BBC and Sky confirm 2013 schedule and coverage details

Alongside the announcement that Suzi Perry will be BBC F1 presenter from 2013, the BBC and Sky have this afternoon confirmed coverage details for the 20 races which is as follows:

2013 Schedule Details
March 17th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 24th – Malaysia (Sepang) – Sky
April 14st – China (Shanghai) – BBC and Sky
April 21st – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
May 12th – Spain (Barcelona) – BBC and Sky
May 26th – Monaco (Monte Carlo) – Sky
June 9th – Canada (Montreal) – BBC and Sky
June 30th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC and Sky
July 7th – Germany (Nurburgring) – Sky
July 21st – ‘a European round’ – BBC and Sky
July 28th – Hungary (Hungaroring) – Sky
August 25th – Belgium (Spa) – BBC and Sky
September 8th – Italy (Monza) – BBC and Sky
September 22nd – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
October 6th – Korea (Yeongam) – Sky
October 13th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC and Sky
October 27th – India (Buddh International Circuit) – BBC and Sky
November 3rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – Sky
November 17th – United States (Austin) – Sky
November 24th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC and Sky

As I have noted previously, if the July 21st round does not happen, then the BBC will only be screening nine races live. Also, as noted earlier this week, Sky have confirmed that their team will remain unchanged for 2013.

The Executive Producer for Sky Sports F1, Martin Turner said: “We’re looking forward to covering the Monaco Grand Prix live and exclusively – it’s the jewel in the crown of F1 and this is the first time that GP will be exclusively live to Sky Sports F1 HD. We’ll follow the twists and turns of the most glamorous weekend in Formula 1 to bring viewers closer to the iconic race that every driver wants to win. Last season, we ran features on every team on the grid, broadcast the first UK F1 coverage in Dolby 5.1 surround sound and showed the Team Principal and Driver press conferences live too. We also introduced virtual screen technology which created the virtual car seen in the F1 Show and allowed us to recreate a driver’s perspective during key moments of a race. Next year promises to be a great season, and we’ll look to go from strength to strength as we give F1 the Sky Sports treatment in 2013.”

For me, the main surprise is that BBC are not screening Monaco live, after all Monaco is a blue riband event in the calendar. 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

BBC and Sky then continue to alternate until all races have been selected. We can assume that Britain and Brazil were chosen first, logically Britain being the home race and Brazil being the title decider. One theory I have surrounding pick 3, where Monaco comes in is that BBC may choose to alternate that every year. So for 2012 ‘pick 3’ was Monaco, for 2013 it is Canada and maybe for 2014 it is Australia. In terms of television ratings Canada is the biggest draw because of it’s primetime slot which may have played a part in the decision – the figures for Canada 2012 impressed nobody. You may argue ‘why not USA’, the simple reason is that Canada falls in the Summer so is not generally disruptive to the TV schedules whereas blockading USA for three hours in November from 18:00 to 21:00 would disrupt BBC’s high rating shows including Strictly Come Dancing.

Sky’s picks would have certainly been Monaco, Australia and USA once they realised BBC did not pick Monaco. The fact that BBC did not pick Monaco is potentially fantastic news for Sky, because it means Monaco will now have more viewers on Sky Sports F1, plus they could cross promote with the Indianapolis 500. I do hope that happens, but after the events of this year where Indianapolis 500 was put on Sky Sports 4 despite the advantages of Sky Sports F1, I consider this a unlikely prospect. Whilst on the IndyCar Series subject, we have not heard anything official contractually on that subject, hopefully it will be written into the IndyCar contract for races to be shown on Sky Sports F1.

From then the BBC and Sky picks alternate one-by-one so BBC probably would have swooped for Italy first following ratings success this year. They also may be considering Italy and Belgium alternating each year for which one they choose to screen live. Of course that point was null and void when Sky picked Malaysia so BBC went for Belgium regardless. Sky then I believe would have opted for Abu Dhabi as it falls as the back end of the calendar and there is a high probability of the title ending there. I feel a bit of a risky game is being played here, because if the title gets to Abu Dhabi undecided then there is a high probability of the title win being seen only on Sky which nearly ended up happening this year.

Overall, I think BBC have done a better job this time around than with the 2012 picks, yes, they don’t get Monaco live but have instead got Canada and Italy live, both of which normally provide fantastic racing.

