Here in the US, the F1 season is mostly covered by SPEED Channel. The second Friday practice, Quals, and of course, the race, is the usual live coverage for 14 out of 18 races.

But, in the past, the other four races were televised by CBS. CBS provided their own announcers, and to be brutally honest, they stunk on ice. They sucked, and they sucked bad. The pictures, of course, were provided by the usual FIA feed, but the announcers were able to completely ruin even the most dramatic race (remember Imola 2005? Where Alonso held off Schumi for 13 or 14 laps? I don't... but I DO remember one of the announcers and his now-infamous "they're CRASHING over the curbs!" Over and OVER and OVER again...).

Well, NO MORE! Effective this season, the four races not broadcast on SPEED will be on FOX, who provide such astounding coverage of NASCAR races. But, more importantly, the announcers will be...

Bob Varsha. David Hobbs. Steve Matchett.

The Legendary Announce Team from SPEED, in other words. Even Peter "Smarmy" Windsor in the pitlane will be there.

But wait, there's more! Where CBS used to broadcast all four races on tape-delay, FOX will do two of them LIVE... the GP of Canada, and the USGP. The French and British GP will still be on tape-delay, however.

This might just get more people in the US watching... Mallory, the Official First Reader, e-mailed me to mention that the Legendary Announce Team is the reason she started watching F1 regularly; their insightful and funny commentary drew her in. The Pond's F1 coverage is an attempt to emulate their style.

This is VERY good news.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:39 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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