ITV F1

[bad_roo]

Now that it's all over for ITV what did you guys think of their coverage. Here's my take:

Liked:
Louise Goodman wasn't a bad colour reporter
Martin Brundle was always excellent but the grid walk outlived its usefulness
And a controversial one here, but I think James Allen developed into a decent commentator (I hated him at first)
I also liked the fact that the coverage was given room to breathe rather than being squeezed into a mean time slot

Disliked:
Consistently lousy into music
Ted Kravitz is an oaf
Mark Blundell rarely had anything interesting to say and that which was said, John Prescott would have rejected on grounds of poor grammar
Tedious Sony barrage of soft rock idents
Steve Rider and his shaky fking microphone

[_Batty_]

BBC has alot to live up to.
but its already on a good step with no ads, and HDTV.

[Wanta996Gotta]

Adverts are all that bothered me - everything else was trivial. The way i see it is at the end of the day, ITV stuck with it when nobody really wanted it. The Lewis factor like it or not is the only reason i believe that the BBC even want it.

[Zhastaph]

Personally I'm of the opinion that everyone is unecceserily {sp?!?} mean to James Allen. He's not a bad commentator, he makes stupid mistakes but in that situation who honestly wouldn't. I often read both his columns on ITV-F1, Friday Form Guide and GP Verdict and find them thorough and thought provoking. It is clear that a lot of time and energy goes into producing them and for me at least it's appreciated.

Ted Kravitz is another, I agree he is a bit of an oaf on TV but again his post race column is an absolute gem.

For me both will be missed and I have doubts that we will get that level of service from the beeb, initially at least.

[CNHSS1]

Steve Riders a good anchor man imho, at least hes awake unlike that dreary halfwit Jim Rosenthal!
Brundles excellent, i enjoy his commentary and banter.
i like Blundell too, although hes not as eloquent as some, hes been there and done it which is more than im guessing anyone on here has (correct me if im wrong, but i doubt many ex F1 drivers frequent these pages...)
James Allen, should be given the front jackmans job on any F1 team and their brakes tampered with or be strapped to any given Recticel barrier during a wet FFord race.
Louise Goodman, seems to get to talk to drivers when some other journos would struggle, shes obviously liked within the paddock.
Ted Kravitz, quite like him, he had some b*****ks for waving the union jack (refuse to call it union flag..) in front of eleventy thousand Brazillians baying for british flesh on a stick!

[DSM2]

I felt an awful lot of it left a lot to be desired:

Allen is/was a cock.
The adverts completely ruined the races, they wouldn't do it for football.
Why did they pick anchor men who seem to hate the sport and have little knowledge?
Wasn't there an ex driver with a better grasp of English than Blundell?

[Muzzer]

Liked:

Coverage - they covered every qualifying session and race.
Remember the days of handing over to Murray 5 mins before the race began on the BBC?

Ted Kravitz - He's a bit of a plonker but he's on the ball in the pits (admittedly not a difficult job)

Brundle - best co-commentator we've had. Take note though BBC - he can't lead commentate...

Steve Rider - A good front man, likes the sport (IINM the main reason he defected from the BBC was for F1)

Dislikes

Louise Goodman - So inane. So smarmy. What's her purpose? Ted does the pits, Brunders and The Cock do commentary, so...?

Ads - Goes without saying

Hamilton Bias - I'm a Lewis fan and the casual observer will always want to know what's happening with the lead Brit but there are other drivers in the field you know..

The Cock - He'd be OK if he wasn't such a......Cock.

Blundell - Could they not have got someone who was at least a little bit articulate?

[Cara Van Man]

I'm just happy to get rid of the adverts.

[chrisfoxon]

You can't take nothing away from Blundell.

That means that you can take away from him you idiot!

[bad_roo]

chrisfoxon said:

You can't take nothing away from Blundell.

That means that you can take away from him you idiot!

That was what he effectively done.

[CNHSS1]

cant see the problemn with Blundells speech, this isnt the 1950s, not everyone has to sound like Mr Cholmendley-Warner on the BBC world service!
whats better, someone that can actually speak with experience of the subject, or have Brain Sewell pronounce every line beautifully albeit not knowing his proverbial F1 arse from his elbow.....