How Sky’s pre-season ratings predictions match up versus their 2013 predictions

Before the start of the 2012 season, back in January, Sky Media released an sponsorship pack for potential sponsors to sponsor the new Sky Sports F1 channel. As we know, Santander became the sponsor of Sky Sports F1, however, the partnership only lasted a season.

The result of the split between Sky and Santander means that a new sponsorship pack has been released by Sky, as I mentioned yesterday. The interesting thing here is that there is a new ‘Estimated Audience Delivery’ table, which means different numbers so we can see how Sky’s pre-season ratings predictions stack up with their 2013 predictions, which I assume is their real 2012 ratings.

– 2012 sponsorship pack (January 2012 – page 4)
– 2013 sponsorship pack (December 2012 – page 2)

Firstly it is worth mentioning what is meant by TVR. To quote from the Attentional glossary: “TVR: Television Rating. This is the audience of a programme or daypart expressed as a percentage of the population as a whole. For examples, an Adults 16-34 TVR of 20% for EastEnders means that 20% of all 16-34’s living in UK television households watched that programme.” So in January 2012, Sky predicted that 1.34% of the ‘Individual’ universe would watch Sky for the live exclusive races. For the sake of this blog, I have converted the TVR’s into raw viewing figures using that particular total Universe population.

Secondly, some words are abbreviated in the 2012 pack, so to help:

– INDS = All individuals
– ADS = Adults aged 16 and over
– ABC1 ADS = Adults aged 16 and over that fall into the ABC1 demographic category
– ABC1 MEN = Men aged 16 and over that fall into the ABC1 demographic category
– MEN = Men aged 16 and over

Because Sky Media has not included the ‘ABC1 ADS’ category in the 2013 pack, it is impossible to gather any meaningful data from that, as thus, it is ignored for this blog.

The headline figures are of course the race figures. And on the whole, the 2013 figures have been revised upwards from their 2012 predictions. In their 2012 pack, Sky predicted 288,000 individual viewers for each of the shared races. They’ve quite comfortably had nearly double of that figure so it is little surprise to see the 2013 figure adjusted. They have also outdrawn their 2012 race predictions in the three key demographics (Adults, ABC1 Men and Men) and as thus, all three see a rise for 2013.

The only figure that Sky have had to adjust downwards for the race is the total audience for when they are the only broadcaster live, which seems a bit of an odd one when all of the major demographics have gone upwards. This suggests that the audience is skewing older than expected (hence the rise is Adults and Men), meaning that they are missing a lot of the audience under 16.

Exclusive races (2012 prediction vs 2013 prediction)
Individuals – 773,000 vs 598,000
Adults – 457,000 vs 564,000
ABC1 Men – 174,000 vs 184,000
Men – 326,000 vs 336,000

The qualifying figures are a tale of two halves. When the coverage is shared with BBC, Sky are doing better than anticipated, but when they are screening the coverage exclusively live, they are not bringing in the younger audience. Looking at BBC’s audience, they are struggling to bring in a young audience as well, for the Brazilian Grand Prix, only 285,000 viewers were under 16. I think Sky were hoping that the launch of the Formula 1 channel would help bring a young audience to watch Formula 1 but that has not happened.

Exclusive qualifying sessions (2012 prediction vs 2013 prediction)
Individuals – 646,000 vs 333,000
Adults – 383,000 vs 314,000
ABC1 Men – 144,000 vs 103,000
Men – 274,000 vs 193,000

For me, though, the major ouch comes with the figures for practice and The F1 Show. In their 2012 pack, Sky predicted an average of 213,000 viewers for practice and 167,000 viewers for The F1 Show. Those of you who read my weekly top ten’s for Sky Sports F1 will know that neither of those two targets have been hit. Their revised 2013 prediction for practice is 80,000 viewers, whilst Sky predict that only 17,000 viewers will watch each episode of The F1 Show in 2013. The practice figure is just over a third of the 2012 prediction, whilst The F1 Show has only achieved 10 percent of what was anticipated back in January. I’ve stated before that I believe The F1 Show is the best part of the Sky Sports F1 portfolio at the moment, but that does not hide the fact that the viewing figures are disastrously low. The 2013 sponsorship pack confirms that The F1 Show will return for 2013, so we shall see if the figures do improve.

