last weekend saw the last race of the 2007 formula 1 season and it was fantastic. i’ll rarely watch sports on TV, if it’s on i’ll watch enough to keep track, otherwise i don’t generally set out to specific sporting events other than the Olympics and recently NFL football. but my one true sporting passion is formula 1. i’ve stayed up until the wee hours to watch races on the other side of the globe, i’ve been late because of qualifying and best of all, i’m made my family fans.
at the end of the 2006 season when 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher retired, i wondered what the 2007 season would bring. new drivers, new teams and a whole lot of title contenders. the 2007 season was not a disappointment, despite all the off track shenanigans, it was just amazing. at least two races decided by the weather, spectacular crashes and the drivers’ championship down to the wire, what was there not to love?
the coverage this season was lot better than the last. in the us, Formula 1 is broadcast on Speed TV, the practice sessions, the qualifying and with exception of four, all the races of the 2006 and 2007 season. in an effort to bring the sport to the masses, CBS tried in 2006 and Fox in 2007 to broadcast races on their respective networks. good idea, bad execution. both attempts boiled down to one fundamental problem, by forcing the broadcast team to explain the sport to viewers unaccustomed to it, they were alienating the core audience that knows how it works and really just want watch the race. the constant explanations, the firm grasp of the obvious was just irritating. combine that with trying to cram what is normally a three hour broadcast into two hours and broadcast times that fit network schedule and not necessarily a live broadcast, the recipe for disaster is complete.
Formula one returns to Speed TV next March (hopefully).
find the other half of the cable guys here.
