F1 on Channel 4

[sirtyro]

Tried watching it on 4OD and the video quality was shocking. I tested something on the iPlayer and it worked fine so it wasn't my connection...and there was a 'Watch Next' button on all the time. I gave up in the end. Stick with the Sky coverage.

[NM62]

I watched the All4 Qualifying rerun just to compare, I have Sky and usually watch FP1,2 & 3, Qualifying and the race. ( + F1 Show & GP2 Stuff when bored and room on the Sky+).

I was well impressed with DC & Mark Webber - both came across very well, always liked DC with Martin Brundle and was disappointed he didn't join Sky at the outset.

Steve Jones just needs to turn the "shouty laddish Welsh bloke bit" - he was the same on American Idol (had to sit through that with the Missus honest)- he was on a par with Simon Lazenby in the "putting up with" stakes.

Ben Edwards was worse than David Croft ( my only real sufferance on Sky ) and really couldn't watch a whole race with him commentating, mind you it's a good job David Croft commentates alongside Anthony Davidson and Martin Brundle over FP's, Qualifying and the race because without those two he would be unbearable too.

Lee Mackenzie - brilliant as ever and should have done the anchor, her interview with Lewis was one of the best I have seen, she's on a par with Natalie Pinkham.

My 14 year old likes dub step and I don't so that's the only real pitfall, but he did perk up when it was played.

I'll stick with Sky but it's good to know that CH4 are making a go of it and I hope they do well and will probably give them another watch later ( as long as Eddie Jordan isn't on ).

[patmahe]

The All4 app worked fine for me, looking it up on my phone and using a chromecast to watch it on TV. All in all I was very impressed by C4s first attempt at GP coverage, of course there is room for improvement but its already a step up from the BBC IMO.

[Dryce]

NM62 said:

I was well impressed with DC & Mark Webber - both came across very well, always liked DC with Martin Brundle and was disappointed he didn't join Sky at the outset.

I think both MW and DC are good with the caveat that I've always felt DC is a bit too guarded on stuff which is more political. My feeling is that faced with a blatant driving offence by a team or driver he is associated with in some way and he'll shift his perspective to suit.

For that reason I much prefer DC as a commentator - which I think he is good at - rather than as a main pundit.

[ivanhoew]

lee yes
dc yes
gell boy no
mikes no
music no
adverts NO
ben ,yes ish (too loud)
pits bloke ,ok
better than bbc .no
opening graphics.tripe.

score 5/10


will try to watch again .



forgot webber ,YES.

Edited by ivanhoew on Wednesday 23 March 08:33

Edited by ivanhoew on Wednesday 23 March 08:35

[CoolHands]

The all4 catchup on demand app was terrible. I am going to buy humax rather that use it, it really is terrible. Not only st to use (constantly restarts / whirring / can't forward or back / adverts) but the image quality was terribly pixalated it was dire.

I can't overstate how bad it is.

[longblackcoat]

Thought DC was excellent, as ever, Wibbah was OK, and despite Steve Jones being a bit st, the fact that he's not the truly terrible Suzi Perry made him bearable.

[Dr Z]

Vocal Minority said:

lbc said:

Maybe swap roles with Ben Edwards, and promote Karun to commentator?

Ben's voice does get annoying after a while and have to turn the volume down a bit.

The trouble is then you're have two technical commentators and no summariser (unless DC did it, and in fairness he has a few years under his belt now so maybe he would be more comfortable).

But you need someone to create a coherent for a layman base layer I commentary, which a technical guy can then add a bit of depth to

I agree that Karun was a bit wasted as a pitlane guy. I think he'll be better used in a similar role to Anthony Davidson at Sky. Ben definitely needs to calm down. Sky commentary team was way better in that respect.

[ZX10R NIN]

I've got Sky & they're better but for a first attempt I preferred C4 to the BBC coverage I saw last year & I think they'll get better as the season rolls on & they tweak the format, I'll come back to it in around 4 races to see.

[Dr Z]

C4 just tweeted this:

1. C4F1 highlights of the Australian Grand Prix were watched by a peak audience of 2.7m viewers – most popular programme on TV over its slot.