I think the conclusion here is that on one hand, Sky will be extremely pleased that they are doing better than expected when live on air with BBC, but on the other hand they will be somewhat disappointed that their exclusive coverage, in particular The F1 Show is not bringing in as many viewers as they expected.

Have BBC lost the rights to screen practice live? [UPDATED]

A fairly significant note from the Sky Media advertising release is that they are stating that Sky Sports F1 will be screening all 60 practice session exclusively live. Just to put it into context, this is the section that it was included under:

Sky Sports F1 HD will run from February 1st to November 30th 2013, showcasing the best in live, highlights & magazine shows, including:
– 10 exclusive races & 10 shared races.
– 10 exclusive qualifiers & 10 shared qualifiers.
– Exclusive coverage of all 60 practice sessions.
– Live coverage of the GP2 & GP3 race seasons.
– The F1 Show
– F1 Legends

The way it has been included definitely appears to suggest that BBC have lost the rights (or passed on the rights?) to screen practice behind the Red Button for their ten live race weekends. Please note though that this does not affect 5 Live, they will still have radio rights (which is covered under a separate deal), it would only affect the Red Button service for the ten live weekends. It could simply be a human mistake, but someone has gone into the trouble to work out that there is 60 practice sessions in the 20 race weekends. Is the news true? If it is, then it is hugely disappointing as even in 2012, BBC do practice fantastically well, and as I described yesterday, there is potential scope for improvement. Time, shall tell, it will be interesting to see if BBC counter the Sky advertising release to confirm that they will not be screening practice live on the TV or whether the Sky release is an oversight.

Update at 12:55 – Sky have amended the Sky Media document, removing the ‘exclusive’ element, confirming it was human error. So the answer to the title is ‘No, BBC have not lost the rights to screen practice live’.

Sky confirm 2013 team to remain unchanged

It has been confirmed that the Sky Sports F1 team will remain unchanged for the 2013 Formula One season. The Sky Media advertising pitch confirms that Simon Lazenby and Georgie Thompson will return to present the action on the channel, whilst Martin Brundle and David Croft will commentate on the action. In terms of other figures, Damon Hill, Anthony Davidson, Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham will return for 2013 and Steve Rider will be presenting more F1 Legends programming. The news is unsurprising, as I have explained previously, stability is key for Sky heading into 2013 with it being their second year of coverage.

In terms of content, what is advertised appears largely the same, with The F1 Show back for 2013 along with the GP2 and GP3 feeder series’, although the wording is slightly unclear on the latter two as to whether practice and qualifying will return for the feeder series’. Unlike this year, it is claimed that the channel will run from February 1st, to including F1 testing, although there are no specific testing coverage details.

The media release specifies that the break pattern will be three breaks before the race and two breaks after the race which appears to be an improvement on this year as far as I can tell. As with 2012, and as reported a few weeks ago, all races will be uninterrupted. What is interesting though is to compare the estimated audience delivery table for 2012 vs 2013. The majority of the figures are lower, and the change of reach figures is worth noting:

– Individual – 11.21 million [2012 prediction] vs 9.32 million [2013 prediction]
– Adults – 9.67 million [2012] vs 8.26 million [2013]
– ABC1 Men – 3.52 million [2012] vs 2.59 million [2013]
– Men – 5.63 million [2012] vs 4.81 million [2013]

There is another very interesting snippet of information, which may or may not be true, but worth noting, and I shall cover that in the next blog piece.

BBC F1’s output: The 2012 Verdict

The first three parts of my ‘2012 Verdict’ series looking at all things UK F1 Broadcasting focussed on the BBC and Sky teams and how they could be improved for 2013. Parts four, five and six will move onto focussing on the individual programming that each broadcaster puts out, starting with the BBC in this part.

Practice
BBC’s Formula 1 coverage starts on a Friday morning, with coverage of practice. For the live race weekends, practice is live behind the BBC Red Button service with commentary from the BBC Radio 5 Live team. For the highlight races, the coverage is on 5 Live only – minus the pictures. Coverage begins five minutes before the session, and finishes five minutes after the session, with footage fully from the Formula One Management (FOM) World Feed.

Despite this, the coverage that is provided is fantastic with James Allen, Jaime Alguersuari, Jennie Gow and Gary Anderson taking us through the action and inviting viewer discussion throughout via Twitter and e-mail. The format, which has been the same since 2009 when BBC won the rights from ITV, has largely worked.

