Last weekend saw a huge surge of protests on social media against Sky Sports F1 and unfortunately Karun Chandhok (his alleged replacement), when it was speculated that popular pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz was thought to have been sacked by the new Sky motorsports boss Scott Young.
Yesterday Sky announced that their pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz was confirmed to join in their full lineup of presenters for the 2019 season. Much speculation and even some gossip had been emailed to TJ13 by an industry insider claiming that Ted had fallen out of favour with the new boss Scott Young.
So what happened?
Ongoing discussions with Ted and Sky Sports F1 had been occuring in the background, hence the silence from his colleagues and indeed Ted himself. TJ13 has been made aware of some internal background into why Ted nearly didn’t make the cut at Sky for 2019, and we quote the industry blog motorsport broadcasting below for some interesting details by their writer David Nelson.
For the many who have been asking me, there’s Ted. https://t.co/hR9Sxb7zZ3
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) February 25, 2019
Nelson highlights the appointment of the new boss Scott Young as head of F1 following Martin Turner leaving the company as the beginning of the episode.
Young would be looking to see what needed shaking up within the Sky F1 hierarchy.
“As this site predicted months before Young joined, the new person in town had a difficult task ahead of them. “Do they upset the apple cart by creating a fresh new line-up, mixed with the old and the new, or will they stick by their current talent?” were the words that I wrote half way through 2017.” says Nelson.
“And, as reported last September, it became apparent that Young was looking to shake things up. Both Karun Chandhok and Jenson Button joined the team ahead of this season, whilst the broadcaster was quick to deny other rumours that were making their way through the Grand Prix paddock.”
It certainly seems that industry sources have believed that Kravitz’s future at Sky has been in doubt and Motorsport Broadcasting confirmed yesterday that Young indeed decided not to renew Kravitz’s contract for the 2019 season.
“However, this site can exclusively confirm that the decision to axe Kravitz was overturned from within, with discussions between Sky and Kravitz ongoing regarding his ‘return’ in recent weeks.” says Nelson.
Chinese Grand Prix coverage
The next race in China is happening this weekend, starting on Friday free-practice. One of the easiest ways of watching is to use the new F1 TV pro (learn more).
After a shaky start in 2018, it seems that the streaming service has got it’s act together better and it’s something this Judge can now recommend.
Friday 12th April 2019
Chinese Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 10:00-11:30 (UK time: 3:00-4:30)
Chinese Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 14:00-15:30 (UK time: 7:00-8:30)
Saturday 13th April 2019
Chinese Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 11:00-12:00 (UK time: 4:00-5:00)
Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying: 14:00 (UK time: 7:00)
Sunday 14th April 2019
Chinese Grand Prix: 14:10 (UK time: 7:10)
“The u-turn from Sky is not a result of any social media storm that unfolded over the weekend, the wheels for his return were in motion far before the leak. This writer chose not to write about the subject of Kravitz’s potential exit given that negotiations were ongoing between both parties, and any decision to publish an article could jeopardise those.”
“Possibly one of the most surprising, and bewildering, Formula 1 broadcasting stories, on a human level, in years. Was Scott Young really thinking of getting rid of Ted Kravitz from the Sky Sports F1 set-up?
“Amazingly, astonishingly, the answer is yes.” claims the industry blog.
“Only Scott Young can answer why he thought axing Kravitz was a good idea. Whether it is his view that only ex-drivers and ex-F1 personnel can be pundits, I do not know. You do not need to have ‘been there, done that’ to be knowledgeable on a subject. Kravitz may not have been a racer, but he has risen through the ranks of ITV, BBC and now Sky.”
“Inevitably, some of the above leads us to the decision to overturn Young’s original move. Those within the Sky set-up will know how popular Kravitz is, and no doubt will have tried to fight his corner in the battle to keep him in the line-up.”
“Some of those working with Kravitz have worked with him since the BBC and ITV F1 days, so have had a longstanding professional and personal relationship with him. Given the outcome that we now know, clearly those that did fight for him behind the scenes went some distance to get the outcome they, and the fans, wanted.”
“For the moment, better heads have prevailed, and Sky have avoided a PR disaster after a weekend to forget across social media.” concludes Nelson.
Fans of Ted are no doubt looking forward to the return of his Notebook in Australia. China.
