Are FOM taking the first steps to create their own “F1 Network”?

The third and final challenge in the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize was announced by Formula One Management and Tata Communications earlier this week, and it is one which is of significant interest to this writer. FOM are, and I quote from here, “looking for suggestions to encourage F1 fans to provide audio and text commentaries of the FOM archive via the internet so that the content is indexed to allow it to be used in new and exciting ways.”

New and exciting ways. Via the internet. Terms that you do not normally hear FOM say, after all, they only made their Twitter feed engaging a little less than two months ago. In the title of this piece, I use the term ‘F1 Network’, which is deliberate. Alongside being a Formula 1 fan, I am also a fan of professional wrestling. Which brings me onto the WWE Network. The network, dubbed as ‘over the top’, is available on a multitude of devices from the traditional desktop PC, through to the iPad and onto the Xbox One. It currently runs a linear schedule, but shows are also available for fans to watch On Demand. As of writing, not everything is available on the network. In fact, WWE are barely scraping the surface as to what is currently available, however new material is being released on an ad-hoc basis. The monthly price for the network is, yep… $9.99.

The challenge description claims that FOM has around 60,000 hours of footage dating back to 1981. In that time period, up until the end of 2013, there have been 555 races. That works out at an average of 131 hours of footage per race weekend stored in FOM’s archive. That is huge. To put it another way, it would take you seven years, without stopping, to watch the entire archive. In comparison though, the WWE’s archive holds around 150,000 hours of footage, although admittedly that does contain material from a lot of defunct wrestling organisations. Around a quarter of their archive is digitalised.

> Formula1.com article
> Tata Communications article
> Challenge 3 brief

Of course, it is worth noting that the WWE Network has not yet been launched in the UK, and could still launch here as a normal cable channel, like in Canada, which is basically a kick in the balls to the fans as that is just like what Sky Sports F1 is now. Sky Sports F1 is not an F1 Network. It is controlled BSkyB, who do not produce content 24/7 for the channel. An actual F1 Network, in the form of the US WWE Network, would be controlled 100 percent by FOM. Any F1 Network would need good grace from multiple providers, including Sky. FOM can not just launch an F1 Network online, the clause concerning online would have to be removed from every broadcasting contract, otherwise the network would be geo-blocked and Sky would kick up a huge fuss.

The brief says that “we need you to suggest how fans can be engaged to provide commentaries to the footage, and how these commentaries can then be converted into text form to provide a keyword index for easy searching and referencing. Once indexed, the footage archive can be used in many new and exciting ways, such as on-demand services. None of this is possible without the content being indexed in the first instance.” I would hope that any successful submission will involve some form of staggered approach. Does all of the archive need to be indexed before content can be rolled out? No. As I mentioned above, the WWE Network currently scrapes the surface and had WWE waited until all of their content was digitalised, we would be sitting here for many more years until that happens.

The quoted brief confuses me too, because it implies that the footage we hear will be fan commentary rather than the original commentary. Can I ask: who would listen to that? I’d like to hear the commentary in its original form, not dubbed commentary or anything of the like. I hope I have misread that, because fan-based commentary does not interest me in the slightest. Why can’t the original commentary be indexed? Most YouTube videos contain transcriptions, which is an automatic process with presumably little human intervention, surely something of this nature would be much more efficient than providing new commentary?

In terms of roll out, you could roll out ‘a season a year’ to the consumer with extra supplementary material surrounding that season, alongside any additional live streaming that may be considered. That might not sound like a lot for $9.99 per month, however the lifespan of the network would be increased, which is good for FOM in the long run. Release too much material at once, and you shorten the lifespan. The release of material needs to be logical for the network to be successful. Re-watching the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix probably wouldn’t do much for me as it was recent, but watching the 1989 Italian Grand Prix on the other hand having seen the previous races that year would be fascinating.

The pessimist in me believes that we will not get a F1 Network for at least another two or three years, due to a variety of reasons that go beyond the status of current broadcasting contracts. Either way, it will be very interesting to see what the winning solution is for this challenge, and what time scales are involved.

