Author: David Nelson

BBC TV exits Formula 1 with immediate effect

The BBC have announced that they will be exiting Formula 1 from television with Channel 4 taking over from 2016. For those following the blog in the past few weeks, the news that BBC TV will no longer be broadcasting Formula 1 should not be seen as a surprise. The F1 Broadcasting Blog understands that BBC staff were officially informed at 10:00 on Monday morning (21st December), one hour before the announcement at 11:00.

On the radio side, BBC Radio 5 Live have extended their deal until 2021. BBC’s exit from Formula 1 means that, for the first time in many decades, they do not currently hold the television rights to either two wheel or four wheel international motor racing (of course, they do have rights to motorcycle racing in Northern Ireland).

In a blog post on the BBC website, BBC’s Director of Sport Barbara Slater said “And the BBC is announcing today that a significant chunk of BBC Sport’s remaining savings target will be delivered through the immediate termination of our TV rights agreement for Formula 1. Any decision to have to stop broadcasting a particular sport or sporting event is hugely disappointing and taken reluctantly. As part of the exit arrangements we are extending our radio rights deal to 2021 and will continue to cover the sport via our sports news service and the BBC Sport website. The package of TV rights we have foregone will transfer to another free-to-air broadcaster.”

Slater also thanked everyone working with BBC F1 in her blog post: “I’d like to extend my appreciation to our production team who for seven seasons consistently produced coverage to the very highest level which has been loved by the sport’s fans. It has won numerous awards, including a BAFTA. The quality of production from those behind and in front of the camera has been without equal. These are very challenging times for the BBC and sport is not immune to those financial pressures.”

Analysis
The BBC exiting Formula 1 is not a surprise, based on the headlines of the past few weeks. What I still feel is a surprise is the quickness of it. We never heard one inkling of any exit from broadcasting Formula 1 on television two months ago, so this has happened very fast. Clearly there were attempts from Formula One Management to prevent BBC exiting the contract, but as I mentioned just last Friday, if a broadcaster no longer has their heart in the game, why bother letting them continue.

I am extremely disappointed, again, by the way this has been handled by BBC Sport. In a perfect world, the BBC F1 team would have been informed officially about this before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Were the cuts so major that the BBC were unable to broadcast the 2016 season on television, as a swansong, in any way shape or form? I feel sad for the team that they were unable to put out a package during the Abu Dhabi weekend to highlight their contributions during the past seven years. Whether that was their fault, or FOM’s fault for trying to keep BBC, we do not know, but I feel for the team that they did not get their closure.

However, let us put this into context. I think Marcus Simmons, AUTOSPORT’s Deputy Director, sums it up. In the grand scheme of things, there are a lot of priorities at the BBC that are bigger than Formula 1, such as current affairs and news. In the BBC Sport pot of funding, it is easy to see how the BBC consider the Olympics, Match of the Day and Wimbledon bigger priorities than Formula 1. I doubt the high-ups BBC will have been best pleased with the off-track antics both in 2014 and 2015, Formula 1 needs to sell itself better.

The good news is that BBC Radio 5 Live is continuing their coverage, which is incredibly important, and more so than some perhaps give credit for. Radio is still a huge medium, and the coverage on radio will still reach millions of listeners that TV may not reach. There will probably be some changes to BBC’s Formula 1 radio coverage, depending on who or who not Channel 4 wish to poach, but the structure of it should be similar to now. Expect to see @BBCF1 on Twitter to stay, but the website will change significantly. Sadly, the online archive that has built up across the past seven years, will disappear, some of the material has already disappeared.

Reaction
Jake Humphrey (former presenter) – “Raising a glass to everyone involved in #F1 on the BBC. Was a pleasure to play my own small part #3Amigos #Farewell”

Murray Walker (former commentator – speaking to BBC News) – “I’m enormously sad that the BBC is losing Formula 1, because ever since 1978 when it first started doing it on television, it has done an absolutely superlative job. It has raised the production standards, it has got a fabulous team of people working on it and the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Whenever there’s a problem, the BBC is in danger of losing Formula 1, other channels are in there to snap it up.”

