Shedden’s BTCC title victory peaks with 384k

A peak audience just shy of 400,000 viewers watched Gordon Shedden clinch his second British Touring Car Championship on Sunday afternoon, overnight viewing figures show.

Live coverage of the final round of the series from Brands Hatch aired on ITV4 from 10:15 to 18:30, averaging 166k (1.5%), a number slightly below ITV4’s average for that timeslot. The first race of the day peaked with 181k (2.2%) at 11:40. Numbers for race one remained above 100k until 12:03, at which point they dropped to as low as 96k (1.0%) as the Russian Grand Prix started. Race two peaked with 216k (2.4%) at 14:39, but it was race three where all the drama occurred. Featuring no less than three Safety Cars, the race averaged 349k (2.2%) from 17:27 to 17:58, peaking with 384k (2.3%) at 17:47 as Gordon Shedden climbed through the pack to take the championship away from Jason Plato.

The 5-minute peak of 380k (2.3%) at 17:45 is slightly up on the peak audience recorded last year of 357k (2.0%), although the average audience is marginally down year-on-year. The figures year-on-year are good for the championship, but the problem is that the further back you go, the figures are not actually as good. 2013’s season finale peaked with 697k (3.8%). Clashing with the Grand Prix is having a negative impact on the final day of the BTCC championship, and that is evident again this year. BTCC still brings in great numbers for ITV4, but it has lost a little bit of its edge in the past year and a half.

Over in Motegi, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage performed fantastically well on Sunday morning. No doubt boosted by a lot of same-day recording activity, BT’s MotoGP segment from 05:30 to 07:00 averaged 175k (14.4%), peaking with 244k (20.8%) at 06:06. VODSAL activity or not, that is a brilliant number for the coverage, and would give quite a few races from both this season and last season a run for their money. In comparison, BT Sport 2’s coverage in the same time slot last season averaged 70k (6.2%). I imagine BT will be chuffed to double that number, and a bit more on top of that, especially when you consider Marc Marquez won the championship at Motegi this time last year.

It is fair to say that BT have been incredibly lucky to have Valentino Rossi back on top form and fighting near the front. If anyone is capable of boosting BT’s viewing figures, it is Rossi. BT Sport’s full programme from 02:45 to 07:15 averaged a respectable 98k (8.4%), compared with 42k (3.8%) from 2014. Although BT’s viewing figures are a far cry from the combined BBC numbers, they should take solace from the fact that their average of 175k (14.4%) is not too far behind BBC Two’s live Motegi number of 204k (18.4%), albeit that was broadcast from 04:30 to 06:00. BT Sport’s MotoGP repeat added a further 50k (0.5%) at 14:00 on Sunday afternoon.

Note: As of this post, The F1 Broadcasting Blog will be reporting one-minute peak audience figures as well as five-minute peak figures. All figures in this post are Live + VODSAL. Where a raw ‘live’ figure has been posted, this will be stated in the main body.

Hamilton fails to prevent F1 ratings slide

The outlook may look rosy for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, but viewing figures in the UK continue to slide, overnight numbers show.

Race
Heading into Russia, Formula 1 had recorded year-on-year declines for Singapore and Japan, both of which you can attribute to increased competition thanks to the Rugby World Cup. However, Argentina vs Namibia was never going to be tough opposition against the Russian Grand Prix, which turned out to be accurate as only 550k (5.6%) watched the game on ITV, only just above their own slot average.

BBC’s live coverage of the Grand Prix, which aired on BBC One from 11:00 to 14:15, averaged 2.79m (29.3%), down 13 percent on last year’s figure of 3.22m (30.7%). The drop in share is relatively small in comparison, a 5 percent drop year-on-year. Live coverage on Sky Sports F1 from 11:00 to 14:30 averaged 497k (5.1%), which compares with 665k (6.3%) last year. In other words, Sky’s coverage lost 25 percent of their viewership year-on-year, or 19 percent of their share. It does look like there were less viewers around, but in my opinion against minimal opposition, yesterday’s figure can only be considered as very poor.

Analysis – Does it matter who is dominating?
The morale of the story here is that domination is a bad thing for motor sport in general irrespective of whether it is Sebastian Vettel or Hamilton who is dominating. I’ve felt the need to explicitly state motor sport here. Dominance can be a good thing. See: Usain Bolt as one example. In some sports, dominance is good as it can raise the profile of said event, sometimes it can be bad (I think that’s a whole debate in itself, perhaps outside the remit of this site!). Back to Formula 1, home dominance is good – to a point. The problem with Hamilton dominating is not necessarily the fact that he is dominating, it is what is happening around that point that is the problem. The negativity surrounding the sport at the moment will only do more harm than good and drive down the ratings.

