The Sky Sports F1 Team: The 2013 Verdict

Sometimes, they say that the second year is tougher than the first. In broadcasting, I think the reverse is true. The first year is for building the blocks and the second year is for expanding and cementing those blocks. Sky Sports F1’s second year was largely more successful than the first, as I will analyse in this piece and also the programming piece later on. Sky’s team was assembled at the beginning of 2012 as two presenters, one commentator, five ex-drivers and two pit lane reporters.

Whilst they did indeed build the blocks in 2012, the off-season seen two blocks disappear. Like BBC, the Sky team encountered several changes. Here is how the team changed between 2012 and 2013:

In
– Anna Woolhouse (now presents Midweek Report, although she is not a ‘formal’ part of the team)

Out
– Allan McNish (moved to 5 Live F1)
– Georgie Thompson (moved to pastures new in America)

Thompson’s departure came as a massive surprise to most considering it was only announced (on a blog, nonetheless) four weeks before the start of the season! Nothing official was ever released concerning her departure, it was all rather odd. Anyway, as it turned out, some things are for the better, and Thompson leaving ended up fitting into that category.

Anthony Davidson – @AntDavidson
– main racing activities in endurance racing
– 24 F1 races spanning eight years
– joined 5 Live F1 in 2004, before moving to Sky in 2012

One of the highlights of BBC’s Formula 1 coverage between 2009 and 2011 was the Red Button service used for practice sessions, with commentary from Anthony Davidson and David Croft. The two were universally praised by fans due to their relaxed and interactive style with viewers texting and tweeting their thoughts. Moving onto the present day, and Davidson can also be found standing at a Sky Pad, although in 2012 things were slightly…. different. In 2012, Sky had Davidson and Georgie Thompson stand at the Sky Pad, in a portacabin. The analysis was great, but the location was awful, the two may as well have been in London!

As it turns out, Thompson was not off to London, but off to America. Before the start of the season, I said Davidson would struggle going solo. How wrong was I. Combined with the Sky Pad moving outside, it is one of the biggest improvements to Sky’s coverage year-on-year. Moving it to outside allows them to do more things, which I’ll discuss more in the later pieces. As for Davidson, he has gelled in brilliantly with the team more so this year, it felt last year like he was hidden away because of the Sky Pad location. I suspect he will reduce his commitments for 2014 with good reason, as he now has a new born to take care of!

Damon Hill
– won the 1996 Formula 1 championship
– retired in 1999 after Brabham, Williams, Arrows and Jordan stints
– sole year at F1 Digital+ in 2002, returning to broadcasting in 2012 with Sky

It is not often that people go ten years without appearing in broadcasting, but in the case of Damon Hill, that happened. Of course, he has been ITV F1 commentator sporadically when Martin Brundle was on holiday, but being announced as Sky Sports F1 pundit for 2012 would be his first permanent role since 2002. At the start of last season, Hill was not great to put it lightly. Him and Simon Lazenby were wooden to watch and it was bordering on the cringeworthy. Thankfully, things did improve and with the help of Johnny Herbert, Hill loosened up as a pundit.

2013 has been better for Hill, thanks to Herbert alongside him and also the general rule that the second year tends to be better than the first. In terms of his role, it has not been that much different for him, the commitment level has remained the same. There have been some races where Hill has not travelled to, which is a good thing as Hill is better in small doses. Will he stay for 2014? I think he will, but it is worth bearing in mind that his son Josh retired from motor racing back in July, so Damon may take the opportunity to step back his commitments further for the time being.

David Croft – @CroftyF1
– began broadcasting career at BBC in 1995
– climbed up the latter to 5 Live F1 from 2006 onwards….
– …before moving with Davidson to Sky in 2012

Moving with Anthony Davidson to Sky Sports F1 from BBC Radio 5 Live was always the most logical move for Croft once BBC had reduced their coverage. I did enjoy Croft’s commentary with 5 Live as I alluded to above, his and Davidson’s practice ramblings was sometimes the highlight on an F1 weekend. Whilst I still do like Croft’s commentary, for me, he is still what puts him and Brundle below Ben Edwards and David Coulthard. The first point is with Sky self promotion, which sadly is beyond his control, but very tedious nevertheless considering most viewers know about said services, yes Sky Race Control, I’m looking at you!

