Presteigne Charter win BBC F1 outside broadcast contract

Presteigne Charter have won the outside broadcast contract for BBC’s Formula One coverage, commencing from next season. The company will take over from SIS Live, which had provided the outside broadcasts since 2009 for Formula 1.

Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, said: “We were hugely impressed by the calibre of the bids we received. The mix of suppliers we now have ensures best value for money for licence fee payers and will bring more innovation to the BBC’s coverage of sporting events. We are extremely grateful for the role played by SIS Live and its staff in covering sports events over many years. We are very disappointed that an agreement could not be reached and it goes without saying that we wish them all the best in their future endeavours.”

Italian Grand Prix hits six year ratings low

The Italian Grand Prix hit a six year ratings low yesterday, overnight ratings figure suggest. Whilst Sky Sports F1 figures are unavailable, the BBC’s figures give a clear indication of the overall figures. Live coverage on BBC One, from 12:10 to 15:15 averaged 2.85 million viewers, a 26 percent share according to ITV Media. The figure is nearly identical to their Belgian Grand Prix viewership figure. The BBC’s race programme recorded a 15-minute peak figure of 3.90 million viewers at 14:00.

Despite BBC’s figures being identical to Belgium, Sky Sports F1’s figures increased by 36 percent. Whilst the channel averaged 336,000 for their Belgium programme, their Italian programme from 11:30 to 16:15 averaged 457,400 viewers. The lack of rise makes me wonder if Sky F1 was dented significantly more for BBC during the Belgian race day when the race went against two big Premier League games. After all, it is unusual to see Sky increase, but BBC stable. This is how things turn out…

Italian Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2002 – 2.85 million
2003 – 2.96 million
2004 – 2.63 million
2005 – 2.21 million
2006 – 1.89 million
2007 – 2.61 million
2008 – 3.55 million
2009 – 3.69 million
2010 – 3.51 million
2011 – 4.23 million
2012 – 4.39 million / 4.64 million (using ‘35 percent theory‘)
– overnight figures were 4.22 million / 4.46 million
2013 – 3.31 million / 3.47 million (overnight rating)

The official figures may push 2013’s rating above 2010, but it will be very tight. Apart from 2011 and 2012, it has to be said that the Italian race has historically rated low, the shorter race duration does not play in its favour. To quote something someone said last year, I have to say that yesterday’s race was probably one that was also “made for highlights“. Nevertheless, I do think yesterday’s figure is quite disappointing, there was no Premier League football on Sky to dent the F1, so I would have hoped for it to have been considerably above the Belgian figures from two weeks ago.

From here we move to Singapore, which has traditionally done very well, last year’s low was still 700,000 above yesterday’s rating. The fly-aways can vary, and this year it will depend too on which way the championship swings as to whether more lows are recorded, or whether Formula 1 does bounce back as the season marches towards the finale.

The 2012 Italian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Update on September 13th – Broadcast magazine have reported the Italian Grand Prix ratings for Sky Sports F1, as thus I have amended the report above.

Motor sport ratings (week ending 25th August, 2013)

Again a late ratings piece because there really is not a lot of ratings up on BARB. At first I did not see much point in publishing this post, but thought I should for completeness purposes.

Starting with ESPN, live coverage of the IndyCar Series from Sonoma averaged 8,000 viewers. Other than that, the only thing worth noting is highlights of the Silverstone Classic which brought 26,000 viewers to ITV4 +1.

Motors TV’s highest rated was 27,000 viewers for Hotrax Motorsport. Whatever that might be.

