Jake Humphrey quits BBC's F1 coverage for 2013
The popular sports presenter makes a move to football next year
Published by Christine Blachford
For 2012, the BBC lost half their live race coverage to Sky, settling for sending their presenters to all the races but delivering highlights where the broadcast rights dictated. For 2013, their coverage is being dealt another blow with the loss of popular presenter Jake Humphrey. Fresh from his success with the Olympics, Humphrey is heading to BT to front their Premier League coverage.
The official word from BT states:
In June we announced that BT has won the rights to show 38 live games a season for three Premier League seasons, including 18 of the best quality ‘first pick’ games – the first time anyone but Sky has won any of the prime live Premier League matches.
- BT
And Jake himself is obviously quoted as being terribly happy with the new move.
I’m incredibly excited to be joining the team at BT not just because I get to fulfil a lifelong dream of presenting the Barclays Premier League but because of the fresh perspective that BT will bring to both sport and broadcasting in this country.
- Jake Humphrey
Toeing the corporate line already! Personally, I can see why he would want to move away from the relentless travelling in F1 (particularly as he and his wife are expecting a baby), and the BBC's coverage this year has been stunted by the shared deal with Sky. After the highs of presenting the pinnacle of sport this summer with London 2012, F1 may not have a lot left to offer him. He's been doing it for four years, and perhaps there are only so many arguments with Eddie Jordan, and emotional montages at Monza you can do.
The BT deal is a bit of a mystery to me - I wasn't really aware they did much in the way of sports coverage, and the subscriber base that Humphrey is heading towards isn't exactly huge. The deal must feel right for him, though, or he wouldn't have accepted it.
The question, then, for those who watch the UK's free-to-air coverage, is who is going to take over this role. Will it be Lee McKenzie who has ably covered Jake when he's had to miss races, and has improved a lot over the last few years? Will it be a brand new presenter, or a face from the past?
I'm quite happy to see him go. He was the most annoying member of the pre-show team and lacked any sort of personality.
anyone reckon jake got sick of hearing the chain... again?
meh... that is all... so long Jake!
this old thread is worth a repeat viewing: sidepodcast.com/p…uld-dumpty-bbc-f1
I have heard that he might be able to do both a la Clare Balding.
But... BT are the first serious rivals Sky have ever had. They are out there to properly break sky.
Sky have the TV but for phone and internet they have to use different technology. Virgin have the all three. So if BT don't want to get squeezed in the middle they have to do something big. Sport is their solution.
no one will watch the BT Football matches anyway.. will he still be presenting BBC programmes still I wonder ??
Seriously? Jake was awesome. Better than Steve Rider and WAY better than Simon Lazenby. As Steven Roy (rightly) argued in Christine's 2010 post, Jake is BBC F1's biggest success.
Nope. Maybe got sick of hearing EJ, though. ;)
As per folks on Twitter, he is not exclusive to BT, so he can still freelance with BBC. But he IS leaving BBC Sport.
Sorry, but all the "Britain, BBC F1 is great!!! etc.. etc.. " got to me.. he's a bit irritating...
Interesting idea, but Sky Sports is a huge enemy to go up against. Good luck to BT there.
But he's a great presence on TV and geniunely enjoys being there - something I'm unsure of with Simon.
Lee has to be the favorite. Steve Rider is with Sky, so I doubt he'll come back (although he gained fame with the BBC). I last saw Jim Rosenthal present boxing (of all sports), but I can't remember with what network (I think it was Sky too).
This wasn't me talking... This is a big deal by BT. It's the first time anyone other than Sky has ever won the first pick of football matches. And BT are moving into Rugby rights as well... Here's a rather interesting article on the subject from last week:
www.telegraph.co.…rugby-rights.html
One other thing: I didn't know F1 Silly Season covered TV presenters too. ;)
Anyone else want the BBC to hire the Eurosport GP2 commentators from 2006? they were the best I've ever heard.
He (and the BBC coverage) was (/were) a large factor in my decision to move to this country when I left uni.
Feminist sentiments aside, I hope she gets the job; I really like Lee. She's far better than my memory of Louise Goodman, and pulls it off when she needs to present.
first thing I thought of was it makes sense with a baby on the way.
highlight of my year is seeing Louise do the interviews for trackside TV in Australia and Singapore each year. Shes fabulous and puts the ones doing it for either TV station to shame.