There are other issues, though. I said in the BBC piece that I liked Edwards because he makes the hairs on the neck stand up, and it doesn’t feel forced. With Croft, the opposite is true. Every time the race ends, and every time an overtaking move happens (DRS assisted or not) it feels like he needs to shout for whatever reason, maybe because it sounds good in VT’s after, who knows. But to the viewer watching it live, it doesn’t come across as good, it is forced. I know Croft does a lot of fantastic things off the microphone, #AskCrofty for one, I like those, but inevitably he will be judged on his commentary. Good, but no Edwards, in my view.

Johnny Herbert – @JohnnyHerbertF1
– began his Formula 1 career in 1989 after breaking both legs
– recorded three Grand Prix victories before retiring in 2000
– first race with Sky Sports F1 at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix

The first few races on Sky Sports F1 in 2012 from a presentation stand point were not the best. It needed a more ‘bubbly’ personality, shall we say, to enter the fray. Enter Johnny Herbert, who became part of the team from the Chinese Grand Prix. Whether that was always the intention I don’t know, but it was a much needed addition to the team which was a wooden, as I noted in Hill’s section above. It is also interesting to note that, despite retiring in 2000, his role with Sky is the first time that he has appeared on the F1 broadcasting scene, having never previously held a role with BBC or ITV.

In terms of opinions, Herbert gives the obvious opinions and doesn’t really say anything surprising, if anything he toes the ‘party line’. Another issue is if things get too light hearted, as has happened on occasion, but has not yet gone overboard, thankfully. Saying that, the Sky team would suffer without him, as he helps hold the show together in my view. I think Herbert will stay with the team for 2014, he is a safe pair of boots and there is no logical reason for them to get rid of him.

Martin Brundle – @MBrundleF1
– veteran Formula 1 career from 1984 to 1996
– part of ITV’s coverage for their entirety, commentating alongside Murray Walker and James Allen
– moved to BBC in 2009, and then hopping over to Sky for 2012

One of my criticisms of Sky in 2012 was the overuse of Martin Brundle. I can understand the reasoning behind it, as he was the face of their pre-season advertising, but throughout last season it felt like they needed to shoe horn Brundle into every segment and session possible. Brundle was present doing pieces to camera during practice in pit lane right the way through to appearing on the post-race show regularly last season. This has been reigned in somewhat during 2013, but it is still a minor issue for me.

Instead of being in pit lane during practice, Brundle now reports from a particular corner during practice. Whilst this is a great addition, it really could do with a camera man being down there with him, although I appreciate that safety is an issue when reporting from track side, which probably prevents Sky from doing this. His grid walks are still as strong as ever, although I think his commentary has dipped from when he was with the BBC. The lack of a championship battle does not help in that respect, but it was noticeable as the season progressed. Hopefully Brundle rebounds where that is concerned in 2014.

Natalie Pinkham – @NataliePinkham
– various roles on way up to F1, including The Wright Stuff
– became BBC Radio 5 Live pit lane reporter from 2011….
– …but the role was only for a season, she was soon heading to Sky

Due to Georgie Thompson choosing to leave Sky Sports at the start of the year, it meant that Natalie Pinkham’s commitments were expanded. Pinkham throughout 2013 presented The F1 Show alongside Ted Kravitz, and for me it is one reason why The F1 Show has dropped in quality compared with 2012. If I had a choice of who to keep in the team for 2013 between Thompson and Pinkham, it would have been Thompson for me purely because she is the better presenter and can be more ‘serious’ than Pinkham.

Pinkham’s role is more or less the same as Lee McKenzie’s on the BBC, except the latter is leagues ahead of the former. When Pinkham does attempt to do something serious, it is difficult to take it seriously, and feels completely out of place. I do wish that Sky chose Rachel Brookes ahead of Pinkham for The F1 Show, but sadly I think that boat has sailed. I wouldn’t mind Pinkham just as a ‘features reporter’ (even if it did mean her taking a, dare I say it, Beverley Turner style role from ITV) as long as it meant that her air-time was reduced significantly as a result. I’m not a big fan of Pinkham, I’m afraid.

Simon Lazenby – @SimonLazenbySky
– presented Sky’s Rugby coverage up to and including 2011
– moved, along with executive producer Martin Turner, to Sky Sports F1
– stayed with the team for 2013

When Sky were first announced as joint right-holders for Formula 1 from 2012, there was no logical person to give the presenting role to, and it was quite obvious early on that the hiring for the role would come from internally. If you are to talk about choices though, I guess you’d be looking at Keith Huewen and Jon Desborough from a motor sport background. Why Sky Sports never went for either of those for the F1 role, we will never know. After that it was almost a free for all, but in the end Simon Lazenby got the role. 2012 was not great for Lazenby, and I said that strong improvements had to come for 2013.

