Month: November 2014

News round-up: Buxton ending GP2 and GP3 commitments; MotoGP numbers

In between the lull of the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, there have been some interesting bits of news worth reporting in one post.

Buxton says “a very warm goodbye”
The biggest piece of news is that the Abu Dhabi weekend will be the last for Will Buxton as lead commentator of the GP2 and GP3 Series. Writing on his blog, Buxton said “My work in America has increased over the years to the point where I feel I am no longer able to divide my time effectively between three championships. By concentrating solely on Formula 1, I hope that I will be able to improve the quality of the content I bring to the burgeoning American audience, and help to grow the sport Stateside”. I’ve sampled a bit of ‘Off the Grid’ (a 30-minute show for NBC Sports) with Buxton and Jason Swales, and it is safe to say that the American audience is incredibly lucky to have two talented and dedicated people producing content for them.

I will miss hearing Will commentate on GP2. Not many people come across as passionate and articulate on the microphone, but he is always willing to give his opinion, which I think viewers appreciate. As for his replacement, Jack Nicholls and Ben Evans are surely two contenders high on the list. Nicholls is currently lead commentator on the Formula E World Feed, whilst Evans has been commentating on a lot of things for BT Sport alongside Keith Collantine. I guess we could always see someone like David Croft or Ben Edwards hoisted into the seat, but it depends whether FOM want to breed new talent or rely on a veteran figure such as those mentioned.

I’m a former MotoGP presenter
…Get Me Out of Here? Apparently so. Former MotoGP presenter for BT Sport, Melanie Sykes, is heading into the jungle. Sykes is not the only motor cycling alumni heading down under though, as Carl Fogarty is joining her on the ITV show. I didn’t mention this at the time, but Sykes did very briefly mention leaving BT’s MotoGP coverage on her Twitter feed at the end of August, albeit did not go into any further detail. Let’s see if her time in the jungle lasts longer than her time as MotoGP presenter…

MotoGP season ends with 669k
The 2014 MotoGP season ended with a combined peak audience of 669k, unofficial overnight viewing figures reveal. It was a tale of two halves however, as ITV4 figures were up compared to usual, and BT Sport ended the season on a low. The respective peaks were 518k (2.3%) for ITV4’s highlights programme and 151k (1.5%) at 13:45 for BT Sport’s live coverage from Sunday afternoon. ITV4’s highlights on Monday evening seen a boost compared to recent numbers, averaging 407k (1.8%).

No such boost for BT Sport’s coverage, which averaged 71k (0.7%) to 09:30 to 14:30. From 12:30 to 14:00, the channel averaged 110k (1.1%). Both of those numbers are poor, and I believe that is actually their lowest overnight figures for a European round of the entire season. BT’s audiences have not grown throughout the year, although they haven’t been helped by having a championship that was decided many months ago. Last year’s championship finale averaged 1.21m (11.9%) over on BBC Two. Unusually, the MotoGP finale was held on the same weekend as an F1 race, which could well have had a side-effect even though there was no direct clash.

ITV were non-committal when this blog asked about MotoGP highlights for next season. When the highlights deal was announced earlier this year, no details were released about how long the contract was for. I hope it will be multiple seasons, but we shall see. Personally, it would be a catastrophic mistake from Dorna to ignore its free to air audience. I don’t see any evidence that axing ITV4’s highlights programme would increase BT Sport’s MotoGP audience, either.

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Brazilian Grand Prix up year-on-year, but BBC highlights underperforms

The Brazilian Grand Prix recorded a rating that was higher than last year, however, the BBC’s highlights show underperformed when you consider its position in the schedule.

Race
Live coverage of the race show, screened exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, averaged 1.01m (6.4%) from 15:00 to 18:30. The number is marginally higher than the Swansea vs Arsenal Premier League game over on Sky Sports 1. That game averaged 1.00m (6.2%) from 15:30 to 19:00, the difference was approximately three thousand viewers between the two programmes. Thanks to airing the race exclusively live, Sky’s number is double last year’s 499k and up on the 734k recorded in 2012 for the equivalent slot.

BBC’s schedulers made the unusual decision of airing the Grand Prix highlights bang in the middle of primetime, after their juggernaut Strictly Come Dancing. Had yesterday been a title decider for Lewis Hamilton, the decision may well have a paid off. Sadly for them the highlights, airing from 20:30 to 22:00 on BBC One, averaged only 3.26m (13.2%) despite having a lead-in of ten million viewers from Strictly. Had the rating been a BBC Two number, it would have been really good. But considering Antiques Roadshow normally averages five million viewers, I think that number, and in particular the share, has to be considered a disappointment.

In hindsight, that slot probably was not the best for Formula 1. I applaud them for putting Formula 1 in the middle of primetime, but on this occasion, it did not work out. The number is down on all previous years for BBC’s Brazilian Grand Prix coverage, so it is fair to say that the highlights programme failed to bring in casual viewers. The combined figure of 4.27 million is up on 2013, but is the second lowest since at least 2006.

Qualifying
Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of qualifying averaged 382k (2.8%) from 15:00 to 17:45, with BBC Two’s highlights programme bringing in 1.47m (6.7%). The combined average of 1.85 million viewers makes it the lowest number since 2007 for a Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session. Whether the relatively low numbers are because this was a ‘dud’ race or not, I don’t know.