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NEWS UPDATE: Ted Kravitz missing? Ted finally returns to SkyF1
28th March 2019
Where’s Ted? A Twitter hashtag that has been rather popular of late since the formula 1 winter testing in Barcelona last February after the popular Sky F1 pitlane reporter appeared to be purposely missing from the TV coverage, and then also missing from the Australian Grand Prix was ‘Teds Notebook’.
The Twitter storm even brought about an online petition where around four thousand people signed up at change.org to “Keep Ted Kravitz in F1”.
After Sky F1 did confirm the absent Kravitz would be featuring in the F1 broadcast, the new Sky motorsport director Scott Young said this of his 2019 presenter lineup….: READ MORE
TED KRAVITZ NOTEBOOK BACK, FIRST APPEARANCE ON CAMERA, 2019 CHINESE GP
The vitriolic comments that Karun was subjected to on Twitter was absolutely disgusting, and the fact that (at least from what I saw – willing to be corrected) he was left by his new employers to defend them by himself I think is a poor show from Sky and they should be ashamed of themselves
social media can be quite the place to see the darker side of human nature its true
Chandhok blocked me on twitter for an article I wrote for this site – so I can’t comment as to what was said about him. However, as far as I’m concerned he’s a spineless little twerp. And as for SKY not defending him – his twitter account account is a personal one and not provided by SKY.
As far as I’m concerned SKY don’t need him or Button.
Ted needs to be at every single race……..
For once we agree 🙂
That was directed at the judge, not Cavallinorwhatever….. cannot agree given the comments above!!
Do you know what article I’m referring to?
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Ted not seen on Sky Sports F1 in Oz, will he return for Bahrain???
To be fair I think Karun did a very good job. He was knowledgeable and gave some very informative insight to his reporting. Ted , in my opion, is far too opinionated and needs to stick to the format of discussing Formula 1 and not offering his one sided opinion. He is always saying things just to get a reaction, I believe he thinks he is a big boy in the Paddock when he is just a little tail end reported. Got my vote to get rid of him.
I very much enjoyed Ted’s reporting. The guy I do wish they would dump is di Resta. His heavy Scottish brogue is at times hard to understand. No doubt knowledgable and an accomplished driver but that brogue has got to go.
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Tey should have dumped Apu from the Kwik-E-Mart after Australia and replaced him with Ted. His accent and reputation and BS opinions do not endear him to F1 fans.
Anyone who is thinking of dumping Kravitz has my vote. If they dump “Crofty” at the same time then they get a bonus vote.
Apart from qualifying and the race the next best thing, for me, is Ted’s Notebook. If that doesn’t come back then I won’t be watching the post race segment.
I have watched F1 from different countries (as I travel a lot on business) and don’t always get to watch the SKY sports coverage of the race. When I don’t, the whole F1 experience is just not the same. To me the SKY sports F1 show is by far the best and most enjoyable to watch in all sports. I love their interview specials and other special segments. Martin Brundle, Simon Lazenby and Crofty are second to none. I like the others as well including the insights form the likes of Rosberg, Damon Hill and Di Resta. They also manage to get great ‘off the cuff’ interviews with Horner and Wolf as well.
For me the least interesting of all the shows is notebook and if any members of the main F1 SKY team were to leave, Ted Kravitz would be the person I would miss the least. It not that I don’t like him but I don’t think the show needs him nearly to degree we need Martin Brundle, Simon and Crofty. Karun is a fine replacement quite frankly. To me the show in 2019 is better than ever.
I hope I don’t get trashed for my assessment!
Alas Ted is like Marmite but I have to admit ive loved his style since I started watching him in the 90’s. Ted and Martin are the backbone of F1 coverage and between each’s style appeals to most folk. Im so glad he’s back, welocome home Ted 🙂
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So incredibly happy to see Ted has returned. The Notebook and Ted’s insight are as integral to Formula 1 coverage as Martin’s grid walk. What makes Ted’s coverage so unique is that he doesn’t see it from the standpoint of a driver or former mechanic. It’s like he’s a kid in the candy shop and he can’t wait to show you everything.
Ted, glad to see you back. Everyone enjoy the race. Formula One feels right again.
Welcome back Ted. Prefer him to Chandhok. Anthony Davidson a breath of fresh air and much better to watch and listen to than dull Di Resta.