Eddie Jordan (analyst – speaking to the Mirror) – “Obviously it was a huge shock even though it had been talked about. It is utterly devastating. The week of Christmas is not the time to hear this, compounded by the fact that it’s not long since a lot of the team had left London and relocated in Salford at the whim of the BBC. People have moved families to new houses and children to new schools and were just about getting settled in Salford and then they get this bomb-shell. The people I have spoken to find it really gut-wrenching. They feel senior management have not really batted on their behalf. I really feel for them. Having said that the BBC has given me an amazing seven years and I’ve got the TV bug. While I’m in the twilight of my career I wouldn’t rule out anything for the future if it gives me a buzz. I’ve always spoken as I see things when I worked for the BBC so it’s only fair I do the same when I’m talking about the BBC.”

Allan McNish (analyst and radio commentator) – “The news is out, BBC F1 will stop it’s F1 coverage, sadly not a surprise in the circumstances. Good luck Channel 4.”

Jennie Gow (radio pit lane reporter) – “Just to say I’ve loved working with all of the BBC F1 team – learnt a lot and had some amazing times. Some very special/talented people!”

Lee McKenzie (pit lane reporter) – “Good luck to Channel 4 with their F1 coverage. Loved being part of BBC F1 team. Some great times, people and wonderful programmes.”

Michael Cunliffe (website video editor) – “Ciao F1, it’s been a blast these past 7 years #Gutted”

Tim Boyd (VT producer) – “Well that was fun whilst it lasted…”

To all of those that have played a part in BBC’s TV coverage of Formula 1 from 2009 to 2015, we say: thank you.

BBC F1 vs Sky Sports F1: Your 2015 Verdict Revealed

The 2015 Formula One season concluded in November with Mercedes finishing a dominant season. Off the track, what the future holds no one seems to know. As usual, the blog asked readers to give their opinion on BBC’s and Sky’s 2015 coverage, and the response was in stark contrast to last year.

Last year, many readers noted that Sky Sports F1’s coverage had improved. The opposite can be said this year, with multiple readers not keen on their 2015 service.

I enjoyed 2012 and 2013 seasons but since then it seems like Sky has lost its glory. A very limited production, no more season reviews, no more F1 Legends etc. very limited Classic races, they are not as active as they used to be in the first two seasons. – Ayrton01CZ

Overall, I thought that the BBC did a much better job in dealing with a dud season, whilst Sky came up with too many sensationalist non-stories, terrible features and montages, and also had naff commentary. – craighypheno

Jack Picko is also not keen on Sky’s coverage, notably the Fogglebox feature during the United States Grand Prix weekend, however did state that Ted Kravitz is still the “pound for pound the best reporter/presenter/commentator in the Formula 1 business”. The commentary duo of Martin Brundle and David Croft for Sky resulted in a lot of conflicting opinions, Rishi made an interesting comment in response to a lot of negativity directed towards the pair in comparison to the BBC commentary team:

Bit surprised to see Crofty and Brundle knocked so much in the comments. I actually think they’re the better commentary duo; in particular, I also think they’re better at reading a race and getting the drivers right. Ben Edwards has disappointed me somewhat at the Beeb as he tends to make fairly basic errors (naming drivers, getting results or strategies wrong); a shame as overall he has a good pedigree and is a commentator I respect (having listened to him back when A1 GP was around). We’re all human though and it is a tough job of course.

