Merry Christmas from The F1 Broadcasting Blog

My second year running The F1 Broadcasting Blog is coming to an end, which also means that 2013 is coming to an end. Today though, there will not any other content other than to say Merry Christmas! I hope all readers, and lurkers alike, have a safe, relaxing and sound Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The blog has gone from strength to strength in 2013, and, in a similar manner to that of a current four time Formula 1 champion, records have been toppled constantly. Nearly a quarter of a million hits alone this year, whilst social media traffic has increased exponentially too. Thanks to each and every one of you. By reading and commenting, you play a part in the site’s success.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Dave
Owner of The F1 Broadcasting Blog

Sky Sports F1’s output: The 2013 Verdict

The first two parts of the 2013 verdict looked at both the BBC and Sky Sports teams, as I looked at each individual’s contributions. The third part focussed on BBC F1’s programming, and suggested potential improvements. Part four switches attention again to look at Sky Sports F1’s programming over the course of the season, whilst the final part will cast an eye into the future as 2014 draws ever nearer.

Although the programming during a race weekend has largely stayed the same, it is the schedule outside of the race weekend which has seen the most movement. Before a Formula 1 weekend gets under way, Sky screen the Thursday FIA press conference, along with a ‘Gear Up for…’ programme which is a summary of the interviews precluding a race weekend. Their main action, however, begins on Friday’s with live coverage of practice.

Practice
Sky’s coverage formally begins with live coverage of all three practice sessions. The build-up for each session is typically 15 minutes long (Australia FP1 the exception at 30 minutes) with Simon Lazenby hosting the Friday sessions and Natalie Pinkham hosting third practice on Saturday morning. During the session itself, Sky take the World Feed, except this season they have done things a bit differently compared with 2012. Many would have noticed Sky cutting away from FOM’s feed in last season. In comparison, this season they have adopted a split screen approach, which I personally prefer as long as it is not overused.

There was nothing more annoying than Sky cutting away from the World Feed, so the split screen was a good replacement. As the season went on, I feel that they did get the balance near enough to okay, just got to make sure that when split screen is used, there is a justifiable reason to use it. Another addition to the practice coverage, and in general was Sky putting captions over FOM’s graphics, which was a nice addition from time to time. The actual look and feel aside from the above did not really change: David Croft and Anthony Davidson were on commentary and the issues surrounding practice three and going off air earlier remained.

Martin Brundle did stand at a corner of the circuit explaining differences he sees in car vs car and driver vs driver, but as I noted in part two, this really could benefit with a camera being down there with him. Like I said though, I’m not sure how possible this is. The only annoyance for me is Sky still rushing off air after practice three for no apparent reason, sometimes only three or four minutes after a session has ended. Aside from that, the coverage Sky provide for practice is good and not much more can be suggested here.

The F1 Show
Throughout 2012, The F1 Show was live on Friday’s, from either a race track or the studio, with Ted Kravitz and Georgie Thompson presenting. It was by far the best part of Sky Sports F1’s coverage, with Kravitz and Thompson presenting week in and out a high quality show. The duo were great together with a lot of rapport and were liked by viewers. Despite being on the initial Sky Sports F1 advertising for 2013, Thompson took the decision to head for pastures new, meaning it was Natalie Pinkham alongside Kravitz for the first ‘The F1 Show’ of 2013.

The majority of editions in 2012 were must see, with some good discussion points. 2013 has not been as good for the show, with the Midweek Report showing it up on occasions. Yes, there have been some good changes, for example featuring GP2 and GP3 more, but I’ve been left feeling that watching some editions has been a chore rather than must watch. Being on Friday’s for non race weeks does not help. I know it was following multi-21, but the highest rated edition was actually aired on a Thursday.

Sky appear to be persisting with the Friday slot for 2014. I just don’t think a Friday night works at all when most of its core audience are probably out and not wanting to watch F1. Interestingly, for one episode they did have a heavy social media presence, with people being invited to tweet their thoughts in. Whether that was a test for something in 2014, I don’t know. As it turns out, I really enjoyed that particular episode, but there have not been a huge amount of highlights this year for The F1 Show. I enjoy it still, just not as much as I did in 2012.