Sky kept him for 2013 (as his only likely successor decided to leave), and happily Lazenby appears more relaxed in the presenting role. It probably helps for him also that there has been a bit of movement at the BBC, with Lazenby now up against Suzi Perry, who herself has not had the strongest of years. Whilst Lazenby has improved, I don’t think he is near the level of Jake Humphrey, who I think the consensus now is that Humphrey is leagues ahead of most of the Sky presenters with his style of presenting (when not in a studio, that is!). Hopefully Lazenby improves further for 2014, should he stay.

Ted Kravitz – @TedKravitz
– began with ITV in 1997, moving in front of the camera in 2002
– jumped to the BBC in 2009, with commitments improving significantly
– moved to Sky for 2012

They always say ‘leave the best to last’. Not deliberately, but in this piece, Kravitz is the last of the main individuals on the Sky Sports F1 team. And in my view, the best. Kravitz was a main part of BBC’s output from 2009 to 2011 and with more air-time, Sky seemed the logical home for him considering his Notebook’s, which have been even better in 2013 – and expanded with testing and Saturday’s covered too. An always amusing moment is when he fails to stick inside his allotted time, on multiple occasions running 5, 10 or sometimes 15 minutes over his scheduled slot!

The Notebook has definitely the highlight of 2013 from a broadcasting standpoint for me, whether it is Kravitz wandering around Suzuka’s amusement rides or giving us a behind the scenes look at Sky’s operations as he did late in the season. Alongside the Notebook, Kravitz roves up and down pit lane, whilst also presenting The F1 Show. For reasons I’ve noted briefly above and I will note later on, it has declined in quality, although the reasons for it are out of Kravitz’s control. I’m hoping Kravitz’s Notebook’s are back in force from February with F1 testing again!

Others
If you haven’t watched much of Sky Sports F1’s coverage outside of race weekends then you will probably have not heard of Anna Woolhouse. Woolhouse is the presenter of the Midweek Report. An interesting story is that it was initially online only and filmed against a green screen, with a shoe string budget. Only a few weeks later was it noted how pointless an online only show was when you have an entire channel! So, from China, the programme had its first airing on Sky Sports F1. And since then, at times the programme has been better than The F1 Show! I’ll explain more in the next few parts, for me, the choice of guests on occasion is infinitely better. As a presenter, Woolhouse does a fine job, but there is not much more to add here.

Over on Sky Sports News (where Woolhouse also is!), is Craig Slater and Rachel Brookes. Nothing has changed here, except that Sky Sports F1 now tends to use more Sky Sports News interviews which is a good thing, as it makes complete sense for F1 and News to share resources. It made no sense to me why BBC TV and Radio were initially completely independent of one another in 2009, that soon changed where TV people started appearing in Radio’s coverage of practice. My only wish is that Brookes is more prominent on the channel, preferably replacing Pinkham, but that doesn’t appear to be happening yet.

As a unit, if I was to compare the two teams directly and ignoring the programming outside of it, the BBC for me have the edge due to their team being more all rounded than Sky. Sky throw their eggs all in one basket with former drivers whereas with BBC you have an ex team boss and an ex technical director, neither of which Sky have. I do think the Sky team is much improved on 2012, but it will always have the ‘imbalance’ problem for me until they get in another non-driver to add some balance to the programming.

ITV4 extends World Rally Championship rights

ITV Sport have extended the rights to the World Rally Championship, this blog can confirm. The broadcaster will screen every round of the championship via highlights form on ITV4 in 2014.

An ITV spokeswoman informed The F1 Broadcasting Blog: “I can confirm that we will be showing the highlights in 2014.” After many barren years in the UK, this is more good news for the championship which is attempting to rebuild its profile in this country. ITV first secured the 2013 rights back in March after the first few rounds were left without a broadcaster, which shows just how far the series profile plummeted.

According to unofficial overnight viewing figures, television ratings have ranged from 70,000 viewers to 200,000 viewers. The final round of the season, the Wales Rally GB averaged 110,000 (0.6%). While obviously this is a land away from its peak – you have to start somewhere, and being on ITV4 means that the profile is automatically significantly higher than other multichannel’s of this world.

