5292 replies to this topic

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally posted by Gareth
I'm a bit worried about Jonathan Legard. Will it be possible to break him? He makes no mention of being unbreakable here .

java script:smilie(';)')
Question: What one thing would you do if you were invisible?
Answer: 'Borrow' a Ferrari…


I like the cut of his jib ;)

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally posted by howardt


Ever since he was just a small boy,

I was expecting something about pinball here

[christoff]

It's not at all easy to cater for everyone's level of knowledge, in some ways the new and less knowledgable fans are possibly more important than those who have watched for years, without catering for a new audience how do we get fresh fans without whom revenues would drop along with the viewing figures?
IMO James Allen had a tough job being forced to dum down and interpret Martins comments for the benefit of the wider audience. I have always enjoyed James' commentaries, ok he got carried away but didn't Murray Walker get a bit carried away when Damon Hill won the WDC? Or is he above criticism?
James Allen's sign off mentioned that he hoped to work with Martin again, I for one hope that he does, but maybe back to the pitlane would be a more suitable position for him in some people's eyes.
At the end of the day I have been watching F1 since I saw Alan Jones' winning at Brands with a fast wearing out rear tyre (can't remember which year that was maybe someone could enlighten me) and James Allen has probably forgotten more about the sport than I know (possibly as I always have a beer or four during the race), I for one will miss him!

Now I'm going to duck!

[wewantourdarbyback]

Murray carried away when Damon won the WDC?

you feeling allright?

[stevvy1986]

murray didnt scream like he was having the most intense orgasm ever.........allen did when button won his first race

[tidytracks]

Is it just me that is slightly worried about the move back to the beeb?

It seems to me that their coverage of almost every sporting event on earth is done in precisely the same manner, be it football, the Olympics, motogp or the darts... give it a quick intro, an ugly red and yellow logo and then have somebody bang away fairly unimaginatively until the event itself begins.

ITV may not have been perfect, but at least it had its own style. Like it or loathe it, that style set it apart. I just can't see the bbc's F1 show being any different from anything else it covers, and that, to me, is a great shame.

Also, as I hear it on the grapevine, the beeb don't even know what they can or cant do yet. The final agreement with Bernie hasn't been signed, so all this talk of red button wondrousness is a little premature. And if Bernie doesn't suddenly become a softie over the winter, I'd say it's highly unlikely that we'll get kangaroo TV style "ride with who you like" camera angles on interactive channels.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by tidytracks
Is it just me that is slightly worried about the move back to the beeb?

We will see the whole race with no interruptions for adverts so can't any reason to be worried.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Yeah, those F1 races are so damn exciting it will be nice to finally not miss a moment of the action.

Personally, like Jackman referenced, I liked the scheduled 5 minute break to go do something else. They could take no-ads further and pay me to watch, but if the races aren't exciting and the coverage is bland it's not going to entertain me.

[Buttoneer]

I guess you'll have to take the initiative and go for a pee when your bladder tells you instead of Sony HD.

[Gareth]

ROCK IT!

YEAH!

GO FOR A PEE!

Fortunately my new flat has a bathroom where, with the door open, it's possible to see the telly. So I won't have to either cut down on my beer intake or make difficult "nothing will happen now" judgement calls.

[Buttoneer]

Not so good with friends round though, unless they're quite...er...close.

It was more important to me for those early morning races when I got up just in time for the race and needed the ad break for a cup of tea and a bowl of Shreddies. I'm going to have to leave it all out on the coffee table now when i go to bed. Like a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve, but less booze.

[Orin]

Originally posted by Gareth
ROCK IT!

YEAH!

GO FOR A PEE!

Fortunately my new flat has a bathroom where, with the door open, it's possible to see the telly. So I won't have to either cut down on my beer intake or make difficult "nothing will happen now" judgement calls.

Couldn't you just use one bottle for beer, one for urine? Obviously it's a method which demands consistency.

[Buttoneer]

And even closer friends.

[howardt]

And it could go terribly wrong if you have too many beers, leaving too many bottles lying around and a muddled head.

[Buttoneer]

Yes, you could end up with pitstop antics even more distressing than Ferrari's at Singapore.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Yeah, those F1 races are so damn exciting it will be nice to finally not miss a moment of the action.

