The Beeb’s new team
All we seem to hear about, as we head into winter, is recession, downturn, crisis and imminent Armageddon. Come on, there must be some good news. Well, there is, and here it is.
Martin Brundle has joined the British Broadcasting Corporation’s team that will cover Grand Prix racing for the next five years. Alright, this is not exactly new news, but it is most certainly good news. Brundle is one of the many reasons for watching Grand Prix racing on the television.
And there’s more. The BBC team will also include David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and… yes, good old Murray Walker. All three, in their very different ways, will bring insight, controversy and humour to the coverage next season. DC and EJ will be on board as expert observers while Muddly Talker will communicate with the audience via the worldwide web, answering questions and no doubt venting a few opinions.
There have long been whispers that Martin Brundle had become disillusioned with all the politics and shenanigans that infest the modern F1 paddock. Maybe he had, and certainly his relationship with the FIA has, on occasion, become a little frosty. But good sense has prevailed and the man who stepped from the cockpit into the commentary box will continue to entertain us with his no-nonsense approach to the business of motor racing on TV. Let’s hope he starts the new season in the pithiest possible form with all the humour, honesty and expertise that we know he can throw at us on a Sunday afternoon. We don’t yet know if there will be the right chemistry with race commentator Jonathan Legard but Brundle must be allowed the space to do his thing. His grid walks for the ITV coverage were a joy to watch – it is much more difficult than it looks to ‘door-step’ folk on the grid just minutes before the start of a race.
David Coulthard will, I believe, surprise many people with his broadcasting skills. His easy manner, quick wit and intelligence, not to mention his very recent experience in the car, will add a new dimension. As for EJ, well, the only surprise will come if he is not his usual self – that is over the top, controversial and straight down the line. And, if I’m not very much mistaken, the amazing Murray Walker will be well worth reading as he taps into the BBC F1 website. The man is so damn enthusiastic and energetic at a time of life when most of us might be lifting off just a little.
So, yes, you can probably tell that I like the look of the new team. I am qualified, I think, to pre-judge this new era, having spent 25 years of my life in the business of making TV programmes. ITV did a good job, brought some new ideas, and the advertising breaks allowed time to make a cup of tea, fetch a beer, or whatever. The BBC will have to work hard to bring a new dimension. Steve Rider, a consummate professional in front of camera, thinks the Beeb will do a very good job. He should know, having worked for the Corporation for many, many years.
And finally, as they say, let’s have more pits-to-car radio, more insight into those all-important tactics and more of that new helmet camera that we saw in Brazil this year. The trick, with sport on TV, is to take the viewers inside the fence, lead them right in there, amongst the noise, the brake dust, the muck and bullets. You can’t beat being there but it’s the next best thing.
Filed under: Blogs, Miscellaneous, Personalities
Tags: BBC, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, Martin Brundle, Murray Walker
Rob was brought up on racing, being taken to Goodwood as a small child and devouring his father’s copies of Motor Sport. During a career in newspaper, radio and TV journalism he created the ‘Track Torque’ motorsport show on radio and was Indycar commentator for Eurosport before co-founding the Festival of Speed and Revival events. He was marketing director of the Goodwood Road Racing Company.
Neil Stretton:
November 28th, 2008 12:29pm
…and which one of the commentary team will insist that Ecclestone gives straight answers, rather than flippent ones, to straight questions?
Robin Richardson:
November 28th, 2008 2:53pm
Neil,
I can’t imagine anybody getting Ecclestone to give a straight answer to anything - except maybe his wife’s divorce lawyer. Even then I wouldn’t put money on it. Here’s a man who, imo, has played games with people for so long that(in public at least)he’s become a parody of himself. The only transparent thing about him is the obvious enjoyment he seems to get from playing these games. Ho hum!
Rob,
you’re right about Martin Brundle’s pit lane walkabouts, except that with one or two exceptions it’s very rare these days for drivers to give anybody the time of day. The downside is that having removed themselves so effectively from contact with ‘live’ fans, some of them are now doing the same with the TV fanbase. The upside is the emergence of people like Rob Smedley into the public arena. Guys like him really know their stuff and I’d rather listen to him any day than suffer a few brief whinging words from a driver with all the personality of a small soap dish.
Robin
rob widdows:
November 28th, 2008 3:20pm
Afternoon
Just back from talking to the world’s greatest all-round racing driver. A huge pleasure, as always. He still says Fangio was better. We were talking about his love of cruising (for another magazine) and afterwards we got to chatting about you-know-what. He says Max has the right idea - force the teams to make F1 cheaper or it simply won’t be sustainable in the long run. In 1961 he was the world’s highest paid racing driver, earning the gross sum of £32,000 for that year. He took part in over 50 races, winning some 40 of them. Earlier in his career he paid £3,000 for a Maserati 250F and spent not much more than that racing it with help from his Dad and a mechanic, and of course a girlfriend……….! Whatever the man has earnt over the years, Sir Stirling is fantastic value for money. One of my heroes.
Anyway, yes, it’s tough to get a straight answer out of Mr Ecclestone - partly because he’s very smart, very quick and almost impossible to pin down. But if anyone can, then Martin Brundle can, and he does try.
Yup, always good to hear from Smedley of the Scuderia, and he came SO close to giving Massa the world title. Drivers are not very interesting any more, I agree, but that’s partly because the sponsors and the “media managers” won’t let them speak off the record about anything.