Furthermore, I have reached out to ITV asking if there are any plans to screen any of the championship live. I will post a response underneath if and when I receive confirmation. In the meantime, a list of non-exhaustive broadcasting contracts for 2014 can be found here.

Update on December 16th – ITV have further commented: “I can confirm we will only be showing the highlights of the World Rally Championships. There will unfortunately be no live coverage by ITV.”

North One wins BT Sport MotoGP production deal

North One Television will produce BT Sport’s coverage of the MotoGP World Championship for the duration of the contract, it was confirmed today.

The five year contract, worth £30 million according to Broadcast, works out at approximately £6 million a year, which is not too far away from the Formula 1 production rights for BBC and ITV respectively pre-2012. North One of course were the company that produced ITV’s Formula 1 coverage before 2009, so are definitely experts in the field.

North One’s chief executive, Neil Duncanson said: “It’s nice to be involved in a big name motorsport again. It will give the business a bit more scale and enable us to bring some youngsters on board too.” Head of BT Sport Simon Green said: “North One has a wealth of experience in motorsport production and we look forward to working with them to develop ground breaking MotoGP coverage in the UK.” It is worth noting that the news itself is not too surprising, and is expected given that North One helped BT get the rights in the first place.

Another point that I need to make is that the production documents will include the details of the talent that will be involved in the coverage, should they win. Now that North One have won, it won’t be too long before we find out who those talents named in the brief are. Two plus two equals four, and yesterday eagle eyed people may have spotted an interesting tweet from a well known face who has covered two wheels and four wheels. I’m not going to link to it (just in case I am barking up the wrong tree), but yesterday was apparently an “exciting day” with “exciting news”, and a wink at the end. Related, possibly? We shall see soon find out…

BT Sport vs BSkyB for live Formula E rights?

A lot of people this week have been getting to the blog via various ‘Formula E UK TV rights’ terms, wondering who will be screening the series. Today, we have our first indicator of where the rights could be heading.

Christian Sylt, writing for the Telegraph, is quoting Formula E chief executive Alejandro Agag, who says that they “are talking with BT Sport and with Sky. The strategy in the UK and in Europe is to wait until the drivers are out in February or March then we go for it because we can get more value. The TV people we are talking to absolutely love it. One hour races and they love the pit stop concept because the drivers are going to run. Everybody will have the same distance between their car and the other car. This running, the TV people love it. You can actually have overtaking here. [My ultimate aim is] to do free-to-air even if we get less money. Free-to-air would be great: BBC or ITV.”

Agag in the above mentions that interest will increase once the drivers’ are announced. Unless they pull off a huge coup and, for example purposes, manage to get Michael Schumacher in a car, the rights money in the UK at least won’t budge. Not a muscle. Casual audiences will not be drawn towards ‘F1 rejects’, to coin the term. I really can’t think of many drivers’ alone that could be a draw to UK audiences.

Moving onto free-to-air, I think we can eliminate BBC straight away. ITV or Channel 4 (which Agag hasn’t mentioned)? I don’t think it is likely, but never say never. I’d be really surprised if it happened, and could be quite a risk commercially. Would ITV enter a three year deal for something that may not be guaranteed to last three years? I’m sure A1 Grand Prix wanted free-to-air, but the fact is that it is a huge risk to take into uncharted territory. I think terrestrial television highlights is the more likely option.

BT Sport or Sky Sports will always be king with live sport. Sky Sports would surprise me. They have Formula 1, why would they want Formula E? And then, if they did get it, would they even be allowed to screen it on Sky Sports F1? Would Bernie (or whoever at FOM) block them from screening it on Sky Sports F1? It would definitely go against Martin Turner’s statements in the past about screening non-F1 content on the channel as it would ‘dilute the brand’. Unless something drastic changes in the next six months, Formula E being on Sky Sports is a non starter. I do note though that the term ‘BSkyB’ is used, so whether there could be home for it outside of the Sky Sports portfolio, I don’t know.

I think BT Sport will get it, and in doing so would actually create a strong motor sport brand for them: MotoGP, Formula E and IndyCar, which should entice some motor sport fans. It will be interesting to see what happens, there’s several potential options for them. Of course, it could just end up on Eurosport or Motors TV, which I somehow doubt Agag wants!