Pre-Session
Unlike in 2012, Sky’s race day programming now has three distinct parts. The track parade tends to take up the first twenty to thirty minutes of the build-up, whilst the remainder of the build-up is discussion and VT based. However, it was always signalled on the EPG as one part, that was until the Indian Grand Prix when the decision was made to have formal introductions for each of the three parts, thus splitting it into three parts. Some say that this was a ratings influenced move and they may well be correct…

One complaint last season was that the pre-show just did not have the right flow to it, thankfully the pre-show in 2013 feels more polished and overall a better feel than what it did this time last year. The VT quality has slightly improved as well, with the Sand Grand Prix actually turning out surprisingly well, one of the few things that Sky have hyped this year that have delivered to expectation. On the same level, the mundane VT’s wrapped around breaks have remained, and don’t look like disappearing any more. As thus, expect Foals to be getting a lot more playouts in 2014!

The Sky Pad has been used more than ever before in the build-ups, but very effectively too. As I noted previously, moving the Sky Pad outside was probably one of the best decisions Sky made this season, and it paid dividends for them with more attention being paid to drivers’ taking themselves around a lap of a particular circuit in these segments. I don’t think they need to change a thing with the Sky Pad segments for 2014, because they’ve turned something good from 2012 into an absolute gem in 2013 with Anthony Davidson at the helm.

Post-Session
Throughout the 2012 season, Sky typically went off an air between 90 and 120 minutes after a race had finished. At the beginning of 2012, the difference between Sky and BBC was alarming, as Simon Lazenby and Damon Hill were not the best duo, and the post-race show just felt completely wooden. It did improve a bit, but felt like they were a level below BBC’s previous efforts. They shortened the length slightly for 2013, consistently going off air at about 16:15 for European races. It turned into formally being called ‘Paddock Live’ from India onwards.

Whilst the pre-show has undoubtedly improved, it is the post-session coverage that has reaped the rewards in 2013. The post-show is 2012 was fairly structured, but now, with a bit of reworking, I think they have crucially got the structure right. Segments at the Sky Pad with Anthony Davidson looking at key moments from the race, discussion and analysis, and Ted Kravitz’s Notebook now means that Sky Sports F1’s post-race analysis is a step above BBC’s. Obviously, it helps them that BBC have a change in presenter, but credit to them nevertheless.

The Notebook’s in 2013 have been better than ever, from testing through to the last race in Brazil. Within the post-race show, the Notebook is normally five to ten minutes long with an extended version on the website. I do think the programming would be significantly weaker without his contributions, as the Notebook makes up a fair chunk of the post-race. Looking ahead to 2014, and I hope the post-race programming continues in the same vein. It is better than BBC’s post-race forum at the moment, so hopefully Sky don’t change for the sake of change.

Midweek Report
I was debating whether or not to include the Midweek Report as a separate section, but given that it has been a regular in the Sky Sports F1 schedules for the majority of the year, I thought it was necessary to give it its own section. Last year, Sky Sports did not have a midweek Formula 1 show. This year, the Midweek Report started online for the first few rounds with Anna Woolhouse presenting. It was pretty clear how cheap the budget was immediately, the show was filmed in the tightest of studios possible, and against a green screen!

Which does not really do it justice. It soon moved to the channel itself from April, which made complete sense. Irrespective of who’s budget the programme comes from, it is an F1 based programme made by Sky Sports, therefore it should be screened on the channel, simple as. The show itself is 30 minutes and is chit chat and discussion with two guests. And the difference between the Midweek Report and The F1 Show is simple. The F1 Show’s ‘guests’ are actually not really guests, but members of Sky’s team. The Midweek Report actually has proper guests.

Obviously for its low budget, the guests are not always fantastic (having someone from Planet F1 scraped the barrel), but on other occasions it hit a top note in a big way. After Abu Dhabi, they had Will Buxton and James Calado on. The discussion in that particular show was fantastic, because the guests were actually expressing opinion and not towing any line! It was brilliant and great to see. Midweek Report should continue in 2014, with a bigger budget, proper studio and who knows, maybe it will fully overtake The F1 Show too. It wouldn’t surprise me.