BBC dump next weekend’s MotoGP to Red Button

The BBC are to screen MotoGP next weekend behind the Red Button, schedules reveal. I will be honest and say that I’m incredibly unimpressed with this one, especially in their last season of coverage before handing to BT Sport next season. They normally move the Assen race around a bit, but that in my view is fair game as that does clash with Wimbledon and tends to clash with Qualifying for the British Grand Prix in Formula 1. The Saturday schedules are as follows:

Saturday 14th September 2013
BBC One
13:00 – Live Athletics: Great City Games
14:30 to 16:30 – Triathlon: World Championship Series

BBC Two
12:45 – Caribbean Food Made Easy (R)
13:15 – University Challenge (R)
13:45 to 15:40 – EastEnders Omnibus (R)

On BBC Two, repeats take priority over MotoGP. Whether this is a case of they don’t want sport on two BBC channels at the same time, I don’t know. The Sunday schedule is as follows:

Sunday 15th September 2013
BBC One
09:30 – Live Athletics: Great North Run
13:30 – Sunday Politics
14:45 – Bargain Hunt (R)
15:30 to 16:15 – Flog It! (R)

BBC Two
12:15 – Sailing: America’s Cup Highlights
13:00 – Live Triathlon: World Series Final
15:45 – EastEnders Omnibus (R)
16:45 – Athletics: Great North Run Highlights
17:30 to 18:30 – Rugby League: Super League Play Offs

If you drawn a list of sporting priorities at the BBC, you can see from the above where MotoGP falls. Now, of course, they may have took the MotoGP decision based on the fact that they are not screening it live next year. Of course, they did bid for MotoGP next year, but BT Sport out bid them considerably. But it is a thoroughly disappointing decision, especially considering the level of coverage from Silverstone. It is difficult to see what else they could have done, unfortunately something had to give. Sunday Politics I believe has to be on BBC One because of the regional opt-outs which cannot be served on BBC Two.

Furthermore, looking at the schedules, I cannot see any repeat airing for the MotoGP on BBC One or BBC Two, or BBC Three for that matter later on Sunday or Monday. As with Qatar earlier this year, don’t expect British Eurosport to screen it live, either.

Update on September 12th – It turns out that BBC are repeating it on on BBC Two, in the early hours of Monday morning at 00:15 (England/NI), 00:30 (Wales) and 00:45 (Scotland). Thanks to @scott_gamer for the tip.

Predicting the 2014 calendar pick order

The provisional 2014 Formula One calendar has been updated, with the main change being that India is no longer there, which is not a surprise as it is taking a year off in 2014. Korea has also been dropped, with Russia coming in. New Jersey and Mexico were also meant to be coming in, but alas, that is no longer the case. The calendar, provisionally, is therefore as follows:

March 16th – Australia (Melbourne)
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 20th – China (Shanghai)
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco)
June 8th – Canada (Montreal)
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone)
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest)
August 24th – Belgium (Spa)
September 7th – Italy (Monza)
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 12th – Russia (Sochi)
October 26th – USA (Circuit of the Americas)
November 2nd – Brazil (Interlagos)
November 16th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

Because of the way the BBC and Sky deal works, both sides have to ‘pick’ races. The races that BBC pick will be shown live on BBC One and Sky Sports F1, while the races that Sky pick will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, with highlights on BBC One. The picks go as follows:

– BBC pick three races (pick 1, 2 and 3)
– Sky pick three races (pick 4, 5 and 6)
– BBC pick one race (pick 7)
– Sky pick one race (pick 8)

This continues until every race has been picked. Next season is provisionally scheduled with nineteen races, which means Sky get the deciding pick, so that they have either half of the total number of races, or “half + 1 race”. Basically here, I’m predicting how the pick orders will go. Last year, there was a bit of free reign with the calendar picks, but next year, we have the football World Cup 2014, which may influence the pick orders. We will come to that later. So, like I did last year, I’m going to start from scratch.

Before I start, I think it’d be a good idea to see how successful I was last year. Last year I got ten out of nineteen right versus the real thing. It is only a bit of fun, and good for discussion too as the calendar moves forward.

BBC pick Britain, Abu Dhabi and Brazil – Frustration here for the BBC, I imagine. As it stands that British Grand Prix will clash with the Wimbledon final, so a move to BBC Two beckons if things do not change! I think the British race will eventually move to June 29th, but as time progresses, that is looking unlikely. Abu Dhabi looks depressingly like it is the last race of the season, so BBC will pick them, along with Brazil. Brazil is a different situation to USA, USA falls slap bang in the middle of primetime, whereas Brazil does not. The above three are set in stone. Therefore Sky pick Monaco, USA (Circuit of the Americas) and Canada. This is where things can get a messy, and where I think Sky won’t pick Australia. Two prime time races again are much bigger for Sky than getting the season opener, BBC having to pick Abu Dhabi leaves a door open like in 2012, therefore I can see Sky getting both USA and Canada.