The BBC F1 Team: The 2013 Verdict

2013 has passed in earnest, with Sebastian Vettel winning his fourth Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in dominant fashion. Off the track, it has been another interesting broadcasting year, with the new Formula 1 broadcasting era in full swing, as BBC and Sky Sports now share the television rights. Now that we are firmly into December, it is time for ‘The Verdict so Far’ series to make a triumphant return!

Throughout this series of blogs, I will look back on 2013 and analyse both BBC’s and Sky Sports F1’s programming and cast an eye towards the future as F1 heads into 2014. I should note that it is unlikely that there will be a ratings analysis piece in this series of blog posts, the reasoning behind this can be found here. As always, we start the series of by looking at each member of BBC’s F1 team. Here is how the team changed between 2012 and 2013:

Who came In
– Allan McNish (replaced Jaime Alguersuari as 5 Live F1 commentator; moved from Sky Sports F1)
– Suzi Perry (replaced Jake Humphrey as presenter)
– Tom Clarkson (expanded on 2012 commitments)

Who went Out
– Jaime Alguersuari (moved to pastures new)
– Jake Humphrey (moved to BT Sport)

When you look at it like that, blank piece of paper, before the start of the year and you weight it up, the in’s are stronger than the out’s. However, Jake Humphrey, was always going to be a big loss for the team. Throughout 2013, it was evident that the programming was sorely missing Humphrey’s presense…

Allan McNish – @AllanMcNish
– one and only season with Toyota in 2002
– sporadic appears with ITV F1 in 2003
– made a broadcasting return with Sky Sports F1 last season

When McNish made his return to the television screen as a sporadic member of the Sky Sports F1 team last year, I anticipated him expanding his role for 2013. What I did not expect though was for him to move sideways to BBC’s 5 Live F1 team. Nor did I expect them to announce him as commentator before the season… but only doing six races, which felt farfetched. I didn’t really have an issue with McNish only doing six races. The bizarre bit for me was that no one else was announced to do the other thirteen races. Was this a cost cutting move by 5 Live? On the suface, it definitely looked like it.

McNish’s only two appearances since the Summer were in Belgium and Italy meaning that there is not much to say here. I have not listened to 5 Live a lot this year, so I don’t know if people prefer hearing Susie Wolff or Alexander Rossi, but no permanent co-commentator for the remaining thirteen rounds does shout out cost cutting. If both parties are happy with the current arrangment then I imagine McNish will be back, although I hope the races he is at is spread out a bit more thinly rather than a big lump in the middle next year.

Ben Edwards – @BenEdwardsTV
– began F1 commentary with Eurosport in 1994
– next F1 exploits in 2002, for F1 Digital+, before A1 GP and BTCC commentary duty
– returned to F1 in 2012 with the BBC F1 team

As good as ever, in my view. Many times before, Edwards was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. For the start of ITV’s coverage in 1997, Murray Walker continued his commentary, meaning Edwards was not an option. For 2002, James Allen was chosen as ITV’s lead commentator, whilst Edwards did F1 Digital+. And in 2009, the BBC chose Jonathan Legard over Edwards. Thankfully, for 2012, BBC made the right move and Edwards was announced as lead commentator alongside David Coulthard in the box.

It was a long time in the making, and about time too in my book. Edwards has stuck to what he does best: commentating. No extra presenting, no extra interviews. Just commentate. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his commentary throughout 2012 and 2013, and is one of the main reasons why I pick BBC over Sky Sports for the race itself. Yes, he makes mistakes, but who doesn’t. I prefer a commentator that makes the hairs on your neck stand up, and Edwards does just that. Hopefully Edwards has many years of Formula 1 commentary duty ahead of him.

David Coulthard – @TheRealDCF1
– raced for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull
– 13 wins in a 15 year F1 career
– moved to broadcasting in 2009, joining BBC following his F1 retirement

It was known within the paddock for a while before his final Formula 1 race that Coulthard would be moving into broadcasting with the BBC F1 team. At the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix, both him and Jake Humphrey were in the Red Bull garage, presumably looking at what laid ahead for 2009. Coulthard’s role in 2009 was simply being a pundit alongside Eddie Jordan. Which worked very well, both were streets ahead of the ITV product before it. Pundit turned commentator in 2011 with Jonathan Legard leaving.

