The Canadian Grand Prix pulled in solid numbers across the weekend, and was marginally up year-on-year, unofficial overnight viewing figures show.
Race
Live coverage of the race, screened live on BBC One averaged 4.59m (23.3%) from 18:20 to 21:00. It is down slightly on last year’s number of 4.61m (23.8%) despite a smaller timeslot, which may be considered a tad disappointing, but no doubt Soccer Aid took one or two viewers away. For the third race in a row, and what is now turning into a trend, Sky Sports F1’s coverage was up compared with 2013. The race show from 18:00 to 21:30 averaged 818k (4.2%), compared with 743k (3.8%) for the identical slot last year.
With both numbers not a million miles away from last year, the combined numbers are in the same ballpark: 2014’s combined average of 5.40m is 50k up on 5.35m from 2013. It will end up being the second most watched Canadian Grand Prix in the past decade and a bit, only behind the 2011 race which averaged a massive 6.12m across five and a half hours. Part of me wishes yesterday’s race did a little better, but it is still a very good rating.
Elsewhere, Paddock Live from 21:30 averaged 166k (0.8%), whilst the Track Parade brought 221k (1.6%) from 17:30 to 18:00.
Practice and Qualifying
Live coverage of Qualifying on BBC One from 17:00 to 19:20 averaged a solid 2.43m (16.6%), which is virtually identical to last year’s 2.41m. Sky Sports F1’s coverage brought in a further 435k (2.8%), up nearly 100k on last year’s number of 351k (2.6%). The combined figure of 2.87m will be the second highest in the past decade, only behind 2011 which had an extremely high number of above 3.5m.
It is worth mentioning Practice 3 which did very well on Saturday afternoon. BBC Two’s coverage averaged 850k (8.8%), with Sky Sports F1 adding 142k (1.5%) – so almost 1 million viewers watching practice which is a brilliant stat. Overall it has to be said another that on the ratings front, things are starting to come together and is really a complete 180 from the first four races, which is great to see. We’re also setting some fascinating trends: BBC’s numbers have largely stagnated whilst Sky is increasing its numbers every so slightly. Next up is Austria, meaning that there is nothing for me to compare against. The only potential comparison is with the European Grand Prix’s that were held in late June when it was held in Valencia, but I’ll pull together a ratings article for Austria nevertheless. Frustratingly, the race highlights are on BBC Two, which is going to hurt numbers.
The 2013 Canadian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.
Motorsport Broadcasting 
suprised by these figures you would have thought a race like that in primetime would bring in more viewers really. if that race doesnt attract new viewers nothing will.
what have the practise figures been like for this weekend on bbc and sky seing as they were both live?
For practice three, BBC Two had 850k, Sky had 150k. Will add that to the post later.
The Canadian Grand Prix is always the highlight of the year, and this year was no exception. I would like to think that that’s the main reason why it gets so many views, but actually its more likely just as its in the prime time slot. However, if more people are watching it because of the time slot, then seeing the best race of the season will only help with the viewer count going forward.
The one thing I was disappointed about however was that BBC’s timeslot was so short. Why the time slot couldn’t of been to half 9 I will never know, but they could of at least of had extended the program 5-10 minutes and let the drivers complete their podium interviews. Its not as if they had to rush to another live event afterwards.