So, as perhaps expected with double points, the championship race between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. In 2010, the season finale between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at Abu Dhabi averaged a whopping 5.78m (41.4%), peaking with 7.36m (50.5%). It remains one of the most watched European based races over the two decades. Can Hamilton versus Rosberg beat that? It will be tough beating that, but time will tell.

The 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

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BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage: Your 2014 Verdict

The 2014 MotoGP season has finished, with Marc Marquez dominating the majority of the year. The Valencia Grand Prix programme has just concluded, which brings to an end BT Sport’s first year of covering MotoGP. So, how have they fared? This season marked a drop in viewing figures, thanks to a lack of free-to-air television coverage as a result of Dorna’s new deal with BT Sport, later followed by a deal with ITV4 for highlights coverage.

From their team announcement in February, through to Melanie Sykes’s departure in May and onto their fantastic coverage at Silverstone, it has been a roller-coaster ride for BT.

The comments section is open for you to have your thoughts: what did BT Sport do well in 2014, and what could they have done better? Should they appoint a permanent presenter for their MotoGP coverage in 2015? If so, who should that be? What should the channel do differently for 2015 where MotoGP is concerned?

As always at this time of year, the best thoughts will be put into a new blog post in a few weeks time.

Caterham’s “crowd-funding” – the facts

Crowd-funding is normally used to raise money for a particular cause. Whether it is for a charity, or getting a new project off the ground, you normally know what your money is going to. I’ll keep this relatively short.

Let’s look at Project Brabham. Project Brabham wants to:

Brabham Racing will initially compete in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours. The ultimate dream is to bring this same model to Formula 1 and potentially other exciting series such as the FIA Formula E Championship.

So far, 2,628 backers have raised £247,930. That’s an average of £94.34 a backer. I can see on the Indiegogo site who has backed Project Brabham. Donations range from £1.00 to £100.00, as you would expect. Project Brabham is a journey, and by being part of Project Brabham, you get to be part of that journey. This is a team effort. Project Brabham has an end goal. It has a target. It may happen, it may not. It has ambition.

On the other hand, Caterham. Caterham wants to:

The Caterham F1 Team is launching the #RefuelCaterhamF1 to power the team to go racing in Abu Dhabi and hopefully beyond. The team is giving both fans and sponsors a unique opportunity to be the driving force behind the team by crowdfunding its return to the grid in exchange for once in a lifetime rewards.

So far, 1,845 backers have raised £1,057,102. That’s an average of £572.96 a backer. Straight away, alarm bells. Either Formula 1 fans are extremely rich, or something dodgy is happening. I also question exactly what happens after Abu Dhabi. Where does that £2.3 million go? What is frustrating here is that, on the CrowdCube website, I cannot see who has backed the Caterham crowd-funding effort. Furthermore:

So, one person added £100k to the effort, and another added £300k to the effort. Which brings that £1.06m total down to about £500k (assuming there are one or two other large amounts in there).

Does it matter? At least with a lot of small amounts in Project Brabham, you can say it is legitimate, but when you start throwing large amounts in there with Caterham, alarm bells start ringing. Does it matter that Caterham’s administrators are also CrowdCube’s service accountancy and tax advisers?

I want Caterham to make it to Abu Dhabi. But, at the same time, I’m concerned by the very large amounts of money being thrown at this, by what appears to be a small group of people. By the looks of things, Formula 1 fans are making a small difference. One or two businessmen, on the other hand, are making a very large difference…

Update on November 14th – Another half a million has popped up out of nowhere.

BT Sport screening MotoGP testing, Macau Grand Prix this week

Although the MotoGP season comes to a conclusion this weekend, BT Sport’s motor sport coverage continues into this week and next weekend with both MotoGP testing and the Macau Grand Prix being screened live by BT. As noted by Keith Huewen on Twitter, BT Sport 2 will be covering MotoGP testing live on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th November, eight hours in total. Like last year, I imagine coverage will be the Dorna World Feed with no input from the BT team.

Alongside this, BT Sport will be airing an hour long show covering the FIM Awards Ceremony on Monday 10th November as Marc Marquez et al. pick up their trophies. The channel will also be airing live coverage of the the annual Macau Grand Prix next weekend, along with the final round of the 2014 World Rally Championship from Wales. Lastly, they are airing eight hours of their Motorsport Tonight show, with season reviews of several series. I don’t think it will be airing live, but it will feature many guests alongside the best action from the year. Elsewhere, British Eurosport and Motors TV will be covering the penultimate round of the World Endurance Championship from Bahrain.

Motorsport Tonight – BT Sport 2
Saturday 15th November – 16:30 to 20:30 [Part 1]
Sunday 16th November – 16:15 to 20:00 [Part 2]

MotoGP – BT Sport 2
Monday 10th November – 13:00 to 16:00 [Live Testing]
Monday 10th November – 21:30 to 22:30 [Awards]
Tuesday 11th November – 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00 [Live Testing]

Live Macau Grand Prix – BT Sport 2
Saturday 15th November – 05:45 to 06:45 [F3 qualifying]
Saturday 15th November – 07:30 to 08:30 [Motorcycling]
Sunday 16th November – 01:00 to 02:00 [GT Cup race]
Sunday 16th November – 07:30 to 08:30 [F3 race]

Live World Endurance Championship: Bahrain
Saturday 15th November – 11:30 to 18:35 [Motors TV]
Saturday 15th November – 16:00 to 18:00 [Eurosport]

Live World Rally Championship: Wales Rally GB – BT Sport 2
Sunday 16th November – 11:45 to 13:15 [Day 3]

I will update the above throughout the week if anything does change.