Having Lee McKenzie do it would be awesome. Or Clare Balding actually, but I want to keep her for the rugby league.
Bring back Jim Rosenthal? Anybody with me?
Err, wow, and somewhat gutted. I've realised that behind the video-quality and price of the broadcast, Jake was the other reason why I like the BBC coverage so much. I hope Lee gets the job; she has done well on the races Jake's missed this year, and I hope Sky learn some lessons from having such an informed face fronting their coverage.
Mine too - I know it will've on one had been a hard decision for him to leave, but this does make it very simple - he's doing the right thing for his family, and that pleases me - rather than it just being about the money.
In terms of sports rights Setanta had a good go at it and ESPN are trying. You're right of course on the triple-play TV/phone/internet. I'm amazed BT won the PL contract. Surely the Premier League aren't going to want to restrict viewership so much unless BT can get on to Sky or Virgin platforms as well.
From what I can gather via a quick Google, BTV has 700,000 subscribers. www.bbc.co.uk/new…chnology-18602278 Sky and VM each have 2 or 3 million?
It seems a very odd choice to go there. I can understand the family aspect but I figured there would be other parts of the BBC he could transfer to, maybe swapping with someone else.
I've long felt her experience has been wasted trolling around Snetterton and Knockhill for BTCC on ITV4..
I do like Lee but she keeps expressing a desire to stay on the journalistic side. Louise hosting and Lee doing more interviews would be a good line-up.
Other names cropping into my head...
Jennie Gow
Matt Roberts who does BBC MotoGP but he seems much more a biker guy
John Inverdale
Manish Bhasn
Surely not someone external..
Actually the BBC lately have been using people from other sports, e.g. they had Gary Linekar (football) and Michael Vaughn (cricket) doing the golf coverage!
So long as they can front the coverage, and sound like they understand what they are saying - that's my first requirement.
Bet you James Allen gets it!
"You've won this tournament three times, Tiger"... "four actually." Oh I hope they don't go that route.
Please no. He has such an irritating voice. Maybe it's because I live up north, but Lee's voice/accent combo is very soothing.
To clarify I mean Sky Sports not Sky TV which has over 10m.. I'm trying to find a Sky Sports number
BT offered the most money. Don't think ESPN expected it.
Problem with Setanta and ESPN was they were banking on the Premier League football. Sure, ESPN now have Bundesliga, Serie A and a number of American sports (looking at schedule, MLB, NHL), but that isn't enough really to excite people in paying on top of a Sky subscription without the PL.
BT are going all out on sport, they've just signed a deal with Rugby Union to show the Premiership matches, which has thrown the club side of the sport into chaos. BT, who will eventually have a channel no doubt, are giving this a better stab than Setanta and ESPN ever did. Or at least have the money to. Humphrey is a more exciting prospect than, say, Ray Stubbs.
www.jamesallenonf…-the-corporation/
From the article:-
"It leaves the BBC thinking about how they replace him, as they had built the whole presentation around a Top Gear-style ‘three amigos’ dynamic with Humphrey’s playing along in increasingly ridiculous sketches with the antics of Eddie Jordan and the mild dissaproval of David Coulthard."
Setanta did pretty much go bust by over-reaching themselves though. The BT thing is an interesting move, but yeah, I have to assume they'll have a "normal" channel as well.
Ah, I didn't know that. I do think they need someone who knows how to present things as well as a knowledge person, like they do in the football, where you tend to have journalist + ex-pro on any given commentary.
+1 for Jim Rosenthal
i haven't read it, but i tell just from the words in the link, Allen is drooling all over his keyboard at the prospect of being back on the telly.
the only thing that would push me to considering Sky, is the choice of anchorman. please choose wisely bbc.
bet bernie would love to be in the middle of a bidding war between Sky and BT.
i can see the future of formula 1 coverage going exactly this way, once the bbc's deal comes to an end.
I suppose this was inevitable. BBC needs major live sporting events to keep someone like Jake. When they gave up half the F1 races Jake was always going to move to something else. Obviously the Olympics kept him busy during the summer but once that was on his CV he had to look for some major sport to front.
The two things I have missed from watching F1 on Sky are the Chain and Jake. I thought from the very first day he absolutely showed how that job should be done.
