Despite England’s World Cup performance dominating headlines on Saturday, the British Grand Prix still attracted a healthy audience the following day, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race aired across Channel 4 and three of Sky’s television outlets, with the race starting at 14:10 UK time.

Channel 4’s coverage averaged 2.39m (24.4%) from 13:00 to 16:30, a marginal increase on their 2016 and 2017 average audiences of 2.36m (17.9%) and 2.20m (20.4%) respectively. Of note is that the percentage shares for Formula 1 increased significantly compared with the past few years, reflecting the low television audience around yesterday.

Meanwhile, Sky’s programming across their dedicated F1 channel, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky 1 averaged 671k (6.9%). An audience of 384k (3.9%) watched via Sky Sports F1, with 180k (1.8%) watching via Main Event and a further 107k (1.1%) on Sky 1, a split of 57:27:16.

The total audience for Sky is up on last year’s combined figure of 652k (6.0%), but down on 2016’s figure of 736k (5.8%); in both years the race did not air on Sky 1 but did air on Sky Sports Main Event. Sky F1’s audience increased year-on-year, however Main Event’s audience dropped, reflecting the fact that Sky’s 2018 programme aired across Main Event and Sky 1.

The race itself started with 4.29m (42.7%) across Channel 4 and Sky, an excellent starting point for the Grand Prix considering Austria seven days earlier started with 3.25m (35.5%) in the same time slot. Admittedly, Austria had World Cup football to compete with, whereas the British Grand Prix had a free reign, on race day at least.

Fans remained hooked on the race throughout, audiences never dipping below 4.1 million viewers. Viewing figures climbed in the latter stages, reaching a peak of 4.55m (43.0%) at 15:30 as Sebastian Vettel claimed victory.

At the time of the peak, 3.50m (33.2%) were watching Channel 4’s broadcast, with 1.04m (9.9%) watching one of Sky’s outlets, a split of 77:23. Across Sky, the F1 channel peaked with 610k (5.8%) at 15:30, with Main Event peaking with 315k (3.1%) at the start of the race. Sky 1’s coverage peaked with 153k (1.5%) at 15:10.

The combined average audience of 3.06 million viewers is the highest of 2018 so far, and an increase of 7.1 percent on last year’s average of 2.86 million viewers. The 2018 average however is marginally down on the average audience recorded in 2016 of 3.10 million viewers.

The peak audience of 4.55 million viewers follows the same pattern as the average: an increase on 2017’s peak of 4.45 million viewers and a 2018 high, but down 9.0 percent on the 2016 peak audience of 4.99 million viewers. The shares at the time of the peak are considerably higher for 2018 (43.0%) than in the past two years (31.5% and 34.6%), again reflecting the low total audience.

Despite being the highest F1 peak of 2018, it is not Channel 4’s highest peak of 2018 as you might expect, suggesting a few more viewers sampled Sky’s coverage because of the simulcast on Sky 1.

Qualifying and Analysis
As widely anticipated, qualifying badly suffered at the hands of England versus Sweden, which clashed with the closing seconds of the session.

Live coverage of qualifying on Channel 4 averaged 1.06m (8.3%) from 12:55 to 15:50, a significant decrease of 319,000 viewers compared with 2017’s average audience of 1.38m (15.2%). Airing across four channels did not help Sky: their average audience for Silverstone qualifying dropped from 413k (4.5%) in 2017 to 277k (2.5%) this year.

Sky Sports F1’s programme averaged 198k (1.8%), with Sky 1, Main Event and Mix averaging 44k (0.42%), 30k (0.30%) and 5k (0.04%) respectively.

The combined average audience of 1.33 million viewers is unsurprisingly down 25 percent on last year’s average of 1.79 million viewers and the lowest for Britain since 2006. The qualifying session itself peaked with 1.92m (15.0%) at 14:40, compared with last year’s peak audience of 2.64m (27.3%).

In hindsight, and as stated beforehand, FOM should have moved qualifying earlier to prevent a clash, a clash which clearly dented viewing figures in the UK significantly. Thankfully, the Saturday clash did not harm Sunday’s numbers, with some excellent shares.

The raw audience is in-line with last year, a major achievement considering the heatwave that the UK is currently experiencing. If anything, this was an audience figure badly needed after the past three races: Canada and France did not air live on free-to-air television, whilst World Cup action overshadowed both the French and Austrian race days.

The 2017 British Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Poor scheduling from Formula One Management hurt viewing figures for the Austrian Grand Prix in the UK this past weekend, overnight viewing figures suggest.

Race
The race aired live across Channel 4 and Sky Sports, starting at 14:10 UK time. The latter phase of the Grand Prix clashed with the World Cup round of 16 clash between Spain and Russia, which had an adverse impact on audience figures. Last weekend was the first time Austria aired live on free-to-air television since 2003.

Live coverage of the race averaged 1.52m (15.8%) on Channel 4 from 13:00 to 16:30, their worst average audience for a live European round. Their previous lowest was for last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, which averaged 1.65m (19.6%) in the August Bank Holiday slot.