Other programming
Starting at the start, Sky’s 2013 contributions began with a few launches, kicking into gear further with live testing. I really enjoyed the testing coverage from them, with general chit chat and also insight from Mark Priestley. I normally would say that I hope live testing returns for 2014, with testing more critical than ever next season. Three letters, one word: FOM. If Sky want to screen testing live, once again they have to go through them. As always, FOM give Sky access, Sky can’t just walk in and around a live F1 circuit with cameras and start filming. So, we’ll see what happens.

Classic F1 has also began on the channel this season, with Sky screening near to 100 classic races. I’ll admit to not watching them all, but it was a much needed addition to the channels schedules and helped fill the gap between races. Hopefully the classics continue for 2014. GP2, GP3, Fast Track and Weekend in Stills have all continued on the channel. In particular, GP2 and GP3 have had a great year, with more fantastic commentary from Buxton and, at times Alex Brundle. GP2 and GP3 are back on Sky Sports for 2014.

One problem has continued though: advertising. I’ll keep this to this paragraph, but GP2 and GP3 need advertising. Desperately. How much does it take to knock a 30 second trailer together and air across multiple Sky Sports channels to get the message out? Similar arguably applies for the Midweek Report and Classic F1, although those are more of a case for the Sky social media team to get the message out given that I would expect neither of them to be advertised on-air. I’m hopeful this will improve, but who knows. All good advertising F1, but there is other programming too.

From a programming stand-point, Sky have improved leaps and bounds, albeit most of the changes have come outside of the race weekend. Which is good, after all we are talking about a channel here and not one individual programme or airing. The scheduling needs to change on some of the programming (original programming shouldn’t air beyond 23:00 or midnight), but 2013 has improved significantly on 2012’s baseline.

The F1 Show to return in March 2014

The F1 Show will return on Friday 7th March, Sky have confirmed today.

This surprises me considering it returned in mid February for testing in 2013. My guess is that this means that there are no plans for live testing coverage (although FOM would need to give them the go ahead), or there will completely separate pre season programming.

Also, I do think the show needs to desperately get off Friday’s for non-race weeks, but it doesn’t appear like that is happening anytime soon.

BBC and Sky announce 2014 picks

BBC Sport and Sky Sports have confirmed the 2014 F1 calendar picks this morning. The picks are as follows:

2014 Schedule Details
March 16th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC and Sky
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 20th – China (Shanghai) – Sky
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona) – BBC and Sky
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco) – Sky
June 8th – Canada (Montreal) – BBC and Sky
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – Sky
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC and Sky
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest) – Sky
August 24th – Belgium (Spa) – BBC and Sky
September 7th – Italy (Monza) – BBC and Sky
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC and Sky
October 12th – Russia (Sochi) – BBC and Sky
November 2nd – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 9th – Brazil (Interlagos) – Sky
November 23rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC and Sky

As of writing, there has been no formal announcement on either the BBC and Sky line-ups for the new season. The Executive Producer for Sky Sports F1, Martin Turner said: “The rule changes mean 2014 is the most eagerly awaited season in years and only on Sky Sports F1 can viewers enjoy the full story live. From the first corner in Australia to the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, we’ll be there offering our viewers unrivalled live coverage and analysis. Our ten exclusively live races include several of the season’s key grands prix including three of the first four, two of the final three and of course, Monaco, the most glamorous weekend on the calendar. We can’t wait.”

BBC’s Head of F1, Ben Gallop added: “It has been another great year for F1 on the BBC. We’re now very much looking forward to 2014 and feel we have a strong package for our TV coverage. This format of both live and highlights is attracting a wide range of viewers and we hope to see even more people tuning in next year to experience the magic of Formula 1.”

