What do people want from a commentator.....
Discussion
Brundle/coulthard was ahigh point IMO but I think we're doomed to moronery unless a broadcaster decides to go dual track commentry
Problem is I think the shouty excitable style is thought to make it more accessible to the drop in fans than the dry, technical style... and appeasing the drop in fans is worth more to broadcasters looking to boost viewer numbers - lets face it sky could pair jenny jones and al gore in the box and we fans would piss'n'moan and pay our subs and keep watching - like in a lot of things today the hardcore supporters whose patronage is taken for granted get pushed to the bottom of the list!
Problem is I think the shouty excitable style is thought to make it more accessible to the drop in fans than the dry, technical style... and appeasing the drop in fans is worth more to broadcasters looking to boost viewer numbers - lets face it sky could pair jenny jones and al gore in the box and we fans would piss'n'moan and pay our subs and keep watching - like in a lot of things today the hardcore supporters whose patronage is taken for granted get pushed to the bottom of the list!
cuprabob said:
nickfrog said:
I get very irritated by the guy on the BBC who always say "away we go" at the start - so annoying.
He also makes a point of pronouncing Bahrain with a terrible impression of an arab accent, why ? He sounds really daft "Bahhhrrrrrain", yet any other non-english names is pronounced without any hint of a foreign accent (thankfully).
So anyone but that guy will do nicely.
That would be Jack Nicholls ....He also makes a point of pronouncing Bahrain with a terrible impression of an arab accent, why ? He sounds really daft "Bahhhrrrrrain", yet any other non-english names is pronounced without any hint of a foreign accent (thankfully).
So anyone but that guy will do nicely.
Above all, I want Someone well informed.
I've met David Croft (Crofty, SkyF1), Karun Chandok (ex driver, Ch4 F1) and Will Buxton (NBC F1 coverage) in person (in fact, I talked to both Crofty and Karun last week at two totally different, unrelated events).
Of the three, I think Buxton is the guy who has done the most research, and for me he is the most witty/entertaining/informative. He genuinely knows his stuff upside down and backwards (he doesn't need to refer to flash cards for anything: spontaneous recall in the middle of conversation).
Karun is a bit of an F1 encyclopaedia, has massive historical knowledge. It's nice that he gets to run about in historic stuff these days.
Crofty is a bit marmite amongst F1 fans. I like him, he's a nice man in person, although he cannot drive for toffee according to my recent experience. He's quite funny.
I get really pissed off by commentators like Jonathan Legard, who is a generic "sports journalist" and could just as easily be covering football or curling - someone who isn't an enthusiast, and does it purely as a job. It shows in the end product. With this sort of guy, I generally would prefer a natural audio track (just car noises) and would happily mute him totally.
Martin Brundle is probably the best of them all, but I think in recent years (basically since F1 became endurance racing on fragile tyres), he's less interested than when the cars were about 187kg lighter* back in the early 2000's, when there was a tyre war and development wasn't constrained by bulls
t tokens, testing limitations, simulation limits, penalties, control tyres on defined pressures and so on. It's meant to be F1: it should be unlimited war except for the formula.
*The cars themselves were 122kg lighter in 2004: 600kg versus 722kg minimum in 2017, but in the early 2000s they didn't have to lug around 105kg of fuel at the start of a race like they do now, because of the refuelling available at the time. They often ran about with less than 40kg at the start of a race (in fact the biggest tank of the era would have been circa 80kg) , so the actual difference was 122kg car+ about 65kg less fuel onboard at a given time, so a total of about 187kg.
I've met David Croft (Crofty, SkyF1), Karun Chandok (ex driver, Ch4 F1) and Will Buxton (NBC F1 coverage) in person (in fact, I talked to both Crofty and Karun last week at two totally different, unrelated events).
Of the three, I think Buxton is the guy who has done the most research, and for me he is the most witty/entertaining/informative. He genuinely knows his stuff upside down and backwards (he doesn't need to refer to flash cards for anything: spontaneous recall in the middle of conversation).
Karun is a bit of an F1 encyclopaedia, has massive historical knowledge. It's nice that he gets to run about in historic stuff these days.
Crofty is a bit marmite amongst F1 fans. I like him, he's a nice man in person, although he cannot drive for toffee according to my recent experience. He's quite funny.
I get really pissed off by commentators like Jonathan Legard, who is a generic "sports journalist" and could just as easily be covering football or curling - someone who isn't an enthusiast, and does it purely as a job. It shows in the end product. With this sort of guy, I generally would prefer a natural audio track (just car noises) and would happily mute him totally.
Martin Brundle is probably the best of them all, but I think in recent years (basically since F1 became endurance racing on fragile tyres), he's less interested than when the cars were about 187kg lighter* back in the early 2000's, when there was a tyre war and development wasn't constrained by bulls
t tokens, testing limitations, simulation limits, penalties, control tyres on defined pressures and so on. It's meant to be F1: it should be unlimited war except for the formula.*The cars themselves were 122kg lighter in 2004: 600kg versus 722kg minimum in 2017, but in the early 2000s they didn't have to lug around 105kg of fuel at the start of a race like they do now, because of the refuelling available at the time. They often ran about with less than 40kg at the start of a race (in fact the biggest tank of the era would have been circa 80kg) , so the actual difference was 122kg car+ about 65kg less fuel onboard at a given time, so a total of about 187kg.
Edited by CraigyMc on Friday 26th May 10:56
I liked the Walker/Hunt 'partnership' - contrasting style/voices, rarely agreed on anything and often the tension between them was pretty clear. They were more than the sum of their parts IMO. But I can't think of any commentators since that could properly fill their shoes. I think you really want to have someone passionate and excitable like Murray (but ideally without being too irritating, if that's possible), and someone more grounded, with more of a technical mind (typically an ex driver) to pair up. As long as they have reasonably contrasting styles, it should keep it interesting.
All commentators will say something that you dislike or disagree with at some time or another. At least it means you are actually listening to them. I don't have any particular favourites as they all have their own different styles. I find them all knowledgable and entertaining.
It could be fun if we had a guest commentator every week. Imagine the reaction if someone like Graham Norton or Lee Evans had a go. I would enjoy that.
It could be fun if we had a guest commentator every week. Imagine the reaction if someone like Graham Norton or Lee Evans had a go. I would enjoy that.
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