Belgian Grand Prix ratings around Europe

Whilst The F1 Broadcasting Blog traditionally focusses on the ratings picture in the UK, occasionally, he does like to cast his eye further a field to see what is happening in other places around Europe. Unfortunately, I am unable to find many historical comparisons below, but thought that the figures would still be worth posting. I should note that the figures below are race average figures and not programme averages that I traditionally report for the UK ratings.

Starting off in Germany, Sebastian Vettel’s victory attracted 5.75 million viewers to RTL, with a 34.9 percent share according to Quotenmeter. More impressively perhaps though is that the race attracted a 29.3 percent share in the younger demographics. In Spain, the race itself had 3.69 million viewers, up 601,000 viewers year-on-year perhaps unsurprisingly given that Fernando Alonso was not eliminated on the first bend this year!

GP2 and GP3 averaged 297,000 and 203,000 viewers despite competition from the MotoGP races. Moto2 averaged 819,000, MotoGP averaged 1.76 million and 530,000 by Moto3. In France, the Formula 1 averaged 850,000 (28.0%) on Canal+, a strong figure when you consider that there are no French title contenders just yet. Lastly, over in Belgian, 379,000 viewers and an impressive 42 percent share watched the race.

In order, again race averages:

1) 5.75 million (34.9%) – Germany
2) 4.40 million (41.6%) – United Kingdom
3) 3.69 million (35.5%) – Spain
4) 850,000 (28.0%) – France
5) 379,000 (42.0%) – Belgium

Already those five countries combined average 15 million viewers in total. When factoring in every country, this figure is probably doubled – to about 30 million viewers, pushing up to 40 million viewers per race.

Eurosport retain the 24 Hours of Le Mans until 2016

Eurosport (including their British channels) have retained the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the next three years, it has been confirmed this morning. The announcement, made on the eve of the 2013 race, means that both British Eurosport and their sister channel British Eurosport 2 will broadcast live coverage of the event from 2014 through to 2016.

The agreement also covers the remaining rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which the channel will cover the final hour of for each race. Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest said “We made a commitment to our partners to develop the television coverage of the 24 Heures du Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. This new agreement with Eurosport shows that this is just what we’ve done. We already have a comprehensive network of TV coverage of our races throughout the world, spearheaded by the 24 Heures du Mans, and this deal strengthens that network.”

Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO Eurosport Group says: “Le Mans 24 Hours is the most famous car racing event in history and one of the highlights of our programming. Viewers will not miss a minute of the race wherever they are, with our round-the-clock live coverage on air, online and on mobile. They will also enjoy unique editorial extras brought each year by our teams on site. The extension of our long-standing relationship with ACO also enables us to guarantee fans the very best of endurance racing throughout the whole season with eight rounds of the FIA WEC.”

This year’s schedule, also live on British Eurosport, can be found here.

Canadian Grand Prix ratings improve around Europe

After being overshadowed by Euro 2012 last year, ratings for the Canadian Grand Prix rose around Europe this past weekend, overnight ratings show. The first important thing I believe is worth noting is that this year the Canadian Grand Prix was more in prime time than previous years, with the race beginning at 19:00 UK time and 20:00 European time, right in the heart of prime time, meaning that audiences could be maximised.

This was most evident in Spain, where the Canadian Grand Prix soared to its highest rating since at least 2007. The race this past Sunday had a race average of 5.69 million viewers (33.5 percent share). This was up half a million on 2012 and over a million viewers higher than 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Canadian Grand Prix ratings in Spain
2008 – 2.72m (22.4%) pre-race; 4.52m (35.3%); 3.42m (25.1%) post-race
2010 – 1.75m (13.5%) pre-race; 4.57m (34.5%); 2.99m (23.5%) post-race
2011 – 1.54m (13.1%) pre-race; 3.59m (24.5%); 2.01m (10.8%) post-race
2012 – ?.??m (??.?%) pre-race; 5.10m (33.5%) race; 2.09m (12.5%) pre-race
2013 – 2.47m (19.1%) pre-race; 5.69m (35.3%) race; 4.70m (24.5%) post-race

Italy was another country to see high ratings. The race in Italy had 7.72 million viewers (31.9 percent share) on Rai 1 with a further 1.04 million viewers on Sky Sport F1, Italy adopting the same model as seen in the United Kingdom from this season onwards. In comparison, the World Superbikes in the daytime from Portugal averaged 1.08 million viewers, a 6 percent share. F1’s figures were up on 2011 and 2012, albeit only marginally an increase on 2012.