For 2013, the surprise was that BBC were not screening Monaco, this year it has to be Brazil. For those unfamiliar, the pick order goes as follows:

– BBC pick 1, 2 and 3
– Sky pick 4, 5 and 6
– BBC pick 7
– Sky pick 8

Sadly, I only got nine correct in my predictions, but hey ho! The first three picks for BBC are pretty certain to be Britain, Abu Dhabi and Canada. Picking Canada over Brazil surprises me, so one assumes that BBC are thinking that 2014 may be another Vettel walkover. Also, as noted previously, Britain will be on BBC Two due to Wimbledon. Sky will have jumped on Australia again, and also Brazil exclusively for the very first time. A fascinating question is what is going to happen to Brazil’s highlights show. Technically, it is not daytime, and it is not primetime. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Brazil highlights turn up at about 20:00 or 21:00 on BBC Two, which may well have been BBC’s thinking here, in that a highlights show at that time is better than 22:30.

Sky’s third pick? I’d say Monaco. Why? History tells us BBC will not pick USA, as the timeslot is completely unfavourable to them for live coverage, so Sky would have taken Monaco knowing that BBC would be avoiding USA. For anyone thinking “USA is the same as Canada for timeslot”, that is indeed correct but Canada is in the Summer and USA would be against the biggest shows in television, big difference. BBC would then snap up Malaysia, Sky would take USA, as discussed. Belgium is next for BBC, at which point it appears Sky considered A.N. Other higher priority than Italy, I assume that race being Austria. From there things would have alternated, but that is how I suspect the first ten picks ended up.

Overall, I’d say Sky edges it for the picks, thanks to having Australia, Monaco and Brazil all exclusively live. It is a tale of two halves though, and I do feel a bit sorry for BBC as they are in reality forced to take Abu Dhabi despite it being one of the worst circuits on the entire calendar which has allowed Sky to take Brazil.

BBC F1’s output: The 2013 Verdict

The first two parts of the 2013 verdict looked at and analysed the BBC and Sky Sports F1 teams, suggesting possible improvements in both areas. Parts three and four switches the focus from the personnel to the programming.

Part 3 will look at BBC’s Formula 1 programming. The new deal from 2012 onwards has meant a reduction in what the BBC serves up. Unsurprisingly, some parts of the programming have been affected since, both due to that but also due to personnel changes as I will look at in this piece.

Practice
The look of practice changed significantly on the BBC this year. From 2009 to 2011, BBC shown every practice session live via its Red Button service. This halved from 2012 with the revised contract, but the raw coverage was the same. The broadcaster was simply taking the Formula One Management (FOM) World Feed from the five minute sting to five minutes after the session with Radio 5 Live’s commentary. For 2013, that changed thanks in part to the significant reductions to the Red Button, which meant that practice was heading to BBC Two.

At the time, they touted this as ’40 extra hours of network output’, whilst technically true, of course the raw hours they were showing was not increasing, merely changing stations. It did make me wonder how many people were completely oblivious to them showing practice between 2009 and 2012 behind the Red Button! In any case, the change to BBC Two meant that it had to become a proper programme, start titles, end titles with proper presentation from Suzi Perry and A.N. Other (mostly Gary Anderson).

I guess this was okay for what it was, although I was somewhat wondering what the point was when sometimes they only had five minute intro and outro. I can understand having a proper programme if they had more air-time, as they did after the session in Canada, one great example where they had half an hour on BBC Three. I imagine they will continue with proper presentation in 2014, but hopefully they manage to get five or ten more minutes post-session to go with that, instead of rushing off the air.

Inside F1
One of the minor parts of BBC’s Formula 1 coverage since 2009 has been the ‘Inside F1’ show. The show has typically aired on the BBC News Channel on Friday’s and Saturday’s at 18:45 during race weekends. It has more recently been fronted by Lee McKenzie on location. Normally, every Formula 1 show has some kind of purpose. Considering its timing, you would say Inside F1 simply aims to wrap up the on-track action for Friday and Saturday respectively. Which is, fair enough, considering its fifteen minute slot. The utter confusion for me comes with one word: Why? And more importantly: Who?.