Given the news over the past few weeks, and potential developments that may or may not unfold soon, there was a lot of reflection focussing on BBC’s coverage:

BBC seem more comfortable in their own skin these days. They recognise it’s not 2010 any more in terms of personnel, budget or on track product and set their stall out accordingly. There’s a reasonable range of views, some sort of concession to the casual viewer and they don’t present in an uncritical manner. I also suspect that they do a good job of keeping Sky on their toes. – Richard

By far the best aspect of the BBC’s coverage were some of it’s VT’s, which as this blog has consistently pointed out, have been thoughtful and extremely well constructed. Cases in point: The Button Rallycross piece and the Max/Jos Verstappen feature. Clearly shot and edited by people who love the sport and make use of every penny to make sure it goes towards what’s on screen. – uf1redster

Lesmo makes a fascinating suggestion about a potential hybrid programme to save costs for both BBC and Sky, presenting value for money:

We could soon be back to the days of watching the race only, as I did in the ITV days. And on that note, if the resources of the BBC and Sky were pooled in some way; perhaps we’d get to keep the coverage and enjoy the quality of show we do today. Food for thought.

If ITV were to take BBC’s Grand Prix rights, questions would quickly turn to personnel. And, based on the feedback, Suzi Perry is one of the main choices for the presenter role:

Suzi Perry’s improved (see how little Coulthard has been surprised this year by the line of questioning) – Richard

Suzi Perry is growing on me now, she is the far better presenter of the two broadcasters. – Jack Picko

The Sky presenting team generated a lot of mixed responses, especially in response to their coverage of Lewis Hamilton, as alluded to earlier. Ayrton01CZ gives a summary of the current situation:

I still don’t understand what Lazenby is doing there, he is like an alien in the F1 paddock and clearly has nothing in common with the sport. The rest of the team sounds good on the paper, but (and here we go) to make everything around Lewis Hamilton is wrong. Yes, he’s British, he’s successful, but to praise him and to make a coverage all around him are two very different things. And to even have a problem to admit that someone else could be simply faster and it is not down to the technical problem… no, no, no. The basic rules of journalism are to be impartial and objective. Whatever is the reason (no theories here), it should not happen and they should go back to enjoying F1, the sport itself.

There were again one or two comments comparing the UK coverage to other parts of the world. As we come to the end of 2015 in uncertain muddy waters, this is a good comment to end on.

My point is simply that in the UK and EU, you have a cornucopia of excellent motorsport coverage – and a choice between not just one but TWO F1 broadcasters – and here in the USA we are living in the desert. You are very fortunate indeed to even entertain a discussion about “BBC F1 versus Sky Sports F1.” – geeyare

As always, the original post has a lot of detailed comments worth reading, the above is just a taster of what readers are talking about.

Report: ITV to take over BBC’s F1 TV coverage from 2016

Posted on December 17th, 2015 – Broadcast are reporting this evening that the BBC are to exit broadcasting Formula 1 on television with immediate effect, with ITV taking over their coverage from 2016.

This has yet to be confirmed. As soon as we have any news, I will update this blog. My gut instinct though is that the report is true, and that ITV will confirm this officially tomorrow (Friday 18th December). That is my opinion, I’m not privvy to anything that is not currently in the public domain. If the news is true, it marks the end of BBC’s return to covering Formula 1 on television, which started back in 2009. Alongside the various news stories that have been covered recently, the news earlier this week that BBC’s Euro 2016 picks run right through the Canadian Grand Prix window mean that the BBC were not planning to pick the race live. Of course, that is the usual pick process – but now we have a clearer reason why that was probably the case.

Regarding the source: Broadcast is a reputable industry magazine, and not a website that would pluck stories out the air for ‘hits’. The fact they have published it means that it is more likely to be true than false. Tomorrow is likely to be the last day that any deal would be announced (it being the last business day before Christmas, early next week being slow down days), leads me to believe that ITV’s return will be announced tomorrow. If that happens, questions inevitably turn to the personnel. ITV should swoop in for the majority of BBC’s team… but that is a question for later rather than now (although we are only four months away from Melbourne). Another question surrounds the return of adverts during F1 races, and lastly if ITV taking Formula 1 affects their Formula E rights.

Either way, there’s little point speculating until we have official confirmation from BBC or ITV. So, for the moment, we wait patiently, but it looks like The Chain is going to be broken….

