Category: Channel 4 F1

All post relating to Channel 4’s Formula 1 coverage.

Ben Edwards to step down as Channel 4’s F1 lead commentator

Note from David – I mentioned in my hiatus piece at the end of October that, if any major motorsport broadcasting news stories did break between now and the end of the year, I would report on it. Today, that has happened.

Channel 4 have announced that Ben Edwards will step down as their Formula 1 lead commentator at the end of the 2020 season.

The announcement indicates that Edwards is stepping away from regular commentary duties, in an F1 commentary career that has spanned 25 years and four different decades.

Edwards, 55, began his Formula 1 stint with Eurosport, alongside John Watson until the end of the 1996 season.

The two soon became a popular duo with fans, commentating on a variety of four-wheel motor sport spanning the next decade, including the premium F1 Digital+ service in 2002 and the country versus country A1 Grand Prix series.

Alongside those commitments, Edwards forged a long relationship with the British Touring Car Championship, working alongside the likes of Tim Harvey for ITV Sport’s coverage of the series.

Whilst Edwards may have disappeared from the F1 spotlight, his commentary remained ever popular, and the split of F1 television rights across Sky Sports and the BBC opened new doors.

Edwards re-joined the F1 fray in 2012, beginning a partnership with David Coulthard that would span nine seasons across two different broadcasters.

Today, Whisper, the company that produces Formula 1 for Channel 4, announced that this season will be Edwards’ last. Whisper say that his decision is “entirely personal and made after careful consideration.”

“Big shoes to fill”
Edwards said “Commentating on F1 for the last nine years has been a real privilege, but it’s time for me to step back from the front line of such an intense world and take a wider perspective on motorsport and life.”

“Working with DC, Steve [Jones] and the C4 crew has been incredibly rewarding and I wish them all the best. I’ll be tuning in!”

Whisper’s CEO Sunil Patel added “Ben’s style is understated excellence. He knows exactly when to inject enthusiasm, when to hold back and when to let the brilliance of F1 talk for itself.”

“Producing with his commentary was always a delight, there are so many great lines to choose from; he delivers exactly the right thing at the right time. Big shoes to fill no doubt, but we will choose well and maintain our excellent presentation line up for C4F1.”

Edwards’ voice has been synonymous with Formula 1 coverage in the UK for a long time, and for the biggest proportion of the audience watching the sport in this country.

Two weeks ago, when I wrote my hiatus article, I received many comments from readers inside and outside of the industry. One of the public-facing commenters said:

“You’ve done a great job with this, and I totally understand the need to step back and think about the future.”

Who made the comment? Ben Edwards. Clearly part of the comment he made then foreshadows the announcement we have heard today.

Plaudits towards Edwards have been coming from across social media, with the likes of former BBC F1 presenter Jake Humphrey, current reporter Lee McKenzie, and F1 Digital presenter Will Buxton commenting on the news.

Fans will miss Edwards, there is absolutely no question about that. In my opinion, he is one of the best, if not the best commentator we have around currently.

Arguably, there were opportunities that should have gone Edwards’ way in the distant past that never did, but few people also get to enjoy a 25-year career commentating on a variety of motor sport.

The candidates to replace Edwards
Whisper say that they will announce a new lead commentator for Channel 4’s F1 coverage “in due course,” indicating that they plan to keep their coverage distinctive, and do not intend to take Sky Sports’ commentary line-up, led by David Croft.

As always at moments like these, there is now an opportunity for others to step up, although the list of candidates is unlikely to be long.

The smart money is on Alex Jacques to replace Edwards. Remember that, prior to COVID-19, W Series announced Jacques as their lead commentator. Had COVID not have happened, Jacques would have been partnering Coulthard this season, in a Whisper led production.

Jacques currently commentates on Formula Two, Three and the F1 pit lane channel for F1 TV. It would not be extra duties for Jacques, merely switching one outlet for another.

The BBC’s 5 Live F1 lead and current Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls is also a candidate given his rise through the ranks over the past decade. 2020 is Nicholls’ fourth season as 5 Live commentator, working primarily in recent years alongside Jolyon Palmer and Jennie Gow.

Beyond the usual suspects, David Addison (ITV’s current BTCC lead commentator) and Toby Moody are potential outsiders if neither Nicholls or Jacques are available.

The list of candidates is not long, and the risk of getting it wrong by going with an unknown voice is high.