In 2011, Vettel dominated the season. Yet it was, and remains, the most watched season of Formula 1 in the past decade. Why? Of course TV coverage plays a part – I think we can agree that BBC F1 was at its pinnacle. But there was one thing that 2011 had that 2015 struggles with: sub-plots. Story lines. Something to draw casual viewers in. 2011 saw Jenson Button’s fantastic victory in Montreal, it also saw many fights between Hamilton and Felipe Massa, on and off the circuit. It was the latter that, in my opinion, was the main factor in driving up viewing figures that year. Both men were big stars in 2011 coming off the title battle three years earlier and viewers were waiting for the next big clash. What does 2015 have in comparison? Who is going to win the next instalment between Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso. The decline of McLaren (sadly). My point is that at the moment, Formula 1 on the circuit does not have a draw to the casual viewer in comparison to what viewers witnessed a few years ago.

The issue of sliding ratings is not something isolated to Formula 1. Viewing figures are generally dropping across the board as viewers ‘pick and choose’, ‘mix and match’ what they want to consume, although sport does tend to hold up a lot better because of the nature of the beast. Sport is still a big television event, and will remain that way for many years to come. The combined average across BBC and Sky shows a year-on-year drop from 3.89 million to 3.29 million, around a 15 percent decrease. The numbers do not look pretty. The frustrating, and sad, part about the television deal between BBC and Sky could play out in two weeks time in America. Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of winning his third championship. As the schedule current stands, the race be played out to terrestrial viewers on BBC Two at nearly midnight.

I blogged about this situation last year. Barring a miracle, Hamilton will clinch the championship in America or Mexico, both of which are Sky exclusive races. As a fan, it is frustrating to see this unfold (especially if you do not have access to Sky), but the BBC entered the deal knowing that this situation could unfold. If the title is clinched in America, I suspect the ratings trajectory will continue downwards as the 2015 season bows out with a whimper.

For those wondering, viewing figures for MotoGP and the British Touring Car Championship finale will follow later this week in a separate post.

The 2014 Russian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Japanese Grand Prix slumps to record low

For the second race running, Formula 1 found itself losing a ratings battle against the Rugby World Cup, as the Japanese Grand Prix slumped to its lowest rating since at least 2005, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Before analysing the figures, it needs to be stated that historical comparisons are difficult for Japan. In the UK in recent years, Japan has started at 05:30, 06:00, 06:30 and 07:00, probably more start times that I can count. From 2010 to 2014, the race started at 07:00 UK time. Prior to that, the race started at 06:00 UK time, although the two events from Fuji in 2007 and 2008 began at 05:30 UK time. You would hope the repeat airing balances things out, but it is worth noting. Due to the events of last year, which affected the viewing figures, no comparisons will be made with 2014 in this post.

Live coverage of the race, broadcast live on BBC One from 05:00 to 09:00 averaged 925k (35.2%). It was billed as an extended race day show with the forum from around 08:30 onwards. The coverage from 05:00 to 08:00 averaged 954k (41.9%), a big difference in share, but no major difference in the raw figure. Sky Sports F1’s coverage from 05:00 to 08:30 averaged 255k (10.2%), with Sky Sports 1 adding a further 21k (0.8%). All of the live numbers are down on 2013, however this is not a surprise given the earlier start time.

BBC One’s repeat struggled against the Rugby World Cup on ITV, averaging only 1.44m (17.0%). The Rugby World Cup match between Scotland vs USA, which kicked off at 14:00, averaged 2.13m (23.0%) on ITV, comfortably beating the Grand Prix highlights. The peak audience for the Formula 1 live airing came at 07:30, as 2.00m (48.2%) watched Lewis Hamilton take victory. The peak share was a massive 1.60m (70.3%) at 06:10, down to a lot of viewers no doubt timeshifting the action to watch later in the day.

Overall, the combined audience of 2.65 million is the lowest on record (since 2005) for the Japanese Grand Prix. The 2009 race from Suzuka averaged 3.61 million. The live airing did fine, it is the BBC repeat that has dragged the numbers down significantly. The drastic drops for Singapore and Japan have had a major effect on the season average, and the numbers need to pick back up, and fast, otherwise the final average at the end of the year will not look pretty. The Russian Grand Prix clashes with Argentina vs Namibia, but I don’t expect that to be troubling the F1.

Rugby World Cup hits BTCC too
Formula 1 was not the only sporting contest kicked into touch yesterday. Live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship from Silverstone, which aired on ITV4 from 10:00 to 18:30, averaged 112k (1.2%). The action peaked with 231k (3.4%) at 12:00. BTCC does not seem to have recovered much of the lost ground compared with 2014. I’m not sure what is happening, but the audience has shifted away from the series in the past year or two, or are consuming less of it compared to previously.

The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Rugby World Cup kicks Singapore Grand Prix into touch

The Rugby World Cup sent the Singapore Grand Prix crashing to its lowest ever viewing figures in the UK yesterday, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, averaged 681k (6.6%) from 12:00 to 15:30, down significantly on last year’s audience of 1.00m (10.9%) across the same timeslot (or 961k/10.5% up to 15:45). Later on, BBC One’s highlights programme from 17:00 to 18:35 averaged just 2.77m (16.5%), compared with 3.72m (23.7%) from 2014. I believe BBC’s number is their lowest for a European highlights show that has aired on BBC One since this deal began in 2012. BBC’s audience is down 25 percent, with Sky Sports F1 down 32 percent year-on-year.

