part of the reason why his comments are often off the mark, or sound second hand. He does try to give the impression that he is on location. Talk about cost cutting at the expense of quality!

I remember we used to get the ITV feed on STAR. Really loved it when the commentators would just look outside into the pitlane for inputs (like what's going on with the pit crew etc.)

[SpaMaster]

Ha ha haaa. Good post. I have seen Star-Sport feed many times. That guy is a joke.

[jonpollak]

Your efforts are commendable...Good luck
I kinda misread the title meaning though and ended up here by mistake.

Jp

[Bono]

I agree 100%! Thank you for your effort. That guy should leave star sports.

@Vipul, yes, they are based in Singapore. They don't usually go commentate in the countries that are racing. I agree with you that they try to make the viewers feel that they are on-site.

[SilentKiller]

+1

[BRK]

BBC's coverage (not ITV) is head and shoulders above the rest-I've heard Speed TV receivers have to put up with some terrible F1 coverage as well. The problems run deeper,however-I think they're basically struggling to find decent commentators,with Goodwin not around anymore and Yoong/Chandhok pitching in whenever they can. Not broadcasting the 'Grand Prix Classics' series outside of a few select regions isn't exactly a popular move either..

Agree about Slater,somewhat.Like another poster said on a similar thread a while ago,he tries too hard to be Murray Walker and fails epicly-every single time.


And I only tune into Sky's coverage (Star Sports) for Paula Maula Ali.

[zarooch]

Star-Sports suckssss soo much that this season i haven't watched a single race/pre-race/quali on it.

Can't they take the audio feed only from BBC, i guess a lot of other channels do the same. I guess in Australia and SuperSports (SouthAfrica) does this as well.

Steve Slater is a joke, in fact the whole team is a joke. They should do something about it really. Or maybe ask BBC itself to broaden its coverage.

[freemantang]

Thanks everyone for your response, I know I'm not alone out there.

What I've done is I sent that letter through ESPNStar website's feedback section. It's probably been classified as hate mail, and deleted accordingly.

[zarooch]

is there a way to send it to FOM? CC to BBC?

[Chezrome]

Excellent letter. Really. I recommend your tone, your politeness and argumentation. However, I fear it won't help. In the Netherlands a random friend of the main commentator (his dentist...or a dentist, at least) got a job as pit-reporter. His English was abominable, his knowledge of F1 non-excisting, etcetera, in other words: the Dutch Steve Slater. I think RLT GP received thousands of mails and letters with pleas to get rid of the guy. To no avail...

In the world of tv is not about what you can, but who you know. Alas. Not always, luckily (indeed, look at the excellent BBC-team).

By the way, I like Murray Walker. But he was also very, very, very bad, ofcourse...

[V8 Fireworks]

Can't they take the audio feed only from BBC, i guess a lot of other channels do the same. I guess in Australia and SuperSports (SouthAfrica) does this as well.

But they have to pay the BBC for it.

Maybe it is cheaper to employ this Slater chappie?

[zarooch]

okay, we pay then...

[MegaManson]

Quite why anyone would want to replace the dire Steve Slater with the beyond abysmal Jonathan Legard is beyond me

Slater is bad but Legard is several lagues below

[zarooch]

u haven't heard slate then

[RoutariEnjinu]

This thread is useless without quotes and examples...


Please

[MegaManson]

u haven't heard slate then

I have many times

He is cringeworthy and I sympathise with Asia having him but I still rate him much higher than Legard

[Wade]

Completely agree.

And TO BE HONEST, It's not only Slater, but I get ticked off by ALEX YOONG.

I hate both of them, and I only respect Goodwin and the other guy (forgot his name)

Yoong speaks like he's Schumacher that knows everything, when he's only a damn scrub, dont get me wrong, he has skils and is 10x better than me, but he's too arrogant.

Slater isn't that knowledgable neither, both of them suck. Bottomline.

[zarooch]

whatever, I need martin brundle!!! and no James Allen, otherwise we'll only hear Lewis hamilton and some Fernando Alonso.

[MegaManson]

whatever, I need martin brundle!!! and no James Allen, otherwise we'll only hear Lewis hamilton and some Fernando Alonso.

You think Allen was bad wait till British tv next season with Button and Hamilton in the team together

Legard will need to change his boxers 3 times a race as they will be so sticky

[V8 Fireworks]

Yoong speaks like he's Schumacher that knows everything, when he's only a damn scrub, dont get me wrong, he has skils and is 10x better than me, but he's too arrogant.