For here and now though, let us enjoy the last four races of Edwards commentating on F1, as the 2020 season heads towards its finale in Abu Dhabi.

Note from David – If there are further updates on the Channel 4 commentary situation, I will post an update on this site as and when. Until then, it is back into hiatus…

Scheduling: The 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

After Lewis Hamilton made history last weekend in the Algarve, F1 heads east to Italy for the return of Imola to the calendar!

Because of the 24 hour distance between the two locations by car, unusually the F1 weekend is only two days long, with a 90-minute practice session taking place on Saturday morning, followed by qualifying later.

The race itself starts at 12:10 UK time, primarily because of the early sunset. If you think that is earlier than usual, brace yourselves for the Turkish Grand Prix, which begins at 10:10 UK time a fortnight later.

Elsewhere, there is little to report with the World Touring Car Cup heading to Aragon for the penultimate event of its heavily truncated season.

Channel 4 F1
31/10 – 17:15 to 18:45 – Qualifying Highlights
01/11 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
31/10 – 08:30 to 10:45
=> 08:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
=> 09:00 – Practice
31/10 – 12:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying
01/11 – 10:30 to 15:30 – Race
=> 10:30 – Grand Prix Sunday
=> 12:05 – Race
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag
=> 15:00 – Notebook

Supplementary Programming
04/11 – 19:30 to 21:00 – F1 Pro Series Race 4 and 5
04/11 – 21:00 to 21:30 – Midweek Debrief
05/11 – 19:30 to 21:00 – F1 Pro Series Race 6

BBC Radio F1
All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
29/10 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
31/10 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
31/10 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
01/11 – 12:00 to 14:15 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

World Touring Car Cup – Spain (Eurosport 2)
31/10 – 12:15 to 13:15 – Qualifying
01/11 – 08:00 to 09:00 – Race 1
01/11 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Race 2
01/11 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Race 3

If any details change, this article will be updated.

Sky reaps the ratings rewards in truncated F1 season

Sky Sports have reaped the rewards of a truncated Formula 1 season as the season heads towards its finale in Abu Dhabi, analysis of viewing figures conducted by Motorsport Broadcasting shows.

After a four month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season eventually started in Austria on Sunday 5th July.

Since then, a further ten races have taken place across Europe, with six more currently scheduled to take place between now and the middle of December.

Analysis of the first 10 races suggests that Sky’s audience figures have increased significantly, according to consolidated data produced by BARB.

As always, viewing figures below are for the TV set only, excluding on-demand platforms such as Now TV, Sky Go, All 4, as well as those who consume their F1 experience via BBC Radio 5 Live.

Sky’s viewing figures increase…
The pandemic means that year-on-year comparisons are very difficult, however it is still possible to draw some high-level conclusions from the current data points.

During the pandemic world, Sky have split their race day programme into three segments: the pre-race build-up, the race itself, and post-race analysis.

Every race this season has averaged comfortably above one million viewers on the pay TV platform, with 1.20 million viewers tuning into the action on average, an increase by around 17 percent compared to the final position last year.

Last year’s races (excluding build-up and post-race analysis) averaged around 1.02 million viewers, although this figure includes races such as Australia, Singapore, and Mexico.

Removing all Asian and American-based races from the 2019 data set makes little difference, as the Asian and American time-zones races largely off-set each other (Asian races draw low audiences, American races draw higher audiences).

In other words, Sky’s 17 percent increase year-on-year is a true reflection of reality, and not a massaged picture because of the unusual 2020 calendar.

Last year, seven European races struggled to reach one million viewers on Sky. Excluding Britain, last year’s European races stretched from 799,000 viewers (for Spain) to 1.41 million viewers (for Bahrain).

The inaugural Styrian Grand Prix is this year’s nadir for Sky so far at 1.05 million viewers, with the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix hitting a 2020 high of 1.37 million viewers one week earlier, a far smaller spread than previous years.

As well as Austria, the Spanish Grand Prix was Sky’s other big rater so far in 2020, helped by its Sky Sports Main Event simulcast. The race itself averaged 1.33 million viewers, almost double last year’s figure.

Normally, the Barcelona race clashes with the final weekend of the football season, whereas this year’s running in mid-August meant it ran with little sporting opposition compared to usual, boosting numbers.

Pierre Gasly’s shock win in the Italian Grand Prix drew fewer viewers, averaging 1.22 million viewers, however did not enjoy the luxury of also airing live on Main Event.