Update on December 18th at 18:05 – To my surprise, we have heard no news today. A request for comment from this blog to the BBC resulted in no comment, which is to be expected in the middle of rights negotiations. The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is being held on Sunday, so both parties may have mutually decided to hold off an announcement until Monday. Realistically, if we hear nothing either Monday or Tuesday, then it will be a wait until the New Year. Other media and motor sport outlets have since covered the story, mostly repeating Broadcast’s original story, including Motorsport.com, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. Neither AUTOSPORT or The Guardian have yet covered the story.

In an interview with the Press Association via Motorsport.com in response to the latest story, Bernie Ecclestone said “The bottom line is that they [BBC] are cutting back on all types of sport and if we really, really, really had to, we’d say ‘you have got a contract and you better get on with it.’ They can’t leave the contract early. The Beeb have always done a very, very good job. I have no problem at all with them. It is just they can’t afford to continue with what they have done in the past.” Ecclestone concludes by saying that he does not know what will happen in 2016, which sounds worrying.

Ecclestone’s lines are again expected, he said very similar last month. The situation we are in is bizarre. Party 1 wants to exit contract and Party 2 is interested. Sport 1 wants to stay with Party 1 and appears to be distancing himself from Party 2. The more Ecclestone tries and persuades BBC to stay, the less interested ITV will become. Does Ecclestone really want an uninterested BBC to stay on-board, and potentially limit resources as much as possible? I’m not entirely sure that is the best option. In my opinion: If BBC want to get out of the contract, and ITV want to take over, then let that happen. Don’t hold it up. Yes, ITV may give you fewer viewers, but they are still free to air. They will still bring in between two and three million viewers a weekend. Annoying ITV and prolonging any negotiations will not do F1 any good in the long run.

Young guns spark up social media

The youngest line-up on the grid in 2015 of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz not only made an impact on the track, but they also made an impact off it as Toro Rosso jumped up the social media standings. Analysis from The F1 Broadcasting Blog shows that, across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the team is close to overtaking Sauber whilst recording higher increases than the likes of Williams and Lotus since July. That was not the only social media story in the latter half of 2015.

Overall, the 2015 Formula One season was disastrous for McLaren, with an unreliable Honda engine down on power affecting their performance throughout the season. Their social media highlight was generated by the average fan from off the street. #PlacesAlonsoWouldRatherBe quickly became a trend following the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session and was a moment of light relief during what was a sombre weekend due to events outside of the paddock. McLaren’s performance on the track hurt their social media following off the circuit. McLaren started the Summer with 4.37 million accounts following them across the three main social media platforms, climbing to 4.71 million accounts as the season came to a close, an increase of 7.6 percent. Only Mercedes, Manor and Lotus recorded a lower percentage increase during the second half of 2015, showing that McLaren’s poor on track performance had a negative impact when it came to a social media meaning that they were unable to further exploit the McLaren brand name.

The Formula 1 social media statistics, covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as of December 2015.
The Formula 1 social media statistics, covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as of December 2015.

Mercedes’ percentage increase of 6.0 percent is the lowest of any team in the field, but when you’re coming from a high user base in the first place, a lower percentage increase than the midfield teams should be expected. An increase from 11.90 million to 12.61 million accounts following their activities is still a sizeable increase for the Brixworth based team. McLaren’s poor performance not only affected the brand following, but also adversely affected Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button’s following. Button’s following increased 9.9 percent compared with the Summer, however Alonso’s percentage increased only 3.9 percent, from a combined audience of 4.00 million to 4.16 million. Those are not good numbers for what is supposed to be one of Formula 1’s biggest drivers, and is further proof of why Formula 1 needs a successful McLaren as soon as feasibly possible.