Sky’s race day show aired across their F1 channel and Main Event from 13:00 to 16:25 to an audience of 423k (4.4%), Sky’s lowest European audience since the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 327k (3.4%) watched via the F1 channel, with 97k (1.0%) watching on Main Event.

The race started with 3.25m (35.5%) at 14:15 watching across Channel 4 and Sky Sports, around half a million viewers lower than other European races this season, such as Azerbaijan and Monaco. Nevertheless, the audience remained above three million, with 3.03m (29.9%) watching at 14:55.

However, the audience share dropped rapidly throughout the race, with new viewers heading straight for the football on BBC One. By 15:05, around half a million viewers had switched from the F1 to the football: 2.57m (23.4%) were now watching the Grand Prix, significantly lower than you would expect for a live free-to-air round at this phase of the season.

An audience of 2.50m (21.2%) watched Max Verstappen win the race at 15:30, with 1.87m (15.9%) watching via Channel 4, and 625k (5.3%) watching via one of Sky’s two channels covering the race. The audience dropped more than usual during the post-race analysis: Channel 4’s post-race show averaged fewer than half a million viewers from 16:15 onwards.

The combined average audience of 1.94 million viewers is the third race in a row where Formula 1 has recorded an average below two million viewers. The average is down 16.9 percent on last year’s figure of 2.34 million viewers when Channel 4 aired highlights, although there are clearly other factors in play this year.

Due to the unique circumstances, the peak audience came at the start of the race, with the aforementioned 3.25 million viewers at 14:15, slightly higher than last year’s peak of 3.20 million. At the time of the peak, 2.52m (27.5%) were watching on Channel 4, with 733k (8.0%) watching on Sky. Sky’s own peak actually came at 14:55, 743k (7.3%) watched the race with them during the five minutes before Spain versus Russia started.

Qualifying and Analysis
The audience quickly bolted following the qualifying session, in the same way they did the following day. Channel 4’s programme averaged 948k (12.6%) from 12:55 to 15:40, with Sky’s show averaging 246k (3.3%) from 13:00 to 15:40.

Qualifying itself peaked with 1.95m (22.1%) at 14:55, with 1.46m (16.6%) watching via Channel 4, and 489k (5.5%) watching via Sky’s F1 channel. As soon as qualifying finished, the audience slumped to under one million viewers. By 15:15, 589k (6.2%) were watching analysis on either Channel 4 or Sky.

The combined audience of 1.19 million viewers and peak audience of 1.95 million viewers are roughly around where you would expect given the strong competition and the warm weather conditions. However, both figures are down on last year’s qualifying audience for Austria.

In my piece last week, I mentioned that F1 would suffer trying to face the World Cup, and that is now turning into reality. Why F1 is being stubborn, I do not know. Next Sunday’s British Grand Prix does not face the World Cup; however, the qualifying session could clash with the build-up to England’s quarter-final clash, assuming they beat Colombia tomorrow.

The 2017 Austrian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

The French Grand Prix continued Formula 1’s rough period in the United Kingdom, overnight viewing figures suggest.

Race
The race itself started at 15:10, twenty minutes after England’s World Cup thrashing of Panama finished over on BBC One. The timings meant that Sky Sports’ build-up of the Grand Prix clashed with the England game, causing its average audience figure to be deflated. There are no year-on-year comparisons, with this being the first French round since 2008.

From 14:00 to 17:30, an audience of 547k (4.7%) watched Sky’s F1 output across their F1 channel and Sky Sports Main Event, this figure also accounting for Main Event’s simulcast starting later at 14:30. The F1 channel averaged 337k (2.9%), with Main Event bringing in a further 245k (2.1%).

Sky’s coverage from 14:00 to 14:50, the portion which directly clashed with the second half of England game, averaged 67k (0.4%), an unsurprisingly low figure considering 13.62m (82.0%) were watching the football at the same time.

Lewis Hamilton’s victory peaked with 1.08m (8.4%) as the race started at 15:15, Sky’s second highest peak of the season, only behind Canada. At the time of the peak, 606k (4.7%) were watching on the F1 channel, with 470k (3.7%) watching via Main Event.

For a European round, it is a solid peak for the pay-TV broadcaster, however the audience is not much higher than Spain or Monaco (1.01m and 1.02m respectively), showing that Sky did not benefit much from following on after the England game. I argued in the scheduling piece, and still do now, that Sky should have placed the race front and centre on Sky One to try and capitalise on some of the floating football audience.

Because of the later than usual start time, Channel 4’s highlights programme did not air until 22:15. An audience of 1.05m (10.6%) watched their cut of the race, peaking with 1.42m (11.4%) at 22:45. The audience is in-line with Channel 4’s usual audiences for their late-night highlights, but combined with Sky’s usual European audience is not a good recipe.

The combined average audience of 1.60 million viewers is around 40,000 viewers lower than the Canadian Grand Prix average from two weeks ago, making the audience a new low for Formula 1 in the modern era in the UK.