Why is BBC’s F1 team still filming this show, and secondly, who is this show actually aimed at? The main purpose appears to be that it is only there to fill air-time on the BBC News Channel. Again, it comes to the question of why Formula 1’s target audience would be watching at the time. The answer is that they simply would not be. It does follow after Sportsday, but I’m not sure what it achieves. Yeah, its a harmless show in nature, but it could be much better. BBC Three, 19:00, 30 minutes. Why not? It makes a fair bit more sense than the BBC News Channel in my view.

The BBC Three programming, instead of Inside F1, could bring a different demographic towards Formula 1, which is needed to try and reverse the difficult ratings patch as of late. In effect, I’m saying scrap Inside F1, and bring in a new show. Make it a hybrid Friday review with a different slant. The other option (for Saturday’s) is to have a BBC One tea-time show for live races, which could work in a similar way to Murray and Martin’s ITV F1 Specials in the late 1990’s. Either way, BBC need to be open to new ideas, and a new F1 show to cater to a different demographic is an interesting perspective.

Pre-Session
One of the points that has largely remained the same since 2009 is the length of both the Qualifying and the Race build-ups. For live races, this has consistently been between 50 and 60 minutes irrespective of location. I’ll begin though with the highlights, as the format is largely formulaic: a quick intro, Qualifying wrap up, maybe an interview feature, grid interviews and then onto the race. It doesn’t need to be anything more for the highlights show, and given the programme length of between 90 and 120 minutes there is not much room for manoeuvre anyway.

It’s the live programmes where all of their energy goes into. Starting with the positives, the quality of their VT’s are unmatched. From a technical standpoint, the team still produce some jaw dropping VT’s, whether it is a particular race retrospective, or throwing some old McLaren’s around Silverstone. It is great to see too that there is still a bunch of talented people behind the camera and that the BBC and Sky deal did not rip the production team apart. In front of the camera, the show has still been good.

Good, but not great. Partially, this has not really been their fault in the latter half of the season with stories drying up. Nevertheless, it hasn’t quite felt ‘must watch’ for me at several stages this season. Assuming we have a championship battle, and with Suzi Perry in her second season, I do think things will rebound. I’ll allude to this a bit in the Sky piece too, but broadcasters’ thrive with a championship battle with stories bouncing from pillar to post and possible angles to take. When that disappears, so does possible content. Hopefully 2014 is a more competitive year for all concerned.

Post-Session
The only real negative for me comes with BBC’s post-session coverage. From 2009 to 2011 we had a high quality forum, which was generally very highly regarded. Quality dipped in 2012, but appears to have plunged for 2013. This is not an issue for highlights show, but for the live races it is a major issue. For those that didn’t watch, between 2009 and 2011 the forum consisted of a hybrid of chit chat and good, solid in-depth analysis. This did vary a bit from sitting down outside with guests, or inside a motor home, or later on walking along.

Changing presenters does not help thanks to the very nature of the forum, but what has not helped at all for BBC is that this is where Sky have made the biggest strides, particularly this year. And it is one area where I feel Sky are now actually better than the BBC. BBC mastered the forum from 2009 to 2011 and it is quite sad to see it go downhill. Does it still have its good, great TV moments? Of course. But it appears to be just a few people wandering around now, meaning that the entire feel of the forum has changed for the worse since a few years ago.

Thankfully, for BBC, this is a simple fix. All they need to do is to watch a tape of a 2013 forum and compare it to a 2010 forum and analyse where things have changed, and more importantly, do they think the changes are for the better. Personally, I don’t think the changes have been for the better and Sky’s improvements in their post-race show just highlight it further for me. I hope the forum does get back on track, because when it is good, it is easily the best piece of Formula 1 television during a race weekend. Let’s get the house back in order, please.

2013 has been a year of stability for the broadcaster, although the change of presenter has been highlighted significantly. Don’t get me wrong, the BBC is still one of the best, if not the best Formula 1 broadcasters in the world. I hope 2014 sees some programming changes and tweaks in order to improve the product further. I fear that BBC risk falling into the trap of complacency and resting on the laurels. 2014 looks set to be an exciting Formula 1 season on and off track, and I hope BBC’s coverage reflects that after what has been a solid, but unspectacular 2013.