US Grand Prix viewing figures improves on past two years

The United States Grand Prix performed better than 2012 and 2013 in the UK viewing figures, unofficial overnight numbers show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, simulcast across Sky Sports 1 and F1 averaged 1.34m (5.4%) from 19:00 to 22:30. The Sky Sports 1 airing brought 309k (1.2%) to the channel, with Sky Sports F1 averaging 1.03m (4.2%) in the same timeslot. Sky’s coverage peaked at 20:05, just as the race was starting, with 1.93m (7.5%) watching. At the time of the peak, the split was 1.45m versus 479k in Sky Sports F1’s favour. The numbers are up on both 2012 and 2013. In 2012, the race peaked with 1.63m (6.4%). Technically, it is not Sky Sports F1’s highest ever peak, but if you combine the two figures, then it is.

The fact that I’m left to combine them to get a higher number than 2012 means that this years figure is not great. In fact, given the Sky Sports 1 simulcast, you could argue that the race really should have peaked with over two million viewers. Maybe this is a case of me expecting too much, but clearly the ‘Hamilton factor’ is not that big to draw viewers to watch the races live on pay TV, otherwise Sky Sports F1 would have had a bigger audience. If the pay TV model is really going to work, then the viewing figures really need to show a serious shift, which in my opinion they are failing to do so.

An interesting note in the breakdown is that the build-up spiked at 19:20, hitting 1.01m (4.2%) before dropping back down to under a million viewers. That’s interesting, because that five-minute segment featured the Mentality of Winning VT starring Gary Neville, Carl Froch et al, so that part clearly appeased to casual viewers who were flicking through the pre-show.

Over on BBC One, their highlights show from 22:30 to 00:00 averaged 2.51m (22.9%). That number is up on previous years, but previously the US highlights show has ran for two hours instead of 90 minutes, which should be factored in. The combined average of 3.84m is significantly up on last year’s 2.47m, and up on the 3.38m recorded in 2012. However, both numbers are a far cry on the 5.24m (31.9%) average from 2007 when the race was live on ITV.

Qualifying
The qualifying programme on Sky Sports F1 averaged 532k (2.8%) from 17:00 to 19:45, with BBC Two’s highlights averaging 1.23m (7.1%), bringing us to a combined figure of 1.76m. That’s a really poor number for BBC Two’s highlights programme, again when you consider that there is a championship battle involving a British driver ongoing. The number is up on 2013, but down on 2012.

Next weekend should be very interesting, as the BBC have scheduled highlights of the Brazilian Grand Prix in the middle of primetime on BBC One. The highlights rating should be in the region of 4.5m to 5m, but with it now a dead rubber, I’m not very hopeful.

The 2013 United States Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Scheduling: The 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix

It is strange to be going into the penultimate race of the season with the championship up for grabs, and yet calling it a dead rubber. But thanks to double points, it is indeed a dead rubber. Nevertheless, the Brazilian Grand Prix may well still have an effect on which Mercedes driver the championship is awarded to. Sky have exclusive live coverage, but the good news is that BBC’s highlights programme is on in the middle of primetime, on BBC One! Considering it follows directly after Strictly Come Dancing, I’ll be very interested to see how it rates.

Elsewhere, it is the MotoGP season finale exclusively live on BT Sport 2. I’m surprised to see this on the same weekend as an F1 race, however there is no direct clash so there is not much of an issue with it. Below are all the details you need…

Thursday 6th November
13:00 to 13:40 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 7th November
07:00 to 07:15 – Gear Up for Brazil (Sky Sports F1)
11:45 to 13:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
11:55 to 13:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15:45 to 18:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
15:55 to 17:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18:00 to 18:40 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Saturday 8th November
12:45 to 14:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15:00 to 17:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1)
15:00 to 17:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
16:00 to 18:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1 +1)
16:50 to 17:05 – F1: Qualifying 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
21:00 to 22:30 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two)