Is Max Verstappen the future?
Alonso’s raw increase of 156,000 from July to December was the eighth highest in the field, again across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Up front you had Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the latter recording an increase of a whopping 1.21 million followers largely due to a huge uplift in Instagram numbers. Hamilton’s numbers will only surge further as he tries to break America. Behind the Mercedes drivers you had Button, Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa. No major surprises there, Ricciardo continung to get a boost from his fantastic 2014 season. In sixth position, and ahead of Alonso, enter Verstappen. At the half-way stage of the 2015 season, a combined audience of 247,000 were following Verstappen’s activities. That number climbed to 479,000, a whopping increase of 94.1 percent! Facebook led the way from a percentage perspective for Verstappen, increasing from 57,000 to 118,000. Of course, these numbers are miniscle in comparison to Lewis Hamilton, whose increase of 1.21 million since the Summer dwarfed the majority of the field. But a year or two from now? If Verstappen continues to perform on the circuit, then who knows. Based on the latter half of this season, I would expect Verstappen’s combined audience to quickly surpass one million in early-2016.

We should not forget Carlos Sainz, Jnr and the Toro Rosso team as a whole in the Verstappen puzzle. In the second half of 2015, Sainz’s following has increased 44.6 percent from 273,000 to 395,000. The reason Sainz has fallen behind Verstappen is because the Dutchman has surged ahead on Facebook, whereas Sainz’s increase since the Summer has been relatively slow in comparison. Toro Rosso is the only big surprise from a team perspective, jumping by 282,000 followers from July to December, an increase of 44.8 percent. I suspect as soon as either Verstappen or Sainz switch teams then Toro Rosso’s following will stagnate again. Either way, they have made enough of an impression to climb over the back of Sauber’s gearbox and has, for the moment, given them an identity.

The Formula 1 social media statistics, covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as of December 2015.
The Formula 1 social media statistics, covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as of December 2015.

All social media outlets have grown in size and stature versus July, but it was Instagram who jumped the biggest, with their Formula 1 reach growing from a cumulative total of 5.34 million to 8.57 million, an increase of over three million accounts. As a result, Instagram’s Formula 1 market share on social media increased from 9.0 percent to 12.8 percent at the expense of both Facebook and Twitter. Bear in mind that all numbers presented in this piece are a combined count, there is no way to work out distinct people across different social media sites. What we do know is that 2.29 million people follow Lewis Hamilton on Instagram, so the distinct count of accounts that follow F1 related accounts on Instagram is probably around the ~5 million range.

We come to the end of another season though where I place the URL https://www.facebook.com/F1 in the middle of a post and I get the result “Page not found.” To see that heading into 2016 is immensely disappointing and frustrating. Why there is such a barrier towards creating exciting, innovative and groudbreaking content for Facebook users, I do not know. We knew Facebook would come later than Twitter and Instagram in terms of content, Marissa Pace, part of the Formula One Digital Media team told us that this time last year. And at a time when Formula 1’s viewing figures are dropping as the population exploits new and emerging technologies, having a presence on Facebook is more critical in my opinion than ever before. The now infamous #SepangClash between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez during this year’s MotoGP championship was viewed 15 million times on Facebook. You cannot buy numbers like that, and you cannot let opportunities like that slip through your figures. The longer Formula One Management waits to exploit Facebook, the harder their task becomes, it is as simple as that. #SepangClash was also a fantastic example of on the spot thinking from Dorna’s social media team, instantly creating that hashtag to drive conversation across every platform: TV and online. It was successful, and it kept MotoGP in the spotlight between Sepang and Valencia. Something for F1 to learn should a big on-track clash occur in 2016.

Whilst Facebook is yet to come, the team at FODM have done some fantastic work creating content for both Twitter and Instagram. Really, this season has been what you should expect from those platforms, with discussion based talking points, fan voting and video content being posted, the video content in conjunction with SnappyTV. Understandably, there has not been video content posted ‘live’ yet given the agreements FOM have with broadcasters’. Over on YouTube, archive footage is the clear winner, something that is became more apparent as the season progressed. This reminds me of when BBC returned to Formula 1 in 2009. Fans made it clear to the BBC that they wanted archive footage, and the same message is being put to FOM now.

