Author: David Nelson

The top 10 posts of 2017

New beginnings, and the end of an era in at least one respect, 2017 had both. #AlonsoRunsIndy caused a major traffic spike for The F1 Broadcasting Blog in April and May, with record numbers reading about the Indianapolis 500. Elsewhere, it was also the end for two legendary MotoGP commentators. Here is what you read most out of the content published during 2017.

10. BT Sport likely to retain UK TV rights for MotoGP – August 29th
One of the key broadcasting stories that is likely to conclude early in 2018 is the destination of MotoGP’s live television coverage from 2019 onwards. This writer spoke to Dorna during the 2017 British MotoGP weekend, and with it found out that BT Sport are likely to retain MotoGP beyond 2018.

9. UK – Alonso’s Indy 500 exploit peaks with 203,000 viewers – May 29th
Fernando Alonso’s participation in the Indianapolis 500 was a huge driver for a large portion of readers visiting this site during May. His stint in the famous race provided BT Sport with a major boost, increasing their Indianapolis 500 audience year-on-year by 975 percent!

8. Channel 5 to continue World Rally Championship coverage in 2017 – January 12th
Remaining on four-wheels of a different kind, it emerged straight after the Winter break that the World Rally Championship will remain on Channel 5. MotoGP would soon join the series on Channel 5…

7. ITV and MotoGP part company ahead of 2017 season – February 16th
…after they parted company with ITV, who had been covering highlights since 2014. The move came as a surprise given that MotoGP was an easy schedule filler for ITV4 and was rating reasonably well for the broadcaster in that slot.

6. Liberty Media helps bring F1 social media strategy on-track – August 20th
Amazingly, the only Formula 1 article to make the top ten. Relatively speaking, there have been no major news for UK fans from Liberty Media. The piece that did make the top ten surrounded Formula 1’s social media strategy, with an increased following because of the additional resources poured into the platforms.

5. Channel 5 secures MotoGP highlights package – March 15th
The parting of ways between ITV Sport and MotoGP prompted some chatter around whether Channel 4, Channel 5, or even the BBC would swoop in for the MotoGP highlights package. In the end, it was Channel 5 that secured the deal, announced shortly before the season opener in Qatar.

4. Scheduling: The 2017 Indianapolis 500 – May 17th
I posted the finalised Indianapolis 500 schedule on this site half way through May. Disappointingly though, no free-to-air broadcasters aired the event, which had significantly more attention than usual this year due to Alonso’s appearance. And, this is not Indy’s last appearance in the top ten either…

3. Discovery threatens to pull channels, including Eurosport, from Sky platform – January 25th
A spat between Discovery and Sky started off 2017, and escalated rapidly with Discovery threatening to remove their channels from Sky’s platform. The movement gained traction on social media, but in the end the two sides agreed a deal, ensuring Eurosport remained on Sky.

2. Julian Ryder to bow out of MotoGP commentary role following 2017 season – November 9th
One of the lessons of covering this site is to expect the unexpected. That was the case in November when news emerged that Julian Ryder was to hang up his MotoGP commentary gig, following Nick Harris into pastures new. Whoever is alongside Keith Huewen in the BT Sport commentary box in Qatar will have big shoes to fill.

1. The 2017 Indianapolis 500: how, and where you can see it in the UK – April 12th
There was immediate interest in the Indianapolis 500 as soon as news came out around #AlonsoRunsIndy. Reacting straight away, the number one post of 2017 outlined how viewers in the UK could watch the 101st running of the famous event, which formed part of the 2017 IndyCar series season.

Alongside the top ten posts, there are a few other posts from across the year that I want to highlight. In September, I was lucky enough to go behind the scenes look inside the British Superbikes outside broadcast (OB) truck (here and here). If you are at all interested in how motor sport television broadcasts are produced, I strongly encourage you to have a read of both of those pieces.

Elsewhere, I have also interviewed numerous motor sport personalities this year, ranging from former ITV F1 pit lane reporter Louise Goodman (here and here) to Sky’s Formula 1 presenter Simon Lazenby, and onto Motorcycle News (MCN) writer Simon Patterson, amongst others throughout the racing year.

The 2017 top ten only featured one Formula 1 post, however I suspect that there will be a lot more on the broadcasting side to discuss in 2018 where F1 is concerned…

The magic 2017 numbers

Whilst 2017 may not have attracted as many hits as 2016 due to the novelty factor around Channel 4’s Formula 1 coverage disappearing, The F1 Broadcasting Blog readership was still dispersed between a variety of countries.

The main year-on-year increase comes from the USA, whose percentage share has nearly doubled since 2015, heading from 3.8 percent in 2015, to 5.4 percent last year and now 6.4 percent this year, a sign of increased interest in the sport from state side. The UK percentage continued to drop marginally, now down to 72.2 percent from 75 percent in 2014. Elsewhere, Australia suffered a significant drop compared with 2016, falling behind Ireland as a result.