Personally, like Jackman referenced, I liked the scheduled 5 minute break to go do something else. They could take no-ads further and pay me to watch, but if the races aren't exciting and the coverage is bland it's not going to entertain me.

There's nothing to stop you taking a 5 minute, or longer break, if you want to, but personally I like to watch a sporting event in it's entirety.

[philhitchings]

Sky+ is your friend

[djned]

i don't have photoshop here...so i invite you guys to have some fun with this:

[Craven Morehead]

Don't know if this has been posted here. It's James Allen's call of Nurburg 2007.




"Here come the lights and its GOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooarghhhhhhhhhh.....OOOOOoooooo...OOOOooooooooarg..!!!!!!!"



(to his credit James has gotten better over the year and doesn't scream as much, but its all a little late I'm afraid)

[Buttoneer]

Originally posted by philhitchings
Sky+ is your friend

Unless you're watching live timing. It's bad enough that the digital signal as a 1 or 2 second delay so I know whether driver A has pole before unbreakable James shouts at me about it. But a five minute poo-break delay would drive me mad.

[potmotr]

So what is James going to do now? Any indications?

[Anomnader]

It would be good if ITV put together a DVD showing highlights of all there time in F1

[potmotr]

Originally posted by Anomnader
It would be good if ITV put together a DVD showing highlights of all there time in F1

It would be good. I wonder if ITV's deal with Bernie ended on Sunday or at the end of the calender year.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Wouldn't make a difference, it's not their remit to issue DVD's of season coverage.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Wouldn't make a difference, it's not their remit to issue DVD's of season coverage.

That's not what Ano meant I don't think.

He/She was talking about a highlights package of all ITV's moments in F1, from 1997 to 2008, rather than that awfully written official review which always comes around around now.

[Ross Stonefeld]

And I doubt they'd be allowed to do that.

[Anomnader]

Originally posted by potmotr


That's not what Ano meant I don't think.

He/She was talking about a highlights package of all ITV's moments in F1, from 1997 to 2008, rather than that awfully written official review which always comes around around now.

Yep, I was, I would buy it, but I wouldn't get a season review, as Ross said, probably copyright issues involved.

[philhitchings]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
And I doubt they'd be allowed to do that.

but they would be able to do their Christmas time review if the contract expires on 31-12-08.

then we cna hope for a BBC one in the new year too (which I guess would have to be purchased from ITV)

[Dudley]

Originally posted by christoff
ok he got carried away but didn't Murray Walker get a bit carried away when Damon Hill won the WDC? Or is he above criticism?

You may want to watch the video of Damon crossing the line again, you clearly don't remember it.

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

Most viewers’ biggest frustration was that on ITV the 200mph excitement of Formula One was interrupted by adverts – obviously that won’t be a problem on the BBC. But it’s worth noting that ITV hadn’t wanted to interrupt its coverage either. It asked to pause transmission for advert breaks: British viewers would end up about 15 minutes behind real-time by the end of a race, but wouldn’t have missed a single second. However, Formula One’s owners allegedly vetoed anything but a live stream.

http://www.telegraph...mula-1-0711.xml

[Buttoneer]

Good job they did or it would screw up my live timing.

[damon_hill_fan2007]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most viewers’ biggest frustration was that on ITV the 200mph excitement of Formula One was interrupted by adverts – obviously that won’t be a problem on the BBC. But it’s worth noting that ITV hadn’t wanted to interrupt its coverage either. It asked to pause transmission for advert breaks: British viewers would end up about 15 minutes behind real-time by the end of a race, but wouldn’t have missed a single second. However, Formula One’s owners allegedly vetoed anything but a live stream.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://www.telegraph...mula-1-0711.xml

good job they didn't allow that - it has to be live. I would have hated the fact that I was 15 mins behind the rest of the world

I think i read somewhere before that the tv networks are contratually obliged to take the world feed from 5 mins before the start of the race (the F1 logo bit) to the end of the podium ceromony. ITV had to pay Bernie even more to interrupt the feed with commecial breaks.

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

Originally posted by Buttoneer
Good job they did or it would screw up my live timing.

That's what I thought. When did FOM first make live timing available on the net though? Surely it wasn't 1997?

[christoff]

Originally posted by Dudley


You may want to watch the video of Damon crossing the line again, you clearly don't remember it.