Off the record, Sir Stirling thinks Hamilton sghould come back to Britain and pay his taxes. So do I. We both agreed that the man is a great example to lots of young people and he does have things to say. When he is allowed to say them.
RW
Little Chris:
November 29th, 2008 12:31am
Why have they spent my licence fee employing Eddie Jordan?
My ideal team would’ve been Ben Edwards & Martin Brundle on commentary, DC and Johnny Herbert as insightful/comedy back up, with pit duties down to James Allen ( Knows his stuff but not a commentator ). Everything held together by Steve Rider, a sorely underated anchorman who can traces his GP roots back to the 1978 Lotus days when he was at BBC Norwich I believe.
Chris
rob widdows:
November 29th, 2008 12:43pm
Only time will tell if EJ has something useful to say. I think he might. But they may need a lawyer on hand.
Yes, Ben is good, but in my view not right for F1 on the BBC. Johnny Herbert would be good, I agree, but he is committed to the Speedcar Series in the Middle East where he can potentially earn a LOT of money…….
Nobody can deny that Steve Rider is one of the smoothest and safest presenters on the planet - but I think the BBC would want to “do their own thing” to differentiate themselves from the years of ITV coverage.
Talking of under-rated people, John Watson is interviewed in some depth by Simon taylor in the latest Motor Sport, out in the shops today. A truly talented and gifted driver was Wattie, and who can ever forget that extraordinary race in the streets of Detroit. There was no lack of overtaking in those days. And JW always has something interesting and/or combative to say. Good stuff.
RW
Little Chris:
November 30th, 2008 12:46am
Hello Rob,
Absolutely agree about Wattie. Also he’s a man with a sense of motor sport history having raced at places like Dunboyne ( visited the track earlier this year and amazed at how narrow it is in places ).
Regarding Steve Rider, he’s only been fronting the ITV coverage for a couple of years and surely if the BBC want to differentiate themselves from the ITV coverage, they wouldn’t have taken on Ted Kravitz who’s been there for a lot longer and who I personally find rather condescending to the viewer as I do with Jake Humphrey ( must be his kiddy tv background ! )
Ah well, I guess we’ll see how it all turns out in 3 or 4 months.
Cheers
Chris
Steve Preston:
December 1st, 2008 11:48am
Personally, I think that he pits to car radio is absolutely the worst thing about recent Grand Prix coverage. Am I the only one who finds it patronising and of no use at all? Ever since we heard, (was it Fisci), say his car was sh*t, I feel that all output has been strongly edited. Please, no more.
rob widdows:
December 2nd, 2008 1:05pm
Yes and no.
Yes, because the content can be very dull.
But no, because it has great potential to be revealing and it takes the viewer closer to the action.
If you watch American racing, especially NASCAR, you will have heard, and seen, what can be achieved with radio transmissions.
OK, we know there is huge paranoia over secrecy in modern F1, but over time I believe the teams can be encouraged to release more insightful communications.
The TV ratings are the lifeblood of modern sport and I think (or I hope) that F1 will eventually allow the viewer to move a little closer.
I know, from having been in the pits with many of the teams, that listening to the radio can add a great deal of interest and excitement over the course of a race. The BBC has to work on this as it does have some potential.
Let’s all disagree on this………….!
RW
Robin Richardson:
December 2nd, 2008 2:17pm
Rob,
I like the pits/car radio stuff and wouldn’t mind more in the appropriate places as part of the overall commentary package. It’s when it gets used just as a filler to cover periods when nothing much is happening that it gets wasted and loses credibility.If the race engineers were better known and were a bigger part of the the pre race build up along with team principals and drivers, so much the better. Nothing against the PR bods, but I’d like to hear more from the key players in what is after all, a team sport. As ever, NASCAR leads the way in this stuff although I’d hate to see F1 go that far, especially with all the on-screen stuff constantly scrolling away, information windows popping up and radio feeds from ’spotters’ thrown into the mix. Even so, F1 TV coverage could be better so it will be interesting to see what the BeeB do now they’ve got it back. If all else fails they could get rid of the complete commentary team and just use Suzi Perry instead!
Robin
rob widdows:
December 3rd, 2008 12:37pm
Robin
Thanks for your response. Interesting. Hand it all to Suzi Perry? No, she’s perfect where she is, with the bikers. I thought Louise Goodman did a great job for ITV, hustling away behind the scenes to find the drivers.
OK, NASCAR may be a little over the top, but this is the way that younger people now expect their sport to be broadcast and I do think that “F1″ has to expose itself to a little more entertainment value. Not for the purist brought up at Goodwood perhaps, but vital for the long term success of the sport on television.
Look what happened to the WRC when it lost its prime time TV coverage. The “man in the street” has never heard of Sebastien Loeb and he’s won the world championship FIVE times!
RW
Dave Cubbedge:
December 9th, 2008 2:19pm
Regarding the driver/pit radio, it has become somewhat of a joke here as the commentators will notice the ‘radio’ text on the screen and immediately shut-up so we can hear the team manager telling the hapless driver to pick up the pace or something even more obvious. I can tell you firsthand that to be at a NASCAR race and hear what goes on between driver and pit UNEDITED is extremely entertaining and maybe worth the price of admission itself! I’ve heard a lot of name calling; some of it downright funny, most of it unfortuantely unprintable….