Marquez MotoGP title victory peaks with 1.6 million

Marc Marquez’s title victory in yesterday’s MotoGP from Valencia was seen by 1.6 million viewers across BBC Two and British Eurosport, overnight viewing figures show.

As noted by @TVRatingsUK on Twitter, BBC’s programme from 12:30 averaged 1.21 million viewers (11.9 percent share), peaking with 1.49 million viewers (14 percent share) as Marquez clinched the crown.

Eurosport added 152,000 viewers at its peak for their delayed transmission, bringing a combined peak of 1.64 million viewers.

BBC’s figures increased slightly on the usual 1 million to 1.1 million average. Their figures have been broadly flat across the past six or seven years, so anyone expecting them to put it a bid double the previous amount to match BT Sport is in fantasy land. They probably would have increased the bid by 10 percent to cover themselves, but not much more.

Scheduling: The 2013 United States Grand Prix

The 2013 Formula One season is heading to its conclusion with the final two races of the season, starting with the United States Grand Prix. The teams and drivers make their second visit to the Circuit of Americas which provided one of the best races of the year in 2012, so let’s hope for more of the same next weekend.

Sky are screening five Classic F1 races, albeit four in highlights form in build-up to next weekend’s race. Over on BBC, there is a 5 Live special on Wednesday as Sir Clive Woodward visits Red Bull’s factory in Milton Keynes. Qualifying highlights are a bit late though, last year they were on at 21:00 on BBC Two whereas this year they are on at 22:30. I guess there is no incentive to put them on earlier given that the title race has already been resolved. I hope the combined average in the official ratings is above 3 million, but I’m not even sure that will happen.

The F1 Show is being shown live on Sky Sports 1 and F1 for some reason.

Saturday 9th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1983 United States Grand Prix West Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt

Sunday 10th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1984 Dallas Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 15th November at 14:00

Monday 11th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1987 Detroit Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Saturday 16th November at 14:00

Tuesday 12th November
20:00 to 21:00 – F1: 1991 United States Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Saturday 16th November at 19:45

Wednesday 13th November
20:00 to 21:00 – Sir Clive Woodward Meets Red Bull (BBC Radio 5 Live)
20:00 to 22:00 – F1: 2007 United States Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 17th November at 12:30

Thursday 14th November
17:00 to 17:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
21:30 to 21:45 – Gear Up for USA (Sky Sports F1)
21:30 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 15th November
14:45 to 16:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
15:05 to 16:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18:45 to 21:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:00 to 00:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports 1 and F1)

Saturday 16th November
14:45 to 16:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
14:55 to 16:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
17:00 to 19:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
17:55 to 19:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
22:30 to 23:45 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two excluding Wales)
23:10 to 00:25 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two Wales)

Sunday 17th November
17:30 to 22:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 17:30 – Track Parade
=> 18:00 – Race
=> 21:15 – Paddock Live
18:30 to 21:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
22:15 to 22:45 – GP Uncovered: Big John Surtees (Sky Sports F1)
22:25 to 00:25 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 20th November
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

As always, I shall update this blog if there are any small adjustments to be made.

Game changing

I do not normally like to over-egg things. But: two words, one meaning. They promised it, today it appears is their first step in delivering. BT Sport have won exclusive rights for every UEFA Champions League and every UEFA Europa League match from 2015.

Why is this such a big deal? Simply because BT has just taken one of Sky Sports’ crown jewels, which they have covered for nearly two decades. It is also sad news for ITV, but it does not mean that the Champions League is leaving free to air television. As the press release notes:

BT has shaken up the UK TV market with BT Sport and it today pledged to make its new matches far more accessible and affordable for fans who wish to enjoy all the action. It also announced it will show a selection of these new matches for free on BT Sport, even to homes that have not signed up to the channels.

The finals of each tournament will be showcased in this fashion along with a selection of top matches from earlier rounds. Fans will also be delighted to know that each participating British team will feature for free at least once each season.

So some matches will still be free to air. This is a huge victory for BT Sport, absolutely huge, and leaves a significant gaping hole in Sky Sports’ mid-week schedules.

I also believe that this deal shows too how, in hindsight, the Formula 1 deal being renegotiated back in 2011 may not be so bad, after all. Had BBC continued to shown Formula 1 exclusively until the end of 2013, then I feel BT Sport may well have come along, put in a £100 million+ deal and taken the lot, which would have been frankly disastrous news for the sport. At least now sitting here we can say that the Formula 1 rights are locked in until the end of the 2018 season.

It is way too early to start discussing beyond then, given how volatile the market is at the moment. It will be late 2015 at the earliest I feel before any talks begin. Either way, I imagine Sky and BBC are very glad back in 2011 that they both agreed a seven year deal. Had that deal been only three or four years, then again, BT may well have taken the lot – again, an identical scenario to the previous paragraph!

Either way, the news today for me confirms that BT are here to stay and are definitely prepared to throw the kitchen sink in terms of money at getting the rights they need to launch an onslaught. Is today’s news game changing? I think it is…

BT Sport to show MotoGP testing live

BT Sport are to show MotoGP testing live, it has been confirmed today. BT Sport 2 will air live coverage on Monday 11th November from 13:00 to 15:00 and then from 10:00 to 12:00 the next day. This will also be simulcast on the channel’s app.

This is an interesting development. The difference between Dorna and Formula One Management (FOM) is huge where testing is concerned. Dorna produce a live feed for testing, whilst FOM produce a highlights package and that is about it. Remember that earlier this year, Sky filmed Formula 1 testing with their own cameras, which will cost significantly more than BT’s coverage of MotoGP on Monday. As confirmed by Mark Coyle, the channels Head of Digital Production on Twitter, BT will be taking the World Feed with commentary from the usual pairing of Gavin Emmett and Nick Harris, but BT themselves will be shooting other material in the paddock for online and supplementary programming.

Also, it is worth a reminder too that this is not the first time MotoGP testing has been broadcast live in the United Kingdom. Back in the mid 2000’s, Eurosport broadcast a one hour mini ’round 0′ session where I think the prize was a BMW bike. Very impressive and promising nevertheless to see BT Sport pulling out all the stops, only a day after the 2013 MotoGP season ends.

Motor sport ratings (week ending 27th October, 2013)

With the motor sport season winding to a close the only related ratings on BARB is for the Indian Grand Prix on Sky Sports F1. Interestingly though, the rating for the race day show is not split into three, but rather two. The full 08:00 to 13:00 average (the programme overran by 15 minutes) is 434,000 viewers, which breaks down as follows:

– 432,000 – Live Race (Sunday, 08:00)
=> 78,000 – 08:00 to 08:30
=> 474,000 – 08:30 to 13:10

Elsewhere on Sky Sports F1:

– 277,000 – Live Qualifying (Saturday, 08:30)
– 38,000 – The F1 Show (Friday, 13:30)
– 30,000 – Live Practice 2 (Friday, 09:15)
– 28,000 – GP Uncovered (Sunday, 13:10)

A fairly disastrous set of ratings outside of the live Qualifying and Race. I think the weekly reach of 1.729 million viewers is again one of their lowest yet for a race week.