Impressive. Now if they can hold on to that kind of audience through the season, that will be amazing.

[counterofbeans]

NM62 said:

Lee Mackenzie, she's on a par with Natalie Pinkham.

Crikey, as good as that?

Impressive....

[alfaben]

Dr Z said:

C4 just tweeted this:

1. C4F1 highlights of the Australian Grand Prix were watched by a peak audience of 2.7m viewers – most popular programme on TV over its slot.

Impressive. Now if they can hold on to that kind of audience through the season, that will be amazing.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/mar/21/channel-4-grand-prix-viewers-bbc

Guardian mention something about ABC1s? Any idea what they mean by that?

I enjoyed the coverage myself I didn't find Steve Jones as annoying compared to my hazy memory of him on T4... I thought Mark and DC did a good job in between the coverage providing insigh how I did get a bit irritated with the advert breaks after seemingly 10 minutes of discussion. I do agree Ben needs to get a little less excited...

Edited by alfaben on Wednesday 23 March 10:28

Edited by alfaben on Wednesday 23 March 10:30

[Dr Z]

alfaben said:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/mar/21/chann...

Guardian mention something about ABC1s? Any idea what they mean by that?

It is a social class demographic:

Social Grade	Social Status	Occupation
A	upper middle class	higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	middle class	intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	lower middle class	supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	skilled working class	skilled manual workers
D	working class	semi and unskilled manual workers
E	those at lowest level of subsistence	state pensioners or widows (no other earner), casual or lowest grade workers

According to here:

http://www.abc1demographic.co.uk/

Some armchair advice to Ben:

You have a good voice when you're talking in a relaxed manner, often after the race. Try to keep the same tone for the exciting bits, and don't go into the strangled duck voice. Please.

Edited by Dr Z on Wednesday 23 March 10:34

[24lemons]

I quite liked the Channel 4 broadcast. I think Steve Jones is genuinely interested in whats going on and his enthusiasm comes across. DC and Webber worked together well and whilst I dont particularly like Ben Edwards's style of commentary, I just think back to the Johnathan Legard and James Allen days and suddenly he doesn't seem so bad!

[Swervin_Mervin]

I was unexpectedly impressed with the coverage. For one I don't think I was expecting Mark Webber to be quite so enthusiastic and personable as a core pundit/presenter.

It certainly showed up just how stilted and awkward the presenting has been on BBC in the last few years. Let's just hope that Wiggy Jordan doesn't ruin it. Steve Jones just needs to dial it down a touch, but then I guess his style may be more appealing to a younger audience.

[guffhoover]

saaby93 said:

aha
I wondered where the F1 coverage had gone
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/formula-1/on-de...
late to the party

ETA pah you have to sign in to watch - whats that about

I think the catch-up content stinks.

Had to wait util 9:30 at night for the content to be available.
Had to create an account to watch.
Wanted to skip straight to the race start to be confronted with 4x 3 minute ad breaks, all of which had to be watched consecutively.

Piss poor Ch4!

[Emeye]

I have Sky but watched the C4 highlights to see if it was any good - not too bad, but the dubstep reminded me of the low budget motorsport shows on Motors TV.

[Rick101]

Am I missing something?

The only race highlights I have been able to find on their on demand service (All4) is a crappy 4 min clip.

I can't understand how folk think that's great.

If there is a proper 'highlight's somewhere, please post a link.

[glazbagun]

Rick101 said:

Am I missing something?

The only race highlights I have been able to find on their on demand service (All4) is a crappy 4 min clip.

I can't understand how folk think that's great.

If there is a proper 'highlight's somewhere, please post a link.

Duration 118 min:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/formula-1

You need an account with Channel 4 (email addy is pretty much all you need) and to pause your ad-blocking in your browser. Then they'll hit you with 5 mins of adverts, so go away and make a tea or something.

The adverts really piss me off (though not as much as the tracking) and if you try & skip forward, you need to watch another block of adverts. The streaming speed seems like something from 2002 but I think the actual show is pretty decent.

Edited by glazbagun on Wednesday 23 March 16:16

[Rick101]

Ah, excellent thanks.

Had looked Sun even and Mon and couldn't see it at all.