…helping the overall picture
Overall, Channel 4’s highlights programming has brought in a similar average audience to last year. Excluding Silverstone (which the free-to-air broadcaster covered live), their highlights have averaged 1.75 million viewers on average, including pre- and post-race analysis.

In comparison, highlights of last year’s European races averaged 1.81 million viewers, a slight year-on-year drop, perhaps surprisingly when you consider that Channel 4 are airing a longer race edit compared to twelve months ago.

Last year, highlights of the Monaco and German rounds exceeded two million viewers, a barometer this year’s highlights have yet to hit.

Helped by the chaos in the early phases, highlights of the Tuscan Grand Prix proved to be Channel 4’s high point from a highlights perspective so far this year, averaging 1.99 million viewers.

Overall, an audience just shy of three million viewers on average are watching each race across Sky and Channel 4, peaking with around four million viewers. At its peak, the figures suggest around 1.5 million viewers are watching on Sky, with a further 2.5 million viewers following on Channel 4.

The key overriding message is that Formula 1’s viewing figures have remained incredibly stable throughout the pandemic. Are there lessons to learn for the championship moving forward?

Arguably the pandemic is an excellent opportunity to review the fundamental structure of the Grand Prix calendar, grouping races into clusters and making it easier for fans to follow the championship through the season, boosting audience figures.

Critically for Sky, their viewing figures show no sign of any ‘second season’ dip in the second year covering F1 exclusively, with viewing figures not only increasing for Formula 1, but also increasing for feeder series’ Formula Two and Formula Three.

Viewing figures may drop if, as looks likely, Lewis Hamilton does clinch the championship with a few races to spare, but so far, the picture is looking good.

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Scheduling: The 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix

For the first time in 24 years, Formula 1 heads to Portugal for the Portuguese Grand Prix!

Instead of heading to Estoril, which hosted the last race there in 1996, the championship instead heads to the 2.9-mile circuit in the Algarve for its inaugural visit.

Live coverage of the race airs as usual on Sky Sports F1, the Grand Prix itself beginning at 13:10 UK time.

Later, the IndyCar Series concludes with the race that was meant to begin its COVID-19 disrupted year in St Petersburg. Scott Dixon looks set to clinch the crown, but Josef Newgarden is close in his mirror.

As if that was not enough, Sky are also airing live coverage of the Spa 24 Hours on Sky Sports F1! The majority of the 24 hours air live on the channel. I would expect the remainder to air live behind the Red Button, but this is unconfirmed as of writing.

With F1 and IndyCar, it means there is over 37 hours of live motor sport on Sky next weekend.

Elsewhere, the British Touring Car Championship starts earlier than usual on ITV4, as the nights draw in heading into the Winter months.

NOTE: Clocks go back one hour on Sunday 25th October, with the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time. The times listed are for BST on Saturday and before; GMT for Sunday and afterwards…

Channel 4 F1
24/10 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying Highlights
25/10 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
23/10 – 10:30 to 12:45 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 10:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
=> 11:00 – Practice 1
23/10 – 14:45 to 16:45 – Practice 2
24/10 – 10:45 to 12:10 – Practice 3
24/10 – 13:00 to 15:30 – Qualifying
25/10 – 11:30 to 16:30 – Race
=> 11:30 – Grand Prix Sunday
=> 13:05 – Race
=> 15:00 – Chequered Flag
=> 16:00 – Notebook

Supplementary Programming
23/10 – 16:45 to 17:15 – The Story so Far
25/10 – 16:30 to 17:30 – Race to Perfection
28/10 – 21:00 to 21:30 – Midweek Debrief

BBC Radio F1
All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
25/10 – 13:00 to 15:20 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

MotoGP – Teruel (BT Sport 2)
Also airs live on MotoGP’s Video Pass (£)
23/10 – 08:00 to 10:45 – Practice 1
23/10 – 12:00 to 15:00 – Practice 2
24/10 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
25/10 – 07:45 to 15:00
=> 07:45 – Warm Ups
=> 09:30 – Moto3
=> 11:30 – MotoGP
=> 13:15 – Moto2
=> 14:30 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Teruel< (Quest)
26/10 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights

24 Hours of Spa (Sky Sports F1)
Also airs live on YouTube
24/10 and 25/10 – Race
=> 15:30 to 20:00
=> 21:30 BST [Saturday] to 11:30 GMT [Sunday]

British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton (ITV4)
25/10 – 10:05 to 16:55 – Races

IndyCar Series – St Petersburg (Sky Sports F1)
24/10 – 20:00 to 21:30 – Qualifying
25/10 – 18:30 to 20:30 – Race

If details change, this article will be updated.