I am not sure BT's football coverage is where he should be going but presumably he knows more of their plans than we do. Looking at it from the outside BT getting Jake looks like a bigger thing than Jake getting BT's football coverage. No doubt he will do a lot of freelance work but unless BT are planning something huge I have to think in a couple of years he will move on if a suitable opportunity presents itself.
Shame Sky didn't get him to front their F1 coverage and then drop the walking embarrassment who currently does it.
didn't realise that a combination of BT Vision + BT Infinity allows sky sports streaming over the net. wonder what the delay is like?
You are obsessed by delay. I can see you spending the next few years trying to crack it.
agreed.
The big problem is that Sky were able to buy up everything. When BSB went bust Sky should have been banned from bidding for them. That way there could have been tw rival networks. The one advantage for the fans with Sky is that you don't need to pay a few companies for your TV.
as a viewer, what i desire from life, is high definition formula 1 coverage that isn't significantly behind live timing, and also doesn't come via fixed dish on a wall. maybe jake has inadvertently found me a solution.
separately as a sidepodcast commenter, i don't want to have live events spoiled. that is my primary obsession, but i don't think jake can help there ;)
Live commenting was a lot better and more enjoyable when everyone was on the same second.
One thing I didn't say was that the whole BT broadcasting / sports coverage thing passed me by. I knew nothing about it
same.
I was aware of the football deal as I'm with BTV (although it hasn't been plugged in for ages, I broke it and they wanted me to pay lots for a new one) and I get emails and things.
I'm still trying to work out how they'll do it. BTV is a box combining Freeview and On Demand streaming. The On Demand comes in via your broadband. I doubt it will come in through the Freeview side. Maybe it'll be set up like a PPV, go to this menu option at the right time and it'll go live, rather than being a linear channel.
sounds about right. maybe HD quality for people with Infinity broadband, SD quality over encrypted Freeview.
By the way, what police drama were Jake and Lee starring in when you took that picture? ;)
To be fair, James Allen is a far better presenter than a commentator. When presenting shows in the past, he tends to keep himself in check and never really goes "over the top", unlike during his commentating days.
I actually have to agree with this. The format - while nice in 2009 and 2010 - is just tired and used up now.
Was Jake ever going to hang around after presenting the Euros and Olympics though? Why would he, when F1 is a quite a step down?
Admittedly, I assumed he go to be BBC presenter in general, but in my eyes he was always going once the bigger shows were done. It's easy to forget, but Jake was never an "F1 guy", but was drafted in from children's TV.
:)
can't disagree with that.
Broadcasting to a tiny country like UK via satellite is just plain daft. Almost everyone has the wires, so why not. But in an era of price competition, the sports people and agents will get rich and the customers, you and me, will pay more. This money will be paid, indirectly, to Wayne and Lewis.
I personally never saw Jake as being one of us. He was just keeping the seat warm as part of his meeja career. Last year F1. This year Olympics. Next year EPL. Year after, X Factor. He has overseen a move from serious reporting with the fantastic Martin Brundle, to great swathes of self congratulatory showbiz waffle about nothing. He was never the worst thing on the show, but I'm not sad to see the back of him.
60 seconds of Eddie Jordan has me reaching for the fast forward on iPlayer. 4 years is 2102400 seconds. I would have physically killed the man by now. Flavio managed to run a team despite knowing virtually nothing about F1. Eddie doesn't seem to know anything about *ANYTHING*!
:) :)
Crossing Jordan
http://instantrimshot.com/
I Dream of a world where the bbc are able to lure back Martin Brundle failing that whats wrong with David Coulthard
im sorry to hear jake is leaving f1 i wasnt sure about him at first but iv grown to think he is a very good f1 presenter & il miss him but david coulthard should get that job for sure he has all the knowledge as an ex driver & is a good presenter himself, with help from eddie it would be a good show ( i find eddie very funny at times) but he was a f1 boss once so he has knowledge too. I just dont think its a job that a woman could do justice too being a woman myself i prefer a man doing that job (sorry)
Outsiders...... Suzy Perry or Toby Moody?