Now, interestingly, Canada does not clash with next year’s World Cup, as the World Cup does not start until June 12th. Which means BBC could, if Sky did not pick it, screen Canada live (unlike in 2012 when it did clash with the European Championships). The only potential thwart to that plan is if England have a friendly on that Sunday in primetime. I’m not sure BBC would want the F1 to go against an England friendly on ITV. But we shall see what happens. As discussed above, BBC would not want USA. Monaco is the same as this year, as discussed above. Things alternate from here onwards. BBC haven’t screened the season opener since 2011, and I’d be surprised if they go another year without. Meaning BBC pick Australia and Sky pick Malaysia.

Which leaves us in this position:

March 16th – Australia (Melbourne) – BBC
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang) – Sky
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 20th – China (Shanghai)
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco) – Sky
June 8th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest)
August 24th – Belgium (Spa)
September 7th – Italy (Monza)
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 12th – Russia (Sochi)
October 26th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 2nd – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 16th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

Moving back to the European races now, and in a reverse of what happened in 2012, BBC pick Italy, Sky pick Belgium. There is not a lot to discuss here, except to make sure that BBC does not have three or more live races one after the other, it must be two at most line a stern – and that applies to Sky exclusivity too. With Sky picking Belgium, BBC pick Hungary and Sky pick Germany. It does mean that BBC viewers go six weeks without live Formula 1, but I can’t see how that can be avoided. Thankfully, the middle of the calendar though is much better balanced than last year. From this point, things alternate, although the only thing I think should be noted is that I can’t see BBC picking Russia in the event that it is dropped (same applies to Korea later). Hence BBC pick Japan and Sky pick Singapore. Also, BBC pick Austria and Sky pick Russia

Which means we are left with this:

March 16th – Australia (Melbourne) – BBC
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang) – Sky
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 20th – China (Shanghai)
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco) – Sky
June 8th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – BBC
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC
August 24th – Belgium (Spa) – Sky
September 7th – Italy (Monza) – BBC
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC
October 12th – Russia (Sochi) – Sky
October 26th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 2nd – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 16th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

The remaining races are therefore China, Bahrain and Spain. I cannot see BBC wanting Bahrain live whilst Also, Sky won’t want Spain exclusively as it falls on the last day of the Premier League season. Meaning BBC pick China and Sky pick Bahrain. And Sky pick Spain. Which leaves the final calendar as follows:

March 16th – Australia (Melbourne) – BBC
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang) – Sky
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 20th – China (Shanghai) – BBC
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona) – Sky
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco) – Sky
June 8th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – BBC
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC
August 24th – Belgium (Spa) – Sky
September 7th – Italy (Monza) – BBC
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC
October 12th – Russia (Sochi) – Sky
October 26th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 2nd – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 16th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

Bad news! The above would never happen. Why? Sky are not allowed three exclusive races in a row, whilst BBC are not allowed to screen three live races in a row. The only option I can see is to swap Austria and Monaco, so it turns into:

March 16th – Australia (Melbourne) – BBC
March 30th – Malaysia (Sepang) – Sky
April 6th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 20th – China (Shanghai) – BBC
May 11th – Spain (Barcelona) – Sky
May 25th – Monaco (Monaco) – BBC
June 8th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 22nd – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – Sky
July 6th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 20th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 27th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC
August 24th – Belgium (Spa) – Sky
September 7th – Italy (Monza) – BBC
September 21st – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
October 5th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC
October 12th – Russia (Sochi) – Sky
October 26th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 2nd – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 16th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

Which is now fine! I will update this post periodically like I did last year as the calendar changes. But this is how I imagine the pick order progressing.

Updated on November 28th, 2013.