Top 10 Countries – Percentage of all hits
01 – 72.2 percent (2016: 72.7) – United Kingdom
02 – 6.4 percent (2016: 5.4) – United States
04 – 2.4 percent (2016: 2.3) – Ireland
03 – 2.2 percent (2016: 2.7) – Australia
05 – 1.6 percent (2016: 1.8) – Netherlands
07 – 1.3 percent (2016: 1.0) – Spain
06 – 1.3 percent (2016: 1.6) – Canada
09 – 1.1 percent (2016: 0.9) – Germany
10 – 1.1 percent (2016: 0.8) – Italy
08 – 0.9 percent (2016: 0.9) – France

Generally, any breaking stories receive immediate attention via social media, which was the case in 2016. With less major stories in 2017, the social influence decreased compared with 2016, Reddit halved year-on-year showing the volatility of social media platforms.

Search engines benefited as a result, with casual fans who do not normally follow this site heading here to find out more information around the Indianapolis 500 and Julian Ryder’s MotoGP departure.

Top 5 Referring Websites
01 – 73.8 percent (2016: 63.1) – Search engines
02 – 18.6 percent (2016: 21.8) – Twitter
03 – 3.4 percent (2016: 6.0) – Reddit
04 – 2.7 percent (2016: 3.5) – Facebook
05 – 0.2 percent (2016: n/a) – AUTOSPORT Forum

The shock departure of Ryder, announced at the start of MotoGP’s final 2017 weekend, dominates the search tallies, with not much else getting a look in.

Top 10 Search Queries
01 – julian ryder
02 – f1 broadcasting
03 – f1 broadcasting blog
04 – formula 1 f1 broadcasting blog
05 – amazon
06 – f1 braudcasting
07 – list of channel 5 motogp commentators
08 – julian ryder motogp
09 – f1 viewing figures
10 – motogp commentators

The numbers ebb and flow depending on what is flavour of the month. Outside of the top 10 search queries listed above, readers were also interested in details about the UK’s World Rally Championship coverage and the Indianapolis 500.

An odd search term that appears just outside of the top 10 is ‘a1 grand prix’, as this article written in 2014 about the defunct World Cup of Motorsport series is number one in Google’s search rankings! 2018 will no doubt see more surprises, and traffic spikes to go with it, along the way.

Statistics compiled and correct as of December 18th, 2017.

Merry Christmas from The F1 Broadcasting Blog

2017 has been a positive year for top-flight motor sport worldwide, with a competitive championship battle for three-quarters of the Formula 1 season, whilst the MotoGP title went to the wire in Valencia. State side, Fernando Alonso attempted the Indianapolis 500, drawing more attention to the event in the UK than it usually would have had.

For me, I have tried to build on the strengths of 2016, bringing you closer to the broadcasting side. By attending the AUTOSPORT Show, the British MotoGP round and looking behind the scenes with the British Superbike championship, I hope I have achieved even a tenth of that goal.

It has been a pleasure to interview some famous faces in motor sport, and I am hopeful that 2018 will continue in the same regard. Unlike many motor racing websites out there, I run this site alongside my day job (also involving data, the horror!) so I may not update it as frequently as other sites out there, but nevertheless it is always a pleasure.

This holiday season, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks for all the positive comments and thoughts throughout this year on here and on social media, my fifth full year running the site. Stay safe, wherever you are heading.

Cheers,
Dave
Owner of The F1 Broadcasting Blog

Channel 4 F1 vs Sky Sports F1: Your 2017 Verdict Revealed

The 2017 Formula One season was Channel 4’s second year covering the sport, and Sky Sports F1’s sixth season, in a static season on the UK broadcasting front. Of course, that all changes again soon ready for 2019.

This site offered readers the opportunity to comment on all aspects of their broadcasting, along with how Formula One Management have performed this year, following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 24 comments have since appeared, so thanks to all who have contributed.

Inevitably, it is difficult for broadcasters to keep things fresh in their second season with higher expectation, but readers such as Oskar and Jamie believe that Channel 4 continued to impress. I agreed especially with Peter‘s comment about their coverage:

I’ve found the Channel 4 team to be a real delight. Steve Jones is a really affable and light hearted presence to a sport that can sometimes take itself too seriously. I really didn’t know what to think of Jones when he was announced as C4’s lead presenter two years ago but to me he’s been a real gift. Coulthard, Webber and Chandhok are quite simply superb – intelligent, informed, eloquent and all with a great charisma and humour to them. Susie Wolff talks sense all the time and acts as the perfect foil to Jordan’s somewhat interesting perspectives.

The verdict was negative towards Jordan from a number of readers, more so than in previous years, with michaelpassingham saying that Jordan is “doing damage to Channel 4’s reputation”, and their Formula 1 coverage as a result.

