NBC vs Speed coverage of F1
 

didn't see any different coverage or commentary changes other than Bob missing so i think same, same?

Diffy's voice sometimes is overboard, like on ALMS races last year.

I thought it was excellent.

Diffy's voice... I hope I warm up to it.

I liked the coverage during commercials.

Totally different for me: I got tired of paying for premium level cable to get NBCSN so I didn't see the race. I hope the sponsors got a rate decrease for the smaller number of viewers.

Dish wants me to upgrade my service to get NBCSN.

Grrr.

I've thought about getting a list of the sponsors and sending them a note saying why I'm not watching any more. If enough people do it...

Hmm, Comcast here. I dropped the sports package that I was buying to get Speed, but I still got the F1 on NBC. Make sense? Maybe Comcast didn't change my account?

I thought it was very good coverage other than Diffey getting a little too excited at times.

Major piss off!!!

I was all... F1 on NBC!!! I will get to watch this year!!!

Not so much.. :mad:

I don't miss the NASCAR and "are you faster than a redneck" promos.

Agree that Diffy is a little bit hyper at times. I'm also not sure that I see the value of televising FP1, but maybe I'll warm up to that. I thought that the prerace show lacked the content that it had when it was on Speed, and I noticed that having a camera on Buxton in the pitlane on raceday was conspicuously absent. Those niggles aside, I thought the whole thing was worth watching. I'm just very happy that NBC Sports is doing this.

i think i heard Vasha will be in for Diffy in Maylasia.

I think Varsha is doing 3 races, when Diffey has conflicts with IndyCar races.

I thought the coverage was good & the race was great - dicing, passing, lead-changes, 2nd tier teams up front, etc. Very entertaining. I only wish Alonso could have run down Kimi to fight for the win at the end. Kimi does indeed know what he is doing. Looking forward to a great season.

pre race grid coverage could have been better, and they could have utilized will buxton more.

I couldnt tell if their timing was off or if there was a connection delay, but it the transitions to/from Buxton werent smooth. Small detail I guess, but I've liked his input in the past and hope they include more Buxton in the future.

No kidding.

I don't like Buxton so much. Peter Windsor was better. I've heard Diffey's broadcast on Speednews and as a F1 sub many times, so it was not a big change. Varsha was the best to come along, but after that many years it might have been time to shake the line up.

I just hope they don't lose Hobbs and Matchet. Now let's see, they could get Fish over from Speed and we'd have Calvin and Hobbs.

I like Hobbs but he's 74 years old. I think they would do better with someone younger and possibly a former driver that has been in a F1 car recently.

you speak the truth!

Was surprised as well. We went to a friends house anyhow who has it on their Comcast.

Getting very annoyed with Dish. Upgrade the package and all you get is more crap shopping and religious with music channels I don't need or care to have my TV on for listening. Dish Network has gone to schit.

The funny thing is, he was in a formula car just last year.

Driving in a parking lot. ;):D

But, I like the old school reporting. Can you imagine how cool it would be to rotate in Prost, Lada, Fittipaldi, Mansel and the like?

The one thing I really miss is the 5 minute tour of the locality of the race. I mean it costs huge money to set up the cameras and cover 3 days. Can they not afford to roam the streets for some shots of the region?

Or maybe the 'new' audience doesn't care for a mini travelogue.

Overall I thought it was better. Varsha was good, Diffy is just as good. Thought Hobbs and Machett were more on point, maybe more into it than the last few years on speed. I thought the feed looked better, maybe NBC is sending us more bits and bytes.

I do miss the prerace walk through the field. I want to see what is going while the cars are lining up and everyone is milling about. Will isn't so bad, but he is much better than nothing! The prerace segment seemed like "lets have a few pre-recorded thoughts from some of the drivers" which seems like a waste. I want to see the cars, the grid girls, the crowd, and the "on the spot" interviews by Will were interesting. Hopefully they fill that 30 minute slot better next time.

I got the chance to see the pre-race, qualifying, and race on Sky TV - it is so far superior to NBC/Speed. They are actually at the race, they have two former F1 drivers for commentators, they have over an hour past the end of the race that they talk to the relevant team principals and most of the drivers. They had a ton of pre-race interviews, including a segment where the Sky TV babe plays sand volleyball with all of the rookies, and where she goes to the pub with Jenson and Pastor.

It is really stupid that Sky is not generally available over the Internet through some pay service. After seeing that coverage, I would willingly fork over quite a bit to see the races covered that way.

Sky TV sounds like the way it should be!

Were you able to watch Sky TV in Omaha? Or were you on the road somewhere?

It was there, you must have missed it.

Pre race show was a little lame. The new set sucks. I don't know why it needs to look like that... I thought the post race coverage was better, as they interviewed a half dozen drivers after the race. Lots of little mistakes, though. Driver's names mispelled in the graphics, they got the constructors points added up wrong, etc.

JR

Nice to see Hobbs & Machett looking a bit more spiffed up in some decent clothes. Overall, I thought the coverage was pretty good and it's nice to see F1 getting wider coverage here in the US.

I started watching F1 coverage back when it was on ESPN. Have seen both Derek Daly and Derek Bell and finally David Hobbs in that seat. Both Dereks were ok on commentary but Daly was too much of the "in my day" comments. Hobbs is good and has knowledge of both old timers and recent racers. It's hard to get a good mix of commentators who don't talk over one another and get along in the booth.

I can't think of any new recently retired F1 driver who could comment well on tv. All the interviews I have seen of F1 drivers in the past few years have been horrible. Most seem like dead fish. Coulthard is an exception but already has a job. Schumacher is too short and concise with no passion. Mansell maybe? Don't know who could fit outside of David Hobbs for now.

I think Webber would be a good commentator when he retires, he is articulate and intelligent. Whether he'd want the job, not sure.

I've got to give Dish some props. I'm on the upper tier, though, and a recent monthly increase came with Velocity suddenly showing up. A very nice channel for enthusiasts.... As for the F-1 coverage, I think Leigh might be an acquired taste, I've come to enjoy him over the years on Speed's sportscar coverage. Am looking forward to how he does with IndyCar this year.

They'd have to give him a shave mid way through the race.

During the prerace show there was no discussion of rules changes this year. Unless I missed it. Or maybe there were no rules changes. Anyone know?

No huge changes. There was the usual fiddling with tire compounds. Minor tweaks and clarifications are ongoing, so there was some of that as well. A recent one was whether the team physio could also help with other duties, like pit stops. Dramatic stuff.

JR

Did not like NBC forcing them to wear suits.

What they wore last year was fine and what is this "dress up crap" to announce a race anyways.

Also wondering why they drug Sam Posey along for the short that he did. Sorry but not a Sam Posey fan...

On the road. As I said, I think they could easily make tons of money if somehow it were available in Omaha (and LA and New York and Chicago, etc.).

Kimi, when he retires. Give him a bottle of good vodka and set him down to go,

Next week lets play a new game. Every time the word "degradation" is used you have to drink a shot on post on this thread. ;)

Winner!

But I do want to see the end of the race.

It really has come down to where tire wear and selection have big consequences in the out come of the race. Heard that the tires this year weight considerably more than last.

NBC sports Live Extra streaming info

NBC Sports

Microsoft is jumping on the 'bandwith' wagon too.