[Muzzer]

CNHSS1 said:

cant see the problemn with Blundells speech, this isnt the 1950s, not everyone has to sound like Mr Cholmendley-Warner on the BBC world service!
whats better, someone that can actually speak with experience of the subject, or have Brain Sewell pronounce every line beautifully albeit not knowing his proverbial F1 arse from his elbow.....

The problem is that he sounds like a moron and cheapens the programme.

I'm sure there are several ex-drivers with F1 experience who could have provided a viewpoint without coming across as a fool.

[Fire99]

I think its hard to find Motoring broadcasters that won't annoy atleast some of the vote..

For ITV the only thing that got up my nose was the Ads which ruined the flow of the coverage.

Other than that, could of beeen alot worse and was plenty good enough.

[CNHSS1]

Personally, id happily sound like Ozzy Osbourne and be thought by the armchair F1 enthusiasts a moron all day long for the chance to have driven in F1 like Blundell, let alone a world champion F1 driver.
i have no axe to grind either way with Blundell, but disliking his delivery of information rather than the content does seem a wee bit silly to me. Allens speech is thought by the majority to be perfectly acceptable, but the actual content is generally considered to be bilge. take your pick Gentlemen...

[bad_roo]

CNHSS1 said:

i have no axe to grind either way with Blundell, but disliking his delivery of information rather than the content does seem a wee bit silly to me. Allens speech is thought by the majority to be perfectly acceptable, but the actual content is generally considered to be bilge. take your pick Gentlemen...

You misunderstand! I thought his delivery was rubbish AND he had nothing interesting to say. That might be understandable had you no experience to fall back on, but to have raced in F1 and still manage to come across as no more informed than the guy who empties my recycling bin is piss poor.

[Kurgen]

Wanta996Gotta said:

Adverts are all that bothered me..

+1

Have also enjoyed the www.itv.com/f1 website.

[ian_c_uk]

_Batty_ said:

BBC has alot to live up to.
but its already on a good step with no ads, and HDTV.

Have BBC confirmed HD coverage??

[rubystone]

When Brundle filled in for Rider, it illustrated just how difficult that anchor role is and how well Steve does....always assuming one needs an anchor role that is...

Perhaps I am alone in thinking that Kravitz at least has the balls to ask some leading questions and doesn't let his quarry get away that easily.

James Allen - tortuous analogies, misses a lot of the action. Not very good in my book.

Brundle - with a better wing man I think he'd be even better - has to spot a lot of the stuff Allen misses. Gridwalk currently is clearly 50% scripted, 50% not...

Goodman - adds little value in my book

Edited to add, I forgot about Blundell - which kind of sums him up - just what value does he add?...absolutely none, da nada...

Edited by rubystone on Monday 3rd November 17:49

[anonymous-user]

Blundell's murdering of the English language is painful.

The thing that annoys (annoyed!) me about Allen was the way he would simply repeat something 2 minutes after Brundle had already said it. He appeared to have very little insight of his own IMHO.

[mically]

I don't get the mass hatred for james allen?
I find some of his bizarre, delayed and unexpected comments quite funny. He nay not know what's happening to every driver, at every stage of the event - but he keeps you posted on what's on your screen, and what's not.

Without attempting to belittle the Motor Racing Legend, simply known as Murray Walker - he too had some mistakes. His commentary at this years Race of Champions was upsetting to say the least! My final thoughts of him from F1 were ruined when the poor guy kept getting lost in the very basic, time-tabled racing.

But back on topic:

Loved the time, effort and money ITV devoted to the sport.
Before, during and after - they gave F1 the attention it required. Not skipping Mansell receiving his winning trophy for the sake of bleeding synchronised swimming, or the likes of.

Hated:
Adverts.
Louise Goodman - for the love of god woman, stop SHOUTING! She had a powerful mic, this is not 1970. You do not need to shout, to be heard.
I'd sooner listen to james allen that her, anytime of the week.

.....and why did ITV pick up on the F1 saying, & start using it in every sentence? ....... I quote: "For Sure."

Please, F1 drivers, teams, managers, associates and commentators - stop saying "For Sure."

Well done ITV however! You served the sport well, and showed what is required to capture the audience. (Albeit I was always 1hr behind, giving it a headstart so I could FF the bloody adverts,) :-)