Warm weather and World Cup hurts Austrian Grand Prix

A warm, settled spell of weather in the UK, along with the continuing World Cup coverage, hurt Formula 1’s return to Austria, unofficial overnight viewing figures show.

Race
The race coverage across BBC Two and Sky Sports F1 had the lowest combined average of the season. Live coverage on Sky Sports F1 averaged 721k (9.6%) from 12:00 to 15:30. Highlights on BBC Two at 19:30 brought a further 2.45m (12.2%). BBC’s highlights peaked with 2.90m (14.4%) at 20:15. The combined average of 3.17m is the lowest since the 2013 United States Grand Prix.

It should consolidate to about 3.3m or 3.4m which will put it in line with the ratings for Austria recorded between 1997 and 2003, although I admit that you probably shouldn’t be making a comparison like that considering the many changes in Formula 1 and television since then. Preceding the race on Sky Sports F1, the Track Parade from 11:30 averaged 144k (2.3%), whilst post-race interviews and analysis during Paddock Live averaged 173k (2.0%).

Qualifying
The Qualifying programme, screened live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 14:35, averaged 442k (6.9%), a solid figure all considering for the channel. It was the highlights on BBC One that struggled, albeit thanks to the very early airtime. On air from 16:45 to 18:00, the coverage mustered 1.53m (13.6%). The share is the telling point here, there were viewers around however, they were watching the live World Cup coverage on ITV instead of the Formula 1.

A combined audience of 1.97m means that this is the third lowest figure of the season, only ahead of Australia and China. I think the main thing to take out of here is that the decision (or however the picks went) to have Austria as a highlights race was always going to work against the BBC as it meant that the highlights would go opposite a World Cup game. Why they didn’t put the Qualifying and Race highlights both at 19:00 on BBC Two, I don’t know.

Practice, GP2 and GP3 Series
Practice coverage over the weekend on Sky Sports F1 struggled, Saturday’s practice session averaged 70k (1.2%) from 09:45. Friday’s practice sessions were both under 50k, practice two averaging 43k (0.8%). It shows really that those that watch practice on BBC Two during their live weekends are not Sky Sports F1 viewers, the latter does not see any boost whatsoever for practice when they have exclusive coverage. GP2 and GP3 did not fare any better. GP2’s feature race on Saturday afternoon was the highlight, averaging 41k (0.6%). GP3’s highest rating was on Sunday morning for their second race, averaging 21k (0.4%).

The headline figures are not great for the F1. I do wonder if this should have been a BBC live race, thus guaranteeing no World Cup clash and probably half a million more viewers for both Qualifying and the Race. However, given that Canada and Britain were either side of Austria, they were left with little choice than to take Austria as a highlights race.

MotoGP and Le Mans close in UK ratings battle

Live coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on British Eurosport drew similar numbers to that who watched BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage, unofficial overnight UK viewing figures show.

24 Hours of Le Mans
The famous endurance race was screened live across British Eurosport and its sister channel British Eurosport 2 from 13:45 on Saturday to 14:15 on Sunday, the numbers below take into account the various channel switches. The race, in the UK, averaged 56k (0.7%), down on the 70k (1.0%) for last year’s race. The 5-minute peak of 148k (2.0%) recorded at 14:00 on Saturday is down on last year’s peak of 248k, which occurred at the end of the race. The average number is up on 2011 and 2012, however.

The numbers are as you would expect for an endurance race. Hovering around 100k for the first few hours, figures spiked at 15:50 with 141k (1.7%) as heavy rain hit the Circuit de la Sarthe. Numbers stayed around 70k to 90k into the evening, before dropping into the early hours – at some points recording a figure of ‘zero’ (which in ratings terms means less than 5k!). Numbers picked back up on Sunday morning, 75k (1.1%) were watching at 09:25, hitting 100k (1.4%) just over an hour later, climbing to 140k (1.9%) at 12:05 as Porsche’s charge came to a halt. Figures dipped to under 100k, re-peaking with 119k (1.4%) at the end of the race.

Considering the World Cup competition, the figures are perfectly fine, although as always I would have liked to see figures a bit higher. The same analysis applies here as it does for the IndyCar Series, if none of the mainstream media are going to cover it, then ratings will remain relatively low. Personally, I’d love to see a bit of coverage on ITV4 again to get endurance racing back on the agenda, time will tell. One series that was getting attention, but decided to reject live free-to-air coverage was MotoGP. And depending on which time frame you choose to use from Sunday, you’ll get interesting results.

MotoGP
BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage on Sunday from 09:30 to 14:15 averaged 95k (1.2%). The Moto3 race peaked with 79k (1.1%) at 10:00, whilst the Moto2 race peaked with 78k (1.1%) at 11:25. The brilliant MotoGP race, won by Marc Marquez, peaked with 196k (2.4%) at 13:35. It goes without saying that the BT Sport 2 figures pale into comparison to what BBC Two averaged last year. BBC Two’s programme last year, from 12:30 to 14:05 averaged 914k (10.1%). BT Sport 2, for the same timeslot yesterday averaged 142k (1.8%). The Barcelona race last year peaked with 1.22m (13.3%), meaning that BBC Two, on average and peak was six times higher than BT Sport’s figures.