Normally, ITV average less than one million viewers on a Sunday afternoon. Yesterday, Samoa vs USA from 11:30 to 13:55 averaged 1.38m (16.3%). Wales vs Uruguay which followed it averaged 2.89m (24.3%), whilst New Zealand vs Argentina from 16:30 averaged 3.98m (24.2%). The peak for the rugby was 4.97m (28.1%) at 18:15, directly against BBC’s F1 highlights programme. It is rare that BBC’s main F1 programming loses its slot, but that happened yesterday thanks to the rugby. I did mention that “tricky waters lie ahead” for the F1 in my Italy ratings piece but I was unclear at how much the F1 would be affected.

The combined average of 3.45 million from yesterday is comfortably the lowest ever recorded for the Singapore Grand Prix. The previous lowest was 2008, which averaged 3.85m (39.7%), but apart from that numbers have always been near to, or over four million viewers. It is a disappointing number, although it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given that the Rugby World Cup, like many other popular sporting events, brings in some casual viewers. Next up for Formula 1 is the Japanese Grand Prix, which should be aiming for an audience around the mid 3 million mark, similar to 2013.

The 2014 Singapore Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

News round-up: Formula E expands European reach; Questing not coasting

There have not been too many major news stories in the broadcasting landscape to report on recently, but there have been a few intriguing issues bubbling under the surface worth mentioning on the blog.

Formula E expands European reach, but UK deal remains a mystery
It was confirmed today that Eurosport would be broadcasting seasons two and three exclusively of Formula E in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, with the channel also broadcasting non-exclusive content in Iceland. The announcement is significant, as it allows Formula E to reach far more people than what it currently does in those territories, thanks to the Germany deal being a free-to-air one. Ali Russell, Formula E’s Director of Media and Strategic Partnership said that the deal “reinforces our outreach across key target markets in Europe alongside other existing deals.”

Whilst significant, the news is not necessarily surprising. As noted previously, Eurosport are owned by Discovery Communications who have a minority investment in Formula E. It is important to state that Eurosport’s Formula E deal does not cover the UK as, to quote Ben Constanduros, there are other deals in place which prevent it. As of writing, nothing has been publicly announced regarding where Formula E’s second season will be broadcast in the UK. 60 percent of you think ITV will broadcast season two live. We continue to wait for an official announcement on the situation.

WEC and WTCC gain UK free-to-air coverage
Good news for UK fans of the World Endurance Championship and the World Touring Car Championship, free to air highlights of both series are coming. Continuing the same theme as above, Quest TV, who are under the same umbrella as Eurosport and therefore Discovery, will begin airing a one-hour show with immediate effect.

The WEC programme will be presented by Toby Moody, airing on the Tuesday after each race weekend. The first WTCC highlights show aired last night and is currently available to watch on Quest On Demand, presented by Neil Cole. The development follows Quest TV’s successful coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans earlier this year. This is only good news for both championships, as it allows them to increase their foothold and bring in a bigger audience. I won’t be surprised if Formula E highlights turn up on Quest for season two, even if the live action is covered elsewhere. Anything that increases a motor sport series audience is good news in my view.

BT’s MotoGP ratings bounce back
A thrilling two rounds of MotoGP from Silverstone and Misano resulted in mixed viewing figures on BT Sport, overnight viewing figures showed. Silverstone peaked with 209k (2.3%), only marginally up on last year’s number of 205k (2.4%). Bank Holiday was the main reason for that number, however it was still a slight surprise when you consider that the trend so far this year has been of increases on a significant scale.

Misano fared much better than Silverstone, averaging 242k (2.8%) from 12:30 to 14:00, peaking with 317k (3.6%) at 13:40. A sign of how well Misano did is that this year’s MotoGP average is higher than last year’s peak number of 211k (2.6%). I would have expected Scott Redding and Bradley Smith’s podium finishes, along with the inclement weather, to boost ITV4’s highlights number. What we actually saw was a year-on-year drop. An average audience of 335k (1.5%) watched ITV4’s programme this past Monday, compared with 357k (1.6%) for last year’s Misano highlights programme.

Elsewhere…
Formula 1 celebrates one year of having a proper Twitter account this weekend with the Singapore Grand Prix. Technically, the F1 account on Twitter has been live since August 2009, but the proper interaction that you would actually expect from an account began last September. In the past year, their reach on Twitter has increased 62 percent from 937k to 1.52m, a fairly hefty jump, overtaking MotoGP in the process.

Over in America, great news for the IndyCar Series which witnessed a 70 percent jump in NBC Sports Network’s numbers between 2014 and 2015. Some of that has to be natural growth, but there is another part which is no doubt a result of piggybacking off Formula 1’s recent success over there. It’ll be interesting to see how much influence Alexander Rossi has on viewing figures. Okay, he is unlikely to trouble the points scores given the car he is in, but it may move NBC’s F1 numbers up further a notch or two.