Most watched videos on Formula 1’s official YouTube channel
1. 639,000 – The Fastest Lap in F1 History: Montoya at Monza (uploaded 3 months ago)
2. 582,000 – Top 5 Overtakes Of The Last 5 Years (uploaded 4 months ago)
3. 428,000 – F1’s Greatest Lap? Ayrton Senna at Donington 1993 (uploaded 8 months ago)
4. 324,000 – Your Favourite Belgian Grand Prix – 1998 Chaos & Carnage in Spa (uploaded 3 months ago)
5. 299,000 – Your Favourite Monaco Grand Prix – 1992 Senna v Mansell (uploaded 6 months ago)

The question for FOM going into 2016 has to be, how do they exploit their archive without treading on broadcasters’ toes? Of course, FOM own any footage filmed inside a race track, but putting extensive archive highlights online may rub broadcasters’ up the wrong way. I do think there is middle ground though, and certainly one that should be investigated. I think there is a market for creating 20 minute highlight packages of past classic races for the YouTube market. All of FOM’s videos so far have been ‘bite size’, clocking in at under five minutes. The benefit of creating longer highlights packages now of archive races will help them later, if they were to go down the ‘F1 Network‘ route sometime. Again, with viewing figures from the traditional viewing methods dropping, the potential for an over the top network has to be considered within the next few years.

In terms of their social media following, Formula One Management’s two accounts on Instagram and Twitter respectively have increased from a combined audience of 1.71 million in July to 2.36 million, an increase of 37.7 percent. In comparison to the teams (see the first figure in this post), that is a huge increase and shows how important it is for FOM to have a profile on social media. Instagram is the main factor in the increase, jumping 395,000 followers despite a much lower base than Twitter. The good news is that Formula 1 teams, drivers and media are exploiting Instagram more than previously, and that is replicated in the numbers. Whilst Formula One Management smashed into social media in March, at the same time the team also relaunched the official Formula 1 website. The relaunch seems to have been successful, the old version of the website let us not forget was horrendously behind the times from what you would expect out of a modern-day site.

The biggest part of the website relaunch was F1 Access. The main difficulty in the early days was that the website version of F1 Access failed to link to the app version of F1 Access. To be honest, I have not purchased F1 Access. I know it is only £2.29 a month, but as of writing I haven’t heard anyone shout from the rooftops about it. Is there anything in F1 Access that, as a fan, I desperately need to get my hands on? I suspect not, and until there is a compelling reason for me to subscribe to F1 Access, I can’t see myself subscribing anytime soon. Looking ahead to 2016, I think FOM to some degree can continue to do what they are currently doing on Twitter and Instagram. Some exploration needed in relation to YouTube, and a kick-start needed on Facebook sooner rather than later.

Scheduling: The 2015 Punta del Este ePrix

The second season of the Formula E championship continues next weekend live from Punta del Este in Uruguay, with all the race action live on ITV4. Jennie Gow will present the action, as of writing guests are to be confirmed.

Preceding the race on ITV4 will be a new Formula E magazine show called Sound of the Future. The first three episodes were aired out of the limelight, and episode four premièred last weekend. Each episode was uploaded to the ITV Hub, but were only available for seven days meaning that they have since been removed, which seems a bit of a shame. Either way, episode four will air again next Saturday before the Uruguay race day programme.

Also as of writing, ITV4 will not be showing the Punta del Este qualifying session live, meaning it should be available for UK viewers to watch online via Formula E’s website.

> FREE Full Race Replay – 2015 Beijing ePrix
> FREE Full Race Replay – 2015 Putrajaya ePrix

Below are all the scheduling details you need…

Formula E – Punta del Este (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
19/11 – 11:10 to 12:10 – Practice 1
19/11 – 13:25 to 14:10 – Practice 2
19/11 – 14:45 to 16:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Punta del Este
19/12 – 17:20 to 20:30 (ITV4)
=> 17:20 – Sound of the Future: Episode 4
=> 18:00 – Race
20/12 – 09:25 to 10:20 – Highlights (ITV)

As always I will update the schedule if anything changes.