The peak audience of 2.49 million viewers is lower than Canada’s peak audience of 2.56 million viewers. It is the lowest peak for a Formula 1 race in the UK since the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, which peaked with 2.46 million viewers.

Qualifying and Analysis
Live coverage of qualifying averaged 264k (3.2%) on Sky Sports F1 from 14:00 to 16:35, peaking with 570k (6.7%) at 16:00. Channel 4’s highlights programme followed at 18:30, averaging 918k (6.1%) across a 95-minute slot. Their show peaked with 1.18m (7.0%) at 19:45.

The combined audience for qualifying was 1.18 million viewers, with the peak audience coming in at 1.75 million viewers. Based on the qualifying audience for Channel 4, I do not think their race show would have fared much better in an earlier time slot. It may have moved the combined race average closer to two million viewers, but no further, due to the impact that the World Cup was having on all other channels.

You might argue in the case of the French round that F1 may have had more pub viewing than usual due to the football, but to the contrary I suspect that any pubs showing England would have stuck with the second football game on BBC One instead of turning over to the F1.

Unfortunately for Formula 1, things do not get much better. The second half of next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix will clash with Spain versus Russia, whilst any delay to qualifying will result in a clash between France and Argentina. Liberty Media’s decision to move races an hour later will have a significant impact on audience numbers worldwide as a result.

After a promising start to the 2018 season, Formula 1’s UK audience figures crashed through the floor during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race aired across Sky’s dedicated F1 channel, and their Main Event channel. Main Event were meant to join Sky F1 at 17:30, however this was pushed back to 19:05 as England’s cricket ODI with Scotland overran.

Sky Sports F1’s broadcast from 18:00 to 21:30 averaged 704k (4.2%), an identical figure to 2017, and an increase on 2016’s figure of 620k (2.9%).

What hurts Sky is that their Main Event simulcast performed poorly. An audience of 120k (0.7%) watched the simulcast, compared with 234k (1.1%) in 2016 and 259k (1.4%).

The combined average audience for the live broadcast was 787k (4.7%), down 18.3 percent on 2017’s average of 962k (5.2%), and a slightly smaller drop compared with 2016’s figure of 853k (4.0%).

It is likely that ITV’s Soccer Aid took away some of the floating casual audience that would have tuned into Sky’s F1 broadcast. The charity match averaged 3.86m (21.2%) across a three and three-quarter hour slot for the free-to-air broadcaster.

The race broadcast on Sky peaked with 1.30m (6.8%) at 20:40 as Sebastian Vettel won the Grand Prix, a dip compared to their 2016 and 2017 peaks of 1.41m (6.3%) and 1.47m (7.0%) respectively.

It should be noted that the total television audience dropped compared with previous years, but I would have expected Formula 1 to hold up better and to increase its share in this situation, as live sport tends to do.

Channel 4’s highlights programme struggled, averaging just 856k (12.2%) from 22:40 to 00:40, a decrease on both 2016 and 2017’s average audiences of 1.30m (15.3%) and 970k (11.6%) respectively.

The time slot for all three years was broadly the same, so the scale of the drop is somewhat shocking. Channel 4’s show peaked with 1.26m (14.7%) at 23:10 as the highlights edit started.

The combined average audience of 1.64 million viewers is the lowest average audience in the modern era for a Formula 1 race in the UK dating back to at least 2005.

Realistically, you probably need to go back to the days when the BBC did not air some races live in the mid-1990s, which makes Canada’s number a near 25 year low for the sport in the UK.

Compared with 2017, the combined average audience is down 15.0 percent (1.93m), and down 23.7 percent on 2016 (2.15m).

To show the scale of the problem for Canada, the combined peak audience of 2.56 million viewers is 300,000 viewers lower than the average audience from the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Qualifying and Analysis
Live coverage of qualifying aired on Sky Sports F1 from 18:00 to 20:35, averaging 345k (2.7%), a slight bump on last year’s figure of 342k (2.2%).

Channel 4’s highlights suffered in a late-night time slot, averaging 614k (7.9%) from 22:55 to 00:25. Sky’s live coverage peaked with 684k (4.8%), compared with Channel 4’s peak audience later in the evening of 780k (9.5%).

The combined average audience of 960,000 viewers is the lowest for a Saturday qualifying session since the late 2000’s, and the lowest for Canada since 2006.

The above set of numbers do not include Sky Go, Now TV or All 4, which will increase total volumes slightly. However, even including them is not changing the fact that all the numbers are frankly abysmal and a new low for the sport in this country, an especially poor number coming off what has been a positive start to 2018 for Formula 1.

Canada has had a few problems, the main one being that the free-to-air highlights have aired in a graveyard time slot when not aired live since 2012. The problem was exacerbated this past weekend, with Channel 4 prioritising live rugby coverage over highlights of F1 weekend.

However, the fact also that Sky’s television audience is not improving with 2019 fast approaching should be a clear message to Liberty Media that viewers are unwilling to tune into Sky’s pay-TV broadcasts of Formula 1 in large volumes.

It is a problem that needs to be addressed and tackled, one way or the other. Time is ticking…

The 2017 Canadian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.