Canadian Grand Prix ratings in Italy
2011 – 6.70m (32.8%)
2012 – 5.67m (25.7%) and 7.93m (32.4%)*
2013 – 7.72m (31.8%) and 1.04m

* race switched channels halfway through due to Euro 2012

Whilst the picture was good in Spain and Italy, the picture was not as rosy in Germany. Despite Sebastian Vettel winning comfortably, viewing figures were down on 2010 and 2011. Yes, they were up on 2012, but this was to be expected as the 2012 race went up against Euro 2012 competition. Quotenmeter notes how the race on Sunday, which averaged 5.79 million across RTL and Sky Sport F1, was down in the target demographics, noting how “RTL will rejoice when the F1 moves to the afternoons again”. Ouch…

Canadian Grand Prix ratings in Germany
2010 – 6.67m (29.2%)
2011 – 6.76m (34.4%)
2012 – 4.93m and 0.34m (1.0%)
2013 – 5.38m and 0.41m (1.3%)

All of the German ratings are from the same website so I assume that the comparison is like-to-like. Either way, it is interesting to see the ratings around Europe, and Canada is normally a good indicator as to how things are fairing due to its timeslot.

USA Ratings: Formula 1 rockets to six year high; Indianapolis 500 slumps to record low

Whilst the Monaco Grand Prix did not do great numbers in the United Kingdom, over in America the picture was significantly different as the sport soared to six year ratings highs. It was not all good news for motor sport, however.

The race, screened on NBC from 05:00 Pacific and 08:00 Eastern, was seen by an average of 1.46 million viewers. The figure makes it the highest figure for a Formula 1 race since the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, which averaged 1.49 million viewers. In comparison, last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was seen by 427,000 viewers on SPEED Television. FOX’s four race average for 2012 was 1.04 million, so Monaco’s figure was considerably higher than that. Overall, the ratings picture is looking very rosy in America, the fans over there liking the ‘new style’ Formula 1 where tyres, DRS and KERS are concerned. It also shows what happens when a sport moves to a higher profile network, as has happened in America with the rights moving from SPEED to NBC.

NBC’s press release also notes increases versus SPEED’s coverage in two key demographics:

– 461,000 vs 127,000 in the Adults 18-49 demographic
– 674,000 vs 160,000 in the Adults 25-54 demographic

Elsewhere, NASCAR is still king with an average of 7 million viewers over on FOX in primetime. No Indianpolis 500 viewership numbers have been reported, however, Sports Media Watch are reporting that the race scored a 3.8 overnight rating, the lowest since the race began airing live in 1986. After several barren years, Formula 1’s popularity appears to be back on the rise in America, thanks to the success of Formula 1’s return to America last year, and no doubt ratings may improve further if an American such as Alexander Rossi comes onto the scene in the future, the country is such a huge market which the sport needs to exploit.

Rai to show nine Grand Prix’s live in Italy

Rai 1 are to show nine out of the nineteen Grand Prix’s live in Italy, according to SportsPro Media. The deal with Sky Italia was first announced last June, but it is only now that Rai have been confirmed as the free to air broadcaster that will air those races live.

As with the BBC and Sky deal here in the UK, the other ten races will air as highlights. The article from SportsPro says that the deal between Sky Italia and Formula One Management is $80 million, which is £53 million over 5 years.

This post from JackFoley over on Digital Spy Forums suggests that Rai viewers will end up better off than the equivalent BBC viewers in the UK, with Rai viewers getting 75 minutes highlights from practice on Friday’s regardless of the race weekend, and Rai viewers will be getting the final two races of the season live.