He did drive an F1 car without power steering or testing and usually managed to qualify, he must be good

Edited by V8 Fireworks, 23 November 2009 - 09:36.

[zarooch]

also that karon chandok is poor.

we need something proper. I guess DC and Eddie wud do just fine at StarSports.

[freemantang]

It's an edited highlight, so it may not bring out the worst of Slater.

[mumu37]

I've been enduring ESPN-Star sports pathetic F1 coverage for nearly a decade now. It was bearable when Chris Goodwin was around, at least he knew what he was talking about. But the current coverage, the pre and post race shows, it's a sorry excuse for an F1 coverage. Non of the presenters seem to know anything about F1 at all (Paula Malai Ali, Steve Dawson, Sanjeev Palar). Then there's Steve Slater who all the time doesn't seem to know what's happening on track. Calls the torro rossos redbulls and vice versa, and many silly mistakes that makes watching F1 almost unbearable. The only guy I appreciate is Chandook, just because he often corrects Slater and makes him look more stupid than usual. Maybe ESPN-Star can just have the show without commentaries. Just the raw sound of the engine, and live timing at the bottom of the screen

[Wade]

Good post as well mumu, once he makes a mistake, he says he's got the "Commentator's mistake" or whatever.

Calls Toro rossos redbulls as you've said, goes wild, shouts the wrong name of a driver battling in a wrong position (I.E, Fisi is 13th, Hekki is 12th, instead, he calls Fisi Kimi, chasing Lewis for 3rd.)

But to reach out to Steve, why not tweet him? I'm about to tweet him about this. I actually still wouldn't mind him, it's just that Alex Yoong is my pet's peeve. Dawson as well.

[grunge]

cant stand him at all....doesnt know crap even after so many years of commentating.

u can watch on SS2 though.it has the bbc feed

Edited by grunge, 23 November 2009 - 10:34.

[egg1980]

I caught a couple of races on Star Sports when I was in India, the commentator kept getting the names of the drivers wrong... much to our mirth I might add, but that's not the point

[dank]

Good post as well mumu, once he makes a mistake, he says he's got the "Commentator's mistake" or whatever.

Calls Toro rossos redbulls as you've said, goes wild, shouts the wrong name of a driver battling in a wrong position (I.E, Fisi is 13th, Hekki is 12th, instead, he calls Fisi Kimi, chasing Lewis for 3rd.)

Sounds very much Jonathan Legard on the BBC

[zarooch]

but yea, there's one thing with start sports commentary, at least didn't even feel that they were being biased about a driver... but of course when you are not getting anything right in the commentary itself how can one be biased.. so, all in all they should scrap each and everyone and just simply take the BBC audio feed.

[grunge]

Completely agree.

And TO BE HONEST, It's not only Slater, but I get ticked off by ALEX YOONG.

I hate both of them, and I only respect Goodwin and the other guy (forgot his name)

Yoong speaks like he's Schumacher that knows everything, when he's only a damn scrub, dont get me wrong, he has skils and is 10x better than me, but he's too arrogant.

Slater isn't that knowledgable neither, both of them suck. Bottomline.

i think alex is pretty ok..i dont know where u get the ''rude'' thing from..infact,man times when slater is spreading his stupidity,alex is far too polite to even correct him openly.

chandhok is very good actually ...whenever he has the time to be around.

paula,the indian guy that does the ''pitwalk'' and the co presenter with alex.they all need to go

Edited by grunge, 23 November 2009 - 10:48.

[grunge]

and o, the way slater does the ''now im gonna predict'' thing relentlessly in a race and gets it wrong every time..

this season he kept on going ''ive been criticized for calling sutil ''not agressive enough'',well i take my words back..

who cares!!!...do u even think anyone reads yer blog?

[Captain Tightpants]

This is what I wrote to ESPN Star... (No replies from them yet, unsurprisingly...)


That's it, stop insulting F1 fans and fire Steve Slater

Stop your whinging - the rest of the world has to put up with Jonthan Legard. And until we get a decent replacement for him, I don't think ESPN Star should be in the business of bowing to fan demands (not that they ever would).

Harden up, princess.

[RoutariEnjinu]

This is what's wrong with the world.

No doubt these people were media students originally that "got a gig" doing F1 coverage, and THEN started to research it. Now "they're on the telly", which was their ambition.