With the reduction of BBC Red Button streams from five to one, however, one wonders how, if at all, this will affect BBC’s practice coverage. At this stage, it is impossible to know as BBC have not yet announced which races they will be covering live. But if there is a sport clash, then practice may draw the short straw and be restricted to online only. On the other hand, is there a possibility of some practice sessions being live on BBC Two? The Delivering Quality First changes (DQF) means that BBC Two’s daytime schedule will be radically overhauled, and CBBC being axed from BBC One and BBC Two. I don’t think practice being on BBC Two is very likely, but is definitely worth noting, in my opinion.

Inside F1
Introduced in 2009, Inside F1 for its first few years was largely presented in the BBC News’ studio, but since 2011 has been presented track side, in 2011 by Amanda Davies and 2012 by Lee McKenzie. Broadcast on the BBC News Channel, the programme rounds up the Friday action and features an interview or two.

There is not much to say here, except it feels completely out of place on BBC News. I’m not sure where else it could go there, maybe BBC Two at 19:00 as a result of the DQF changes, or BBC Three at 19:00 to appeal to a younger audience, but either way it being on BBC News feels out of place, but that’s just me. I think as a programme the format works, for those that just want a quick round-up of practice, and should be kept.

Pre-Session
The pre-qualifying and pre-race programmes are normally an hour in length with Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan discussing and analysing key points, interspersed with VT’s. For me though, looking ahead to 2013, this could end up being the biggest drop down in terms of quality.

This year, and in previous years, we have seen some fantastic features with the three of them such as the Silverstone Wing Walking or camping in the middle of the Spa Francorchamps. The features worked and were widely praised. Yes, they were crazy and a bit bonkers, but that is why people loved them! My point us that all three people, Humphrey, Coulthard and Jordan were willing to do that. The dynamic between the three elsewhere in the build-up became top notch fast with little room for improvement. It is the area where it could all go wrong in 2013, depending on who the front man or woman could be. People choose BBC over Sky because of the build-up, and if the new presenter does not gel well, then that could turn the tide into Sky’s favour.

The quality of the VT’s should remain top notch as it has done so consistently since 2009, but as always it is the presenter who holds the show together, who keeps the viewers engaged and not many people can do that as well as Humphrey. It will be interesting to see how much the live build-ups change for 2013 with a new dynamic. Elsewhere, the new live grid walk with Coulthard has been a success, who has filled Martin Brundle’s role nicely in grabbing the right people at the right time. The highlights programmes should not change too much compared to this year as it is a quick intro, grid walk and into the race.

Post-Session
Post-qualifying and post-race coverage on the BBC largely remained the same for 2012. The main feature of the post-race coverage is the F1 Forum, which follows the main BBC One broadcast. For me, this was a huge advancement on ITV’s F1 coverage which had the tendency to rush off air wherever possible. The amount of time BBC dedicated to Formula 1 after the race had finished was more than any broadcaster previously. The format of the F1 Forum has changed slightly since 2009, instead of being based in a team motor home as they were in 2009 and 2010, in 2011, the team instead choosing to wander around the paddock to see who they could find. I think both formats have their positives and negatives, the motor home style allows for a more analytical style with more debate, whilst the wander around style allows them to pick up anyone they find along the way and see the team photos at the end of each race.

Whilst the F1 Forum has been there for live races, its absence from highlights races has been extremely disappointing. Yes, whilst there may be twenty minutes on BBC One after the highlights races, the F1 Forum allows for a more relaxed style and to discuss things that they may not have had time to discuss on the BBC One show. It says a lot when one of the best half an hour segments of the weekend was the recorded Bahrain Grand Prix forum. The joy of the forum is that it helps nicely wind down the weekend, and that video was for me one of the best pieces all season with the BBC wrapping up the action. I do hope the F1 Forum appears on the website for all the highlights races next year, even if it just a 20 minute cut.

Other programming
Outside of the race weekend, all of BBC’s output happens online and on the Red Button with blogs from Andrew Benson and Gary Anderson. Also, the Classic F1 series has continued for several races on the Red Button, with extended highlights from several rounds including Belgium and Italy, reaffirming BBC’s commitment to covering the past in Formula 1 as well as the present.

On the whole, BBC’s output is top notch. But like any production, as always there are areas where improvements could be made. Part four will look at Sky Sports F1’s weekend output, and as always, your thoughts are welcome.