Hi Dudley,

The point I was trying to make bringing up that superb piece of commentary was regarding patriotism and commentators bias, not the volume of reaction. If we cast our minds back to those heady days I do seem to recall as much time dedicated to Damon in the coverage as there has been of Lewis.

Whether or not people personally like James Allen's voice as opposed to Murray's or anyone elses is a personal matter. IMO when JA backs LH it is perceived by some as a love-fest but when MW backed the British drivers all was ok.

Whichever you prefer is up to you, for me I'm happy that whatever is said we have been lucky to have a high standard of coverage when compared to less fortunate viewers in other countries.

Just my humble opinion.

[Tenmantaylor]

Missed the build up to the race on sunday so watched it on sky plus last night.

All the pundits got it right pre-race, the tension and the weather threw the spanners in the works!

The ITV My Chemical Romance montage was pretty good, quite off the wall! Good that everyone got involved! Im guessing the James Allen unbreakable banter is in reference to his line Good on him, he hasn't half taken some **** down the years from the internet. I half expected him to stick two fingers up whilst clutching the mic for the last time!

Tubby Ted standing on the wall infront of all those caged Brazilians with a Union Flag was pretty brave too! Surprised he didnt take a bottle to the head. Good on him.

ITV definately made F1 more of a show than just factual sport. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse but on the whole they did a much better job than is fashionable to state on the internet.

New commentator/s and no adverts will be a huge plus at the beeb next year but I can't see the content improving that much.

[christoff]

Originally posted by F1Fanatic.co.uk

That's what I thought. When did FOM first make live timing available on the net though? Surely it wasn't 1997?

It was available on F1-Live prior to it being on FOM website. I remember this well as I had accessed part for one season for free then discovered that the next year they wanted about £20 to access the site, so I paid my money and was not a happy bunny when I discovered that not only did they not have the live timing but it was available for free on the FOM website.

I don't think that this was as early as '97 and am not 100% sure that it was F1-live. Could check the year by going through bank statements but life's too short!

[santori]

I think the ITV race commentary team (I don't see the pre- and post- race parts) did a good job this year. James Allen is unfairly maligned. He did go overboard with Lewis for a while but there hasn't been much wrong recently and someone taking that sort of role is always going to frustrate the listener now and again.

[kar]

Originally posted by santori
I think the ITV race commentary team (I don't see the pre- and post- race parts) did a good job this year. James Allen is unfairly maligned. He did go overboard with Lewis for a while but there hasn't been much wrong recently and someone taking that sort of role is always going to frustrate the listener now and again.

The 'problem' with Allen is that he tried too hard. Too hard to be loved by the hardcore, too hard to make sense of the sport for newcomers. He tried too hard to be 'with it' with the public, when often who he thought he was with was just a figment of an insular paddock's perception of what the public though.

I think Allen is probably a bang up person, and I've met a couple people now who attest to it personally. But as a professional he came across as too verbose, too snivelling and a little bit self-indulgent.

With a face for radio, and a voice for print, maybe he should stick to what we all seem to agree he relatively excels at - writing.

[Rob]

Originally posted by kar
The 'problem' with Allen is that he tried too hard. Too hard to be loved by the hardcore, too hard to make sense of the sport for newcomers. He tried too hard to be 'with it' with the public, when often who he

When he doesn't have time to think about what he's saying and just lets it flow naturally, he's a lot better.

[D.M.N.]

FYI:

MOTORING: F1: Grand Prix
On: ITV1 Central (3)
Date: Sunday 21st December 2008 (starting in 23 days)
Time: 11:50 to 12:50 (1 hour long)

2008 Season Review.

(Subtitles)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigigu...com/?p=1&r=7646

Copyright © GipsyMedia Limited.

The review show is normally after Xmas, but this year, it appears to be before.

[Ali_G]

ITV did a great job from about 1997 to 1999. Really brought coverage forward.

All started going wrong around 2000 with the insane Button focus. Murray's retirement, the ditching of the studio and Jardine and the eventually Hamilton obesession put the nail in its coffin.

[stevvy1986]

so it'll be 40mins long if we're lucky then D.M.N as it'll (like everything on itv) start about 5mins late and (like everything on itv) finish about 4mins early,with at least 3 ad breaks probably totalling round about 10mins,and focusing on nothing other than Lewis

[president evil]

And thats why I wont be watching it. ITV are history, roll on 2009 and the BBC.