[BRK]

That clown's not Indian-I think he's Malaysian or something. Probably the worst guy to host a show in the history of television.


About Slater-he's almost a mirror image of Legard,in some aspects. Constantly cutting in while the other commentator (who usually knows what he's talking about) is busy explaining something,getting driver names/helmets/car liveries wrong,being melodramatic when it's absolutely unnecessary,rehashing stock phrases and repeating the same crap until you could practically finish his sentences for him-

"And here comes Mark Webber,absolutely on the limit,driving the wheels off that Red Bull-what's his time going to be?"
(feed clearly shows Mark Webber cruising and watching his mirrors-anticipation falls flat as no time comes up on screen)
Other guy: "Actually,I think he's on his warm-up lap,Steve"

Do this and the usual 'under his gearbox/all over his tail' nonsense fifty times every race.At least those vast empty voids of silence on the BBC coverage are somewhat less embarrassing.

[grunge]

That clown's not Indian-I think he's Malaysian or something. Probably the worst guy to host a show in the history of television.
.

on the last comment...there was this grandprix where he was walking around the pit trying to talk to bernie and when the later finally comes around ,the clown is shaking with anxiety.he asks some very dumb question,bernie stares at him and goes ahead without answering...then bernie comes back after a while,sees the clown standing there waiting for him again...and believe it or not bernie actually feels sorry for him,comes up to him,pats him on the back.the clown is near shaking again..he asks something about the importance of an indian gp in the f1 calender,bernie answers ''2011..2011'' and goes ahead.the camera refocuses on the clown and he is beaming with delight/pride after this heroic encounter.

i hate it when my cable guy replaces supersport with some stupid soccer match on raceday sometimes and star is then the only option left...i tried muting the tv and listening to bbc commentary thru justin tv on my laptop..but the later's feed is around 10,15 sec delayed from any source.

Edited by grunge, 23 November 2009 - 13:09.

[ViMaMo]

Slater is irritating. With an idiotic chuckle and jumping the gun "oh i think he has lost couple of tenths there surely, its ruined his lap" (guess what the lap is faster).
Sometimes he totally misses the important things during the race, I wish he could shut up during that time cos he keeps blabbering on with the other stuff.
Id be tearing my ears and pointing the tv screeen to the imaginary Slater.

Pls for ppl who think Karun Chandok is bad, the guy knows what he is talking abt, and numerous times he has corrected Slater. I would rather see Goodwin and Karun.

But the Star Sports MOTOGP commentator is another irritating guy. Keeps using "very, very" every minute. Always keeps saying "This is motogp at its very very best" . Kick him out too.

Edited by vivian, 23 November 2009 - 14:34.

[Bouncing Pink Ball]

I've watched the Indian coverage via Star Sports online a few times and must say that while I was underwhelmed by some parts I quite liked other bits of what I saw and heard in comparison to what I've watched in the past. Mind you, I've suffered through the Speed folks and *shudder* Vic Router on TSN, a channel that devotes the bare minimum effort to F1 – there's not even a pre or post-show now, just purchased BBC, only with commercials added to chop up the flow (side-by-side with the ad's audio doesn't cut it with me since I miss big chunks of the commentary). I'm not even going to start about the RDS guys...but at least that channel gives plenty of time to F1 and are clearly excited about the sport!


I think, if you took a poll, pretty much everyone everywhere would admit to being slightly unimpressed with at least one member of their home F1 broadcast team.

[teejay]

Im going to write in saying how good he is and they should keep him on - their own version of Murray


<3

[genius83]

The most worst comment of Steve Slater was in Hungary on race day just before the start when Massa's crew was shown with "get well soon" pitboard his comments were sorry guys Massa can't see this. This was the most stupid comment I have ever heard. Otherwise whatever he is commentating during a race or qualifying 75% of the time the total opposite would be happening on the track.

[Chezrome]

I think, if you took a poll, pretty much everyone everywhere would admit to being slightly unimpressed with at least one member of their home F1 broadcast team.

True. But if someone can't pronounce names, speaks terrible English and keeps up mixing the names, positions and cars, well... why is the guy on television?

[MegaManson]

True. But if someone can't pronounce names, speaks terrible English and keeps up mixing the names, positions and cars, well... why is the guy on television?