Coulthard has arguably been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the BBC and Sky Sports deal, with more air time and doing more VT pieces too. One highlight of the 2013 broadcasting year has to be the McLaren piece at Silverstone with the Scot and Mika Hakkinen. Sublime, and beautiful to watch. Coulthard has also been doing the grid walks as of late, his calm approach appearing to be a winner with drivers’ and resulting in better grid walks for it. Again, I hope nothing changes here, Coulthard is great with the team, it doesn’t yet feel old or stale for me, so hopefully things continue as they are.

Eddie Jordan
– Jordan team owner from 1991 until 2005
– 4 victories as team owner in 250 races
– joined the BBC in 2009

Love him or hate him, Eddie Jordan is just one of the people that made Formula 1’s return to the BBC that much better. It was a genius move by the corporation to get him on board for the coverage, lighting up the pre-race coverage. Obviously there are others that subscribe to the theory that he always acts and is “a bit of a prat”. I don’t subscribe to that category of thinking. Jordan brings a lot to the BBC’s shows. Does he brings as much as he used to? No, due to the broadcasting rights changes, which meant that his commitments were reduced, but he is still a valuable asset.

You only have to look at his track record for exclusives to know how valuable he is to the BBC F1 product as a whole: predicting Michael Schumacher’s return and Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes are two highlights. He has also sometimes this season done the grid walk, which to his credit in India went according to plan and very smoothly! Things do not work as well sometimes with just him and Perry, compared with him and Jake Humphrey, but I really do feel that BBC’s team would be worse off without Jordan, although like I said at the start: you either love him, or hate him!

Gary Anderson
– veteran technical director at Jordan and Stewart
– broadcasting exploits with Setanta Sports
– moved to BBC’s F1 team for the 2012 season

When Ted Kravitz moved to Sky Sports F1, along with a pleothra of other people, it did leave a gaping hole in BBC’s team. Enter Gary Anderson, who replaced Kravitz as BBC’s technical analyst and roving pit lane reporter during practice. Given that Anderson had been round the block many times, he was definitely the most logical person for the role. As I noted a few times last year, I felt that Anderson was out of his depth during the first half of the season as he struggled to convey technical information to a casual audience. But since then, Anderson has come on in strides.

It is a strange one actually, as you would probably logically feel that Anderson and Kravitz should be the other way around. Anderson doing more technical stuff on Sky Sports F1, with Kravitz on BBC F1. Both do fantastic things in their respective roles though and I would not want that to change. As well as being in the pit lane, Anderson is also in the commentary box for many races. Some may not realise this, but Anderson does at times form a three man commentary booth alongside Edwards and Coulthard, with Anderson dipping in from time to time. So far, the three man booth has worked definitely well, and gives them an advantage over the opposition.

James Allen – @JamesAllenOnF1
– started off as ESPN pit lane reporter in mid 1990’s
– part of ITV’s F1 team for their entire F1 stay, Allen as reporter then commentator
– joined BBC’s Radio team for the 2012 season

The announcement at the beginning of 2012 that Allen was going to join BBC Radio 5 Live was a surprising one, but as Allen noted himself, he felt that radio commentary was a new challenge compared to his previous ITV commitments. Since ITV’s coverage ended, Allen has set up a blog site which is still going to this day and has grown substantially.

There is not a lot more to add here for Allen. I have not listened to a lot of the radio coverage for 2013, but listening to little bits and Allen seems more comfortable and relaxed on the microphone than he did in the ITV days. Allen does not commentate on every race either, with Jonathan Legard commentating on some races. Sadly, whilst Allen does seem more comfortable, Legard does not with commentary and appears to have not improved that much compared with his TV days.

Jennie Gow – @JennieGow
– first appeared on the motor sport broadcasting scene in 2010 as BBC’s MotoGP presenter….
– …but was dropped at the end of that year in favour of Matt Roberts
– returned to the BBC as 5 Live’s F1 pit lane reporter from 2012

The idea of people being dropped from broadcasting roles after just one season is never a nice one. Back in 2010, I didn’t think Gow was the greatest motor sport presenter ever seen, but on the same note I thought the decision by BBC to drop her was not justified either, although admittedly this was at a time when the costs of everything was being reigned in, as the Formula 1 team found out several months later. Thankfully it was not too long before Gow got another chance, starting with the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix with BBC Radio 5 Live, not a bad race to start with!

