PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Sadly SpeedTV was outbid for broadcasting rights, ending a 17 year relationship with FIM. That means no more Will Buxton, Bob Varsha, Steve Machett, or David Hobbs on F1 after this season .

Rumor is that NBC won the bid but no announcements on that yet.


I'm kinda saddened by this, having really gotten into Formula 1 about 6-7 years ago (right after Schumacher retired the first time) ALL of my F1 experience has involved the aforementioned gents narrating for me. Even watching the BBC/Sky broadcasts threw me off as it's just not the same


Oh well, now to see who NBC picks for commentators and what channel it ends up on...

MelF1fan

Read the news earlier today. It is very sad indeed. I myself started following F1 fanatically around 2004 the last couple years of the awesome V10's.

So I am also used to expecting the great crew @ speed and the awesome job they (Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchet) do in the booth. I like the new guy who does the pit reporting as well.

I hope NBC Sports Network (Versus) hire these guys as i not only love their commentary but also provide great insight as to the goings on within the paddock and breaking down technical info for the layman.

Not sure what kind of coverage NBC will bring but hopefully more expansive and realtime coverage. I've watched some BBC and Sky and i like what they do.. kinda like the efforts that US networks provide for NASCAR here in the states.

TF109B

I watch it on the net anyway, not a fan of commercial interruptions to show "values, pass it on" adds when we could be seeing Alonso vs. Hamilton or something. I do hope that some of the speed guys can go on and cover it on the new network, but that's doubtful as they're employed by FOX which owns speed.

Mr Johnson

Yeah, definitely the end of an era. I've watched from before we had regular coverage of F1 through the Speedvision/Speed Channel/SpeedTV/Fox transition and it was great to have a) Friendly familiar voices especially that early in the morning, b) the knowledge and chemistry of the three amigos and c) the continual improvement over the years in coverage provided.

I do believe that Hobbs, Matchett and Buxton are free agents while Varsha is more of a contracted to Speed personality.

I worry about what NBC might do with coverage (Please don't hire Peter Windsor. I used to like him but now ) . I enjoy waking up early mornings to watch the races live. I like not having the focus be on people new to the sport (Eg. The reminders of every detail when a race was on the FOX side). I hope they find people knowledgeable about the sport to commentate. Finally I hope they can send their crew to the actual races (doing what the current crew does would IMO be harder for people that haven't covered the sport for years).

I guess I'll just have to savor the last few races knowing that the end of the line is about to be reached just as when a loved driver finally retires.

Thanks for the show Bob, David, Steve and Will.