John Watson is the obvious Jake replacement ! Put him in the commentary box alongside Ben Edwards and you have the old SUPERB Eurosport team reunited ! John is so knowledgeable about the whole of his sport, his recent coverage of this years GT1 championship (espn ), F1 on 5 lives' Red Button recently, A1GP in recent years plus coverage of many other types of motor sport goes to enhance my view with his easy listening voice as well. DC could go back to the groud floor with Eddie !
Was gutted to see f1 go to sky, but now it's the best, was sick and tired of Eddie Jordan, his daft shirts, his silly comments and the wooden David Coulthard, though I do love his sense of humour, never minded Jake, if it goes from BBC I for one will not miss it...
...................well I heard that BBC have been speaking to both David Croft and Ted Kravitz. Its all fair in love, war and F1 !
Anthony Davidson too. But he's my long shot pundit.
as a replacement for jake? ted's never shown much interest in stepping up and he's found the perfect home with sky's fancy graphics system, while crofty doesn't have much anchorman experience. would be a risky move given sky are only likely to get more aggressive over sports rights in the short term.
long term, FOM hold all the cards for direct to home broadcasting, but sticking it out with sky must be the better options for all until then?
I often wondered why Ted Kravitz wasn't offered the job in the first place. Never liked Jake much, Ted would do a great job. Lee McK..??. I do like her, and she is pretty switched on, but anchor? No. Keep her on as an extra. Never much liked DC as a presenter either. It doesn't come that easy to him. In any case, do we really need three presenters on screen?!? Eddie has certainly been a breath of fresh air n the presenting stakes.
So pleased F1 is all on the BBC next year but very sad about jake leaving, good luck to him tho. Looking forward to next year
at the end of thew brazilian grand prix, it showed bernie holding the ipad so he might be presenting it for the 2013 season
Nice discussion here. What an amazing race in Sao Paulo!
Anyway, is it true ALL races will be live on BBC next year or will it be the same as it currently, with half the races live, other half highlights?
I think they'll get Lee Mac in for anchor - she'd fit in nicely as anchor.
You be well and truly missed the best presenter by a long shot he knew his stuff will miss you Jake but all best
Jake is BY FAR the best presenter the BBCF1 team have had since Murray retired.
I'm very sad to see him go :(
Jake is going for the sole reason of the money BT are offering him, whether in the long term it will benefit his career is still in doubt. We've had lessons from a our past, in a couple of seasons the contracts change and fresh faces are brought in, he could find himself out in the wilderness for a while to come. Streaming is the new media and so a network is really not essential. but whether you can win over the older technophobes is still to be seen. I dont think Sky or the BBC have anything to worry about just yet. It seems BT are struggling to keep hold of their core business and are looking to build new income streams through their infinity broadband. Once 4G is rolled out will will see who is best positioned to deliver our media content.
i don't think you can say that with any certainty. he has a child on the way, so galavanting off around the world likely holds less appeal for the next few years.
ultimately content producers hold all the cards. not the bbc, not sky, but formula one management. direct streaming to fans over IP, bypassing middlemen such as satellite and cable providers is where live sports coverage is eventually heading. that's why fom did a deal with tata, but it's a few years away from coming to fruition yet.
Like Ross (#65) I saw the end of the BBC show saying all F1 will be on BBC in 2013 ......... but I can't find anything about whether that means live or highlights. Anybody know the truth ?
I don't care about Jake etc etc. i am still praying to any god that will listen not to let Kobayashi back into the sport. He has done hundereds of times more damage to motorsport than a dull presenter.
Exactly the same deal as this year. It was a multi-year agreement.
worth a read:
Jake Humphrey - Why I'm leaving one of the greatest jobs in broadcasting
www.bbc.co.uk/blo…m_leaving_f1.html
Anyone, anyone but Rosenthal, Allen or that Louise woman with her annoying nasal voice !
Des Lynam ! ;-)
Is the whole season live back on the beeb next year ?!?! PLEEEEEEEEEASE tell me this is true !!!!
the current deal extends until 2018, so, nope.
I think it will be Jeremy clarkson as it looks like top gear will be stopping next year
James May and him were on Chris Evans's radio show one morning this week and they said they have just signed three year contract extensions so there will be three more years of Top Gear
Did I imagine it or did Jake Humphrey say at the end of the Brazilian GP broadcast that BBC1 would air all of the 2013 F1 GPs live?
bbc did in 2012 too, but only if you count 5live radio.
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