Andy and Jonathan Teague felt the same way about Jordan, the former going further by saying that F1 is not one of Channel 4’s good programmes. Others believe that Channel 4’s coverage continues to remain on-top:

Sport to them is scarce, yet sacred. Of course they neglected it at times, like in Brazil, but when live, it’s clear to see the enthusiasm they have for Formula 1, because they’re new to it. – Max Turner

I’ve subscribed to Sky F1 since its launch, but watch Channel 4 EVERY time they have a race live as their presentation and team have, for me, a much fresher and entertaining feel. – SDA

One thing that Sky has which Channel 4 does not is Martin Brundle, and that remains the number one reason for many readers continuing to watch Sky’s coverage. Alessio Dimaria says that Brundle “still has the same enthusiasm and passion as he did when he first started.”

Dimaria also noticed Nico Rosberg’s punditry during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, noting that it was “a breath of fresh air” to have him part of Sky’s output

Overall, I prefer Lazenby’s gang to the Jones gang. David Croft is an able commentator, and is well supported by Anthony Davidson and Paul Di Resta in the practice sessions. Ted Kravitz is unsurpassed in the pit lane and paddock, and his Notebook is one of the highlights of the weekend for me. For the race I usually switch on in time for Martin’s gridwalk, and he is still the best in the business when it comes to co-commentary. – PhilR

1: Brundle, knows what’s happening and has the right broadcasting demeanour for every occasion. The grid walks are getting more tricky but that’s probably more to do with FOM directives on drivers than anything else. And 2: Ted Kravitz. How anyone can spend 30 minutes walking through a busy paddock looking at a notebook, being distracted and making an entertaining piece of TV every time always leaves me in awe. – ToneXIR

2017 was Liberty Media’s first covering the sport, and Max Turner believes that Sky failed to sufficiently refresh their coverage to reflect the new ownership and direction. As Turner eloquently says, “Solid becomes boring and the viewer looks elsewhere — and there is somewhere else for half of the season.”

I’m not sure if that’s their style personally, or whether it’s the Sky tendency to turn everything into a ‘saga’. I’m sorry to say I genuinely don’t think Simon Lazenby and Paul Di Resta entertain. I’m sure they’re decent guys trying to do a decent job, and their stuff is informative. But I just don’t think it quite works. And despite their considerable resources, it’s the Sky team that looks a bit threadbare compared to 2012. – Lesmo

Not everything agrees with Lesmo on Lazenby, PhilR believes he has “much improved over the last two seasons.” Elsewhere, the Formula Two commentary pairing of Davide Valsecchi and Alex Jacques received much deserved praise from Max Turner. Stateside, Jeff Bartenslager believes that the move of Formula 1 from NBC to ESPN will turn out to be a “big mistake” for the sport.

As always, the above is just a taster of what readers are discussing, and to be honest, there are a plethora of good opinions worth reading.

 

F1 Verdict - 2017 WordCloud full

Word cloud generated using WordClouds.com.

Formula 1 to remain on free-to-air television in Germany

Formula 1 will remain on free-to-air television in Germany for the next three seasons, after Formula One Management (FOM) and RTL signed a new contract.

Historically, RTL and pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland have shared television rights, with their existing deal expiring following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This evening, RTL have confirmed that Formula 1 will remain on their network for the next three years, until the end of the 2020 season at least.

As part of their announcement, RTL also confirmed that Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock will join the network as pundits, replacing Niki Lauda, who stepped down from his duties at the end of the 2017 season.

Speaking on Tuesday, RTL’s Manging Director of Programmes, Frank Hoffmann said “We have made Formula One great here, it has thrilled an audience of millions and has become an important component of our brand. The owners of Formula 1 have an economic interest in the fact that the sport is seen by many people and we stand here as a free-TV broadcaster in general and RTL in particular.”

Ian Holmes, Formula 1’s Director of Media Rights, said “Germany is one of the most important countries for Formula 1, where motors sport has deep roots, and RTL Television has been a fantastic and loyal partner for many years.”

“The extension of the agreement comes as a natural consequence of such a strong and mutually fruitful relationship and will guarantee that our fans in Germany will continue to watch Grands Prix on free TV. The agreement is part of our strategy that aims to increase and strengthen television coverage on a worldwide basis, whilst tailoring it to the characteristics of each TV market.”

The pay-TV rights that Sky Deutschland previously held now hang in the balance, and it appears that Sky could well end up losing the television rights in Germany altogether to Eurosport, a fascinating development if it comes to fruition. One reason for the delay may be the change in management recently at Sky, with Martin Turner, who oversaw Sky’s F1 operation globally, including in Germany, leaving Sky during the Summer.

This is the third key market where Liberty Media have signed a television deal. In France, it was agreed to bring F1 back to free-to-air and air key races live on TF1 (a free-to-air station) from 2018, whilst in America, rights switched from NBC to ESPN, in a move aimed to boost Formula 1’s digital presence from 2018 onwards.

You cannot talk about trends with such a small data set, but you get the impression that Liberty are not signing rash pay-TV deals like their predecessor did.