From race to race the ratio fluctuates from between four and nine times higher for BT Sport compared with BBC in 2013, but the difference is still alarming. I haven’t mentioned British Eurosport where MotoGP is concerned as their figures are not readily available, however it would result in approximately an extra 100k being added to 2013’s figures, making the ratio wider. I still maintain that Dorna’s choice to have ITV4 on-board was an eleventh hour deal, after all, why would BT Sport and MotoGP have the word ‘exclusive’ in a press release just a few weeks earlier? In my view, the ITV deal was the saving grace, something that the masses would still be able to access, and are doing with up to half a million viewers watching the Monday night highlight shows. It doesn’t fully bridge the gap left by BBC’s absence, but it closes the gap.

Comparison
It is worth noting that all the numbers exclude those who watched via BT Sport’s and Eurosport’s respective apps and, for the 2013 MotoGP comparison above, exclude those who watched on BBC iPlayer. There are several comparisons that can be made, for complete clarity, all the potential comparisons are below so blog readers can make up their own minds.

From 09:30 to 14:15, the 24 Hours of Le Mans averaged higher than BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage. In that time period, 93k (1.2%) were watching British Eurosport and 89k (1.2%) were watching BT Sport 2. Of course, that figure includes Moto2 and Moto3. If you take the MotoGP portion, as defined by BT from 12:45 to 14:15, then the averages for Eurosport and BT are 95k (1.2%) and 143k (1.8%) respectively. The peak figures, as noted above, for Le Mans was 148k (2.0%) and 196k (2.4%) for the MotoGP on BT.

Either way, the gap between the two races was close, perhaps closer than what BT Sport would have liked.

Canadian Grand Prix marginally up year-on-year

The Canadian Grand Prix pulled in solid numbers across the weekend, and was marginally up year-on-year, unofficial overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, screened live on BBC One averaged 4.59m (23.3%) from 18:20 to 21:00. It is down slightly on last year’s number of 4.61m (23.8%) despite a smaller timeslot, which may be considered a tad disappointing, but no doubt Soccer Aid took one or two viewers away. For the third race in a row, and what is now turning into a trend, Sky Sports F1’s coverage was up compared with 2013. The race show from 18:00 to 21:30 averaged 818k (4.2%), compared with 743k (3.8%) for the identical slot last year.

With both numbers not a million miles away from last year, the combined numbers are in the same ballpark: 2014’s combined average of 5.40m is 50k up on 5.35m from 2013. It will end up being the second most watched Canadian Grand Prix in the past decade and a bit, only behind the 2011 race which averaged a massive 6.12m across five and a half hours. Part of me wishes yesterday’s race did a little better, but it is still a very good rating.

Elsewhere, Paddock Live from 21:30 averaged 166k (0.8%), whilst the Track Parade brought 221k (1.6%) from 17:30 to 18:00.

Practice and Qualifying
Live coverage of Qualifying on BBC One from 17:00 to 19:20 averaged a solid 2.43m (16.6%), which is virtually identical to last year’s 2.41m. Sky Sports F1’s coverage brought in a further 435k (2.8%), up nearly 100k on last year’s number of 351k (2.6%). The combined figure of 2.87m will be the second highest in the past decade, only behind 2011 which had an extremely high number of above 3.5m.

It is worth mentioning Practice 3 which did very well on Saturday afternoon. BBC Two’s coverage averaged 850k (8.8%), with Sky Sports F1 adding 142k (1.5%) – so almost 1 million viewers watching practice which is a brilliant stat. Overall it has to be said another that on the ratings front, things are starting to come together and is really a complete 180 from the first four races, which is great to see. We’re also setting some fascinating trends: BBC’s numbers have largely stagnated whilst Sky is increasing its numbers every so slightly. Next up is Austria, meaning that there is nothing for me to compare against. The only potential comparison is with the European Grand Prix’s that were held in late June when it was held in Valencia, but I’ll pull together a ratings article for Austria nevertheless. Frustratingly, the race highlights are on BBC Two, which is going to hurt numbers.

The 2013 Canadian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Why F1 is still experiencing a viewer decline – even with VOD included

Yesterday, AUTOSPORT published an article noting that BBC’s iPlayer figures for Formula 1 have increased 33 percent, whilst their Radio 5 Live figures have increased 53 percent. The paragraph concludes by noting that “there is a growing view that the way people consume F1 is changing dramatically”. Whilst I agree that habits are changing, I’m not entirely convinced by the validity of that sentence.

Let’s come back to that later, and instead look at some other statistics. Compared with the first six races last year, BBC’s Formula 1 coverage has dropped by 12 percent, whilst Sky Sports F1’s live race coverage has increased by 11 percent according to unofficial overnight viewing figures from Overnights.tv. If you knew absolutely nothing about viewing figures, you might be led to believe that Sky’s ratings are beginning to move mountains and are taking viewers off BBC hand over fist. Well…. not quite.