I don’t think 2010 was too early for Gow, but may well have been in hindsight too early for the role. Nevertheless, Gow returned to the F1 paddock full time with 5 Live last season, Gow benefiting from the BBC and Sky deal. Alongside the pit lane role, Gow presents the other 5 Live F1 shows, the main contribution being ‘Slicks-O-Six’ phone in show on the station, which I have enjoyed listening to, and hope continues on a regular basis into 2014. Should there be any TV changes, then personally I hope Gow benefits from that.

Lee McKenzie – @LeeMcKenzieF1
– remember Speed Sunday? ITV? 2004? Nope? Well Lee fronted that
– part of the A1 Grand Prix team as pit lane reporter
– first Formula 1 broadcasting exploits from 2009 with the BBC

I think it is fair to say that last December, a fair few people were disappointed. Overlooked? You could say so. The BBC chose Suzi Perry over Lee McKenzie for the Formula 1 presenter role, presumably under the rationale that Perry has more experience in live motor sport presenting than McKenzie. It was disappointing for McKenzie though considering she has been part of the BBC F1 team since 2009. Nevertheless, she decided to continue with her pit lane reporting role, a role that in 2013 has brought many advantages.

Early on in the season, McKenzie highlighted the advantages of said role thanks to the controversial Malaysian Grand Prix, she being one of the first people to interview both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel thanks to her pen role. McKenzie has not done much more this season in comparison to other seasons aside from sporadic forum appearances and interviews, as a result probably is one of the more overlooked members of the team. She deserves to one day lead the BBC team, but given the choices made by higher up last year, I’m not sure if that will ever happen, sadly.

Suzi Perry – @SuziPerry
– part of BBC’s MotoGP team as presenter from the late 1990s through to 2009
– presented shows such as The Gadget Show amongst various other strands
– returned to live hosting as the BBC F1 presenter for 2013

McKenzie’s section leads me on very nicely to Perry. Do I understand the BBC’s logic? Of course. However, did they go with the most experienced back in 2009? Nope, and that paid off brilliantly for them. Sometimes, broadcasting is about taking risks, and taking Perry felt like the safe option. Well, it should have been, anyway. Up until this point in her career, Perry has largely been covering two wheels. And also, the air-time has been generally shorter, none of her BBC MotoGP shows were three hours in length with a one hour forum on the end.

I don’t think BBC were expecting a bumpy first season with Perry. She has been, for me, mediocre. Flashes of a potentially great F1 presenter, but nothing more. Comparisons can be made with Simon Lazenby’s 2012 season with Sky Sports F1, it has to be said. Of course, before Sky F1, Lazenby had no motor sport presenting experience. Perry did, and I think that is the difference maker. Nevertheless, I think Perry should stay for 2014 purely because I’m not a fan of rash decisions and, as we have seen with Lazenby, she should improve significantly next year. That’s assuming BT Sport don’t come calling…

Tom Clarkson – @TomClarksonF1
– a familiar face on Australian television, due to his TEN Sport F1 connections
– made his first BBC F1 appearance as interviewer in Canada 2012
– appeared full time as a member of the team this season

Last, but not least, we move onto Tom Clarkson, who, in my view is moving fairly quickly up the ranks. For the UK audience he has almost come out of no where, no formal announcement for Canada 2012, with some almost wondering “who is he?”. Clarkson was back though full time for 2013 (with a proper announcement!), roaming the pit lane during practice and conducting interviews in the paddock before and after the session.

Someone spotted Clarkson conducting an interview for TEN Sport during one of Ted Kravitz’s Notebook programmes on Sky, which suggests that he has been doing double duty for at least some of 2013, a man clearly in demand! I’ve enjoyed his contributions though throughout 2013, solid where they have been and seems confident doing pieces to camera, during practice too with him and Jennie Gow sometimes in pit lane. There is not much else to say, but I hope he remains with them into 2014.

It is fair to say that the BBC, as they always have had since 2009, still have a very strong team despite the change in broadcasting rights. 2014 for them needs to be like Sky’s 2013: stability. They’ve had two unstable years in a row, and desperately need to balance the ship. Should Perry stay, 2014 needs to build on 2013 with the team getting back to the award winning programming we seen from 2011. I know that the air-time for highlights limits what they can do, as I will talk about in a later part, but I really hope they bounce back in style for 2014.

Part two of this blog series will look at the opposition: Sky Sports F1 and their team, as I outline who has impressed me, or unimpressed as the case may be.