To my mind there are only two F1 podcasts worth listening to - Sidepodcast and Formula1blog. It is fascinating to compare them since they are so similar and yet so different at the same time. Both adopt the two-presenter, male-and-female, format and run through the F1 news, giving their opinions and comments as they go. They aim at the same target and should, theoretically, be equal in appeal.
Yet I listen to every 'cast Sidepodcast produces and only occasionally wander over to Formula1blog to hear the sexy tones of the wonderful Grace. Why?
It really is a matter of time. SPC gives you half an hour of chit chat on the week's news, F1B stretches to an hour - and I really don't have the time to spend listening for as long as that hour. Maybe if F1B's 'cast was full of content for its entire length, it might be worth it; but the two 'casts deal with much the same material and are about equal in information given.
Apart from the time demand, it comes down to style in the end. F1B is American and delivers in exactly the way you would expect. Americans seem so much more at home in the broadcast media and Grace and Negative Camber are no exceptions. They are smooth, relaxed, very witty and totally at home in front of the microphone. But they also love talking and much of the time is spent in clever chit chat. It is a pleasure to listen to the banter between them but, at a certain point, it becomes too much and I start to watch the time. Okay, I know it's a privilege to be allowed to eavesdrop on their conversation like this but I have work to do!
In contrast, SPC is so very English. Christine is still slightly nervous when that recording light goes on, it's fairly obvious when she is clinging to the boundaries of her knowledge and the banter between her and "me" (hereinafter known as Sidey since we are all "me"s) is sometimes contrived. But the funny thing is, it works. I find myself becoming protective of Christine, willing her to succeed and cheering on those occasions when she gets in a good point to counter Sidey. Grace might seem more knowledgable and would definitely be first choice for a candle-lit dinner for two (oh, sexist comment!), but it's Christine who you'd go to for a serious discussion on F1. And that, after all, is what the 'cast is supposed to be about.
On the guys, Sidey versus Negative Camber, there is nothing to choose. Both know their subject well and are pretty cynical in their views. NC has the more natural and less restrained laugh but you'd expect that, considering their nationalities. And Sidey has the British advantage of sounding like he knows more.
So it comes down to personal taste. If it's professionalism you want and you have the stamina to last the course, F1B has to be the choice. If it's information and informed comment you need, go for SPC. As a Brit living in the States, I can listen to both but it's that time factor that gets me - cut it down to half an hour, F1B, and you'd gain me as a regular listener.
So far I have looked at the 'casts in isolation but there are matters concerning the sites that also affect our perception of them. And here F1B loses out quite badly. Consider for a moment - when listening to a 'cast, we sit there with nothing to do (if we're concentrating properly - multitaskers need not apply). And those red start lights in F1B's banner become supremely irritating after a while. Add the bouncing 8-ball and the cause is lost - SPC wins through having a quiet interface that doesn't insist on attention.
Then there is the matter of comments. Sorry, F1B, but having to register before commenting is just not the way to go in blogging. Your forum roots are showing! Open the comments to all and sundry, as SPC do, be prepared to delete the odd spam comment, and be amazed at how traffic and interactivity increase.
I have probably been too hard on F1B in this comparison. The fact is that they do a professional, entertaining and enjoyable F1 podcast. It is also the one Bernie should be listening to because it would prove to him that, far from being non-existent, the American F1 fanbase is alive and well, highly knowledgable and deserves better than he has served up for them of late.
Blogs are all about opinion, however, and it's mine that SPC wins - just. Now, if we could combine the two, what a wonderful product we'd have, Christine with the facts, Grace with the gorgeous voice and lightning wit, and the two guys outdoing each other for cynical comments...