You have just described Carlton Kirby

[ORPHEUS9]

I agree with Slater being a terrible hands at commentary... He fails to identify cars and often does some basic mistakes with identifying people... Chris Goodwin was good, when he was around, don't see him much these days. Karun Chandhok comes around occasionally, but thats when you realize how pathetic Slater is (With him having to correct Slater atleast 10 times per race)!!! The other thing about Chandok is that you get clear information on track, tire setup and strategy, as he generally has a GP2 race on the same track, a day before. Alex is kinda okay...Paula and whoever that guy is, can be deleted...
Personally, I would love to hear Martin Brundle and David Coulthard...

Otherwise all fine with Espn-starsports, though I hate some of the Ads that are extra-ordinarily long ( Emirates Tourism-UAE) and Petronas.

[grunge]

Otherwise all fine with Espn-starsports, though I hate some of the Ads.that are extra-ordinarily long ( Emirates Tourism-UAE) and Petronas.

the ad breaks are the most irritating part.they have 2 ad breaks per each segment of qualifying and one ad break after every 6 or 7 laps on sunday

Edited by grunge, 23 November 2009 - 19:48.

[backpackerster]

I've been enduring ESPN-Star sports pathetic F1 coverage for nearly a decade now. It was bearable when Chris Goodwin was around, at least he knew what he was talking about. But the current coverage, the pre and post race shows, it's a sorry excuse for an F1 coverage. Non of the presenters seem to know anything about F1 at all (Paula Malai Ali, Steve Dawson, Sanjeev Palar). Then there's Steve Slater who all the time doesn't seem to know what's happening on track. Calls the torro rossos redbulls and vice versa, and many silly mistakes that makes watching F1 almost unbearable. The only guy I appreciate is Chandook, just because he often corrects Slater and makes him look more stupid than usual. Maybe ESPN-Star can just have the show without commentaries. Just the raw sound of the engine, and live timing at the bottom of the screen

so true man
I think chandok is far more better than both slater and yoong
chris goodwin used to be good but he's no longer commentating for star..probably they should get him back. that might improve things a bit.

[Wade]

Slater is irritating. With an idiotic chuckle and jumping the gun "oh i think he has lost couple of tenths there surely, its ruined his lap" (guess what the lap is faster).
Sometimes he totally misses the important things during the race, I wish he could shut up during that time cos he keeps blabbering on with the other stuff.
Id be tearing my ears and pointing the tv screeen to the imaginary Slater.

Pls for ppl who think Karun Chandok is bad, the guy knows what he is talking abt, and numerous times he has corrected Slater. I would rather see Goodwin and Karun.

But the Star Sports MOTOGP commentator is another irritating guy. Keeps using "very, very" every minute. Always keeps saying "This is motogp at its very very best" . Kick him out too.

Not to mention, "I reckon."

[wtoyzz]

+1

Many Thanks

[fuzz]

the ad breaks are the most irritating part.they have 2 ad breaks per each segment of qualifying and one ad break after every 6 or 7 laps on sunday

This is sooooo true and along with Steve "no clue" Slater I despair at what I have to put up with to watch my beloved sport. The worst thing about the ads is that 99% of the commercials are for Star Sports programmes!!! They are not even for outside products. They are just continully reminding us about Sports Centre or the next set of EPL matches! F***king pathetic.

I"ve lived in Malaysia for 2 years now and for that time I've had to put up with what I consider the worst production of F1 ...EVER!

Even whan I lived in the Middle East at least the local TV compnay just got the ITV/BBC feed and just let it run. No stupid local show, just the quali and race with decent commetary. Thats all I ask. Please no more "inside track" news which is always weeks old and then sensationilsed to death.

If Star Sports put as much effort into their F1 production as they do their EPL coverage it will be miles ahead.

However I feel that is the problem. All the money has been spent on the EPL that they dont have the time nor cash to invest in anything half decent or at least the BBC feed.

Have written to ESPN STar twice now but of course to no avail.

I get angry now just thinking about it.....

[GIBF1]

You think Allen was bad wait till British tv next season with Button and Hamilton in the team together

Legard will need to change his boxers 3 times a race as they will be so sticky

[grunge]

@ fuzz,ask your cable guy to give supersport 2 or 6 on sat/sundays....they have their own pre/post race shows but the audio feed during the race is from bbc

[ViMaMo]

Jonathan Green........ the guy seems to be on something. Shouting/Screaming doesnt add to the excitement.