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Scheduling: The 2020 Eifel Grand Prix

Formula 1 returns to the Nürburgring for the first time in seven years this weekend, for the inaugural Eifel Grand Prix!

Live coverage of the race weekend airs on Sky Sports with Ted Kravitz and Simon Lazenby re-joining the team. It is unclear if Martin Brundle is also back with the line-up as of writing.

Elsewhere, with Triumph’s visitor experience centre in Hinkley reopening to the public, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage is moving.

The crew are relocating to the BT Tower in central London for the remainder of 2020.

The main races for F1 and MotoGP this weekend both begin an hour earlier. F1’s change is driven by the earlier sunset times as the European season concludes later than usual, dictating a change for MotoGP to avoid a head to head clash.

Channel 4 F1
10/10 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying Highlights
11/10 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
09/10 – 09:30 to 11:50
=> 09:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
=> 10:00 – Practice 1
09/10 – 13:45 to 15:45 – Practice 2
10/10 – 10:45 to 12:10 – Practice 3
10/10 – 13:00 to 15:35 – Qualifying
11/10 – 11:30 to 16:30 – Race
=> 11:30 – Grand Prix Sunday
=> 13:05 – Race
=> 15:00 – Chequered Flag
=> 16:00 – Notebook

Supplementary Programming
09/10 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The Story so Far
09/10 – 17:00 to 18:30 – F1 Pro Series Draft
10/10 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Race to Perfection
14/10 – 19:30 to 21:00 – F1 Pro Series Race 1 and 2
14/10 – 21:00 to 21:30 – Midweek Debrief
15/10 – 19:30 to 21:00 – F1 Pro Series Race 3

BBC Radio F1
All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
09/10 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
09/10 – 21:00 to 21:30 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
10/10 – 10:55 to 12:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/10 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race Updates (BBC Radio 5 Live)

MotoGP – France (BT Sport 2)
Also airs live on MotoGP’s Video Pass (£)
09/10 – 08:00 to 10:45 – Practice 1
09/10 – 12:00 to 15:00 – Practice 2
10/10 – 08:00 to 16:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
=> 15:00 – MotoE
11/10 – 07:45 to 15:00
=> 07:45 – Warm Ups
=> 09:30 – Moto3
=> 11:30 – MotoGP
=> 13:15 – Moto2
=> 14:30 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – France (Quest)
12/10 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights

British Touring Car Championship – Croft (ITV4)
11/10 – 11:30 to 18:05 – Races

World Rally Championship – Italy (All Live)
Also airs live on WRC+ (£)
09/10 – 06:45 to 16:45 – Stages 1 to 6 (BT Sport Extra 1)
=> 06:50 – Stage 1
=> 07:44 – Stage 2
=> 09:40 – Stage 3
=> 10:34 – Stage 4
=> 15:14 – Stage 5
=> 15:59 – Stage 6
10/10 – 06:00 to 17:45 – Stages 7 to 12 (BT Sport Extra 3)
=> 06:38 – Stage 7
=> 07:30 – Stage 8
=> 09:07 – Stage 9
=> 10:00 – Stage 10
=> 15:00 – Stage 11
=> 16:02 – Stage 12
11/10 – 06:15 to 12:45 – Stages 13 to 16 (BT Sport Extra 1)
=> 07:15 – Stage 13
=> 08:00 – Stage 14
=> 10:10 – Stage 15
=> 11:00 – Stage 16

World Rally Championship – Italy
10/10 – 00:30 to 01:00 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
10/10 – 07:30 to 08:30 – Stage 8 (BT Sport 3)
10/10 – 10:00 to 11:00 – Stage 10 (BT Sport 3)
10/10 – 15:00 to 16:00 – Stage 11 (BT Sport 3)
11/10 – 02:00 to 02:30 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
11/10 – 08:00 to 09:00 – Stage 14 (BT Sport 1)
11/10 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 16 [Power Stage] (BT Sport 1)
11/10 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 2)
TBA – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

World Touring Car Cup – Slovakia (Eurosport)
11/10 – 07:55 to 12:00 – Race 1
11/10 – 11:30 to 12:30 – Race 2

This article will be updated if schedules change.

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