In fact, whilst BBC’s figures have dropped 426k for a variety of factors already covered in detail on this blog, Sky’s viewing figures have increased only 79k. See how things now look different? Because Sky Sports F1’s viewing figures are coming from a low base, it means that any increase it makes will seem massive percentage wise. The combined figures for the UK are down 8 percent or 350k. The point I’m making is that percentages do not always tell the full story, and they certainly don’t here.

All the percentages we have are listed below:

+ 53 percent = BBC Radio
+ 33 percent = BBC iPlayer
+ 11 percent = Sky TV (+79k)
– 8 percent = BBC TV + Sky TV (-350k)
– 12 percent = BBC TV (-426k)

Thanks to BBC’s monthly iPlayer reports, we have some Formula 1 figures dating back a few years, which are as follows:

2011
– 254k – Australia
– 297k – China
– 286k – Canada
– 277k – Germany
– 262k – Singapore

2012
– 417k – Australia highlights
– 316k – China live

2013
– 484k – Australia highlights

2014
– 521k – Bahrain highlights

From a percentage point of view, 33 percent seems like a huge increase. It’s worth noting that AUTOSPORT probably would not have been given the raw figures from BBC’s Media Centre team, I imagine that the only figures they were given were percentage increases. But what about from a raw figures perspective? The 33 percent increase is about 100k, which definitely does not cover the entirety of BBC TV’s drop this season, nor does it account for 350k drop overall. Or, for that matter, why Formula 1’s UK viewing figures have dropped over half a million viewers between 2011 and 2014. And if BBC iPlayer is ‘only’ averaging 500k for Formula 1, one assumes the Sky Go/On Demand effect is negligible. I’d also argue that the reason Bahrain is showing above is because of the TV timeslot it was in – had that race been broadcast live on free-to-air television, it definitely would not have had 521k via iPlayer.

Whilst there is changing viewing habits, you cannot escape the fact that there are fans no longer watching the sport and are not being replaced by new fans at the same rate, whether it is due to the on-track action changing (DRS, Pirelli’s, turbo’s), those in charge of the sport running into a power-trip with no direction thanks to rules nobody wishes to see (double points), fans feeling distant from the sport (expensive ticket prices) or because Formula 1 is moving to a pay TV model, thus pricing people out of the sport – MotoGP fans know what that feels like. I’ll let you decide…

Monaco Grand Prix hits 2014 high

The on-going rivalry at Mercedes between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg helped the Monaco Grand Prix ratings in the UK, unofficial overnight figures show. After a bleak first four races, ratings began to pick up in Spain, signalling the start of a turnaround.

Race
Live coverage of the race itself, screened on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 15:30, averaged 1.10m (12.1%). Finding an equivalent rating for last year is somewhat difficult due to the red flag period, but using a similar 12:00 to 16:15 slot brought an average of 889k (11.5%), so Sky was about 25 percent up year-on-year. BBC’s ratings were up 7 percent year-on-year. Highlights on BBC One from 17:05 averaged 3.33m (23.3%), up on the 3.11m (22%) recorded last year.

The combined figure of 4.44m is not only the highest number of the year so far, which in my view is a sign of how poorly the first four races did, but also the highest Monaco Grand Prix number since 2011. 2012 and 2013 averaged 3.80m and 4.00m respectively, whilst 2011 averaged a massive 4.99m. 2011 was helped somewhat by the red flag period which meant that programme sustained higher viewership numbers for longer. 2010 also slots in above 2014, which makes 2014 the third highest number in the past decade and a bit. On the front of it, its a very good number for the F1. It also makes for a potentially great Canadian Grand Prix number in two weeks time. The Track Parade from 11:30 averaged 268k (3.5%), whilst Paddock Live averaged 230k (2.2%) from 15:30.

Qualifying
The ratings trajectory for Qualifying was identical to the race. Sky’s live coverage from 12:00 to 15:00 averaged 578k (6.5%). That number is a record high for the channel where Qualifying is concerned. No doubt the Rosberg incident helped significantly, but I do admit to being surprised by that, mainly because they had an hour post-session reaction yet it rated higher than those programmes with only 35 minutes reaction. BBC’s highlights averaged 2.53m (16.8%). With both channels up on last year, the combined Qualifying figure of 3.11m is the highest for Monaco since 2011, and the second highest on record. From a ratings point of view, it was a very, very good weekend for Formula 1.

I’ll be interested to see if that was replicated across Europe. I think certain people in Formula 1 need to blame themselves for the poor start to the season ratings wise. When you are throwing negative hyperbole into the media about the sound, what do you expect? No one is going to be drawn towards a product that the main players are criticising, hence it really was no surprise that the first quartet failed to do well. For the moment, the media will continue to push the Hamilton and Rosberg angle, a good news story for Formula 1, as long as they can. In my opinion, the casual fans like personalities more than the technology. The Mercedes story is a great story for the media to push, and you can guarantee that Sky will be pushing it into Montreal. Whilst I may not like seeing ‘Hamilton overdrive’ at times, with ratings like the above, in some