Sunday 9th November
09:30 to 14:15 – MotoGP: Valencia (BT Sport 2)
14:30 to 19:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 14:30 – Track Parade
=> 15:00 – Race
=> 18:30 – Paddock Live
15:30 to 18:06 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
19:15 to 20:15 – Tales from the Vault: Story of 1984 (Sky Sports F1)
20:30 to 22:00 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 12th November
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
03/11 – 21:00 to 21:40 – 1983 United States Grand Prix Highlights
04/11 – 21:00 to 21:50 – 1992 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
05/11 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
06/11 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
07/11 – 09:00 to 11:00 – 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
08/11 – 14:15 to 15:00 – 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
08/11 – 17:45 to 18:45 – 1978 Season Review
08/11 – 22:00 to 23:00 – 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
10/11 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix
11/11 – 21:00 to 22:45 – 1989 Australian Grand Prix
12/11 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2000 German Grand Prix
13/11 – 21:00 to 21:30 – 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
14/11 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1986 British Grand Prix

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Update on November 7th – In a late move (the schedule was only updated on Wednesday), Qualifying will be simulcast on Sky1.

The tweet that lit the fire

It was the day of the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton had won the race following a mistake from his team-mate Nico Rosberg. That battle had taken a twist in the previous race at Spa, with much of the press leading up till Monza speculating about what may, or may not, happen between the two in the race. Following the race, there were much bigger issues on the table.

Sunday 7th September 2014. 15:34 UK time. Adam Parr, former chairman and CEO of Williams, wrote on Twitter: “This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars.” The replies to Parr’s tweet are amusing to look at in hindsight, one declaring that Parr is “of no relevance. No source. Goodbye.” Sky’s post-race broadcast was in the middle of #AskCrofty analysing the race, when focus quickly changed to Parr’s bombshell on Twitter. The mainstream Formula 1 press did not cover Parr’s tweet that much for whatever reason, whereas some journalists went to Twitter to counteract what Parr had said.

Eight weeks on from that tweet and Parr’s prediction is turning into reality. Two Formula 1 teams have collapsed. Caterham collapsed just under two weeks ago, with Marussia following on from that last weekend. There is also said to be the threat of boycott from three teams at tomorrow’s United States Grand Prix. To say that the situation looks bleak is an understatement. As of writing, three car teams has not yet been confirmed for F1 2015, but as the weeks pass, it looks like that is becoming ever more possible.

On the broadcasting side of things, I cannot imagine any broadcaster being happy with only 16 or 18 cars lining up in Melbourne in 2015. Does the BBC, for example, want to broadcast a motor racing series with only 16 cars lining up? Dieter Rencken for AUTOSPORT (£) believes that the TV contracts contain a clause saying that at least 16 cars participate in each event. Is a 16 car championship attractive to viewers? Would the casual viewers care if the likes on Force India, Sauber and Lotus collapse? Would the casual viewers care if three car teams are introduced? I don’t know the answer to those questions, but if viewers reject the idea of three car teams, that would send viewing figures downwards, again.

Going back to Parr’s tweet. One thing that intrigues me is how someone from outside the paddock broke the news before anyone in the paddock. How does that happen? Considering the Formula 1 paddock is close-knitted circle that travels the world every year, how does one of the most explosive stories of the year get broken by someone who is not part of the paddock circles? About half an hour after Parr’s tweet, F1 Paddock Pass tweeted this: “Rumour up and down the Paddock this weekend (and now made public)? 8 teams fielding 3 cars each in 2015. Fact or fiction? Source says: fact.”

I do wonder whether the third car story was ever meant to make it out into the public domain. Given the silence from the paddock at the time, the answer to that appears to be ‘no’. Had Parr not tweeted about that, would the outside world have ever known about the possibility of three car teams for 2015? One suspects not. Or at least the news would have been hidden from the public eyes for many more weeks before being made public. In future, I think we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss things people outside the paddock say, especially if they have had contact with paddock circles before. In the case of Parr, it looks like he was telling us what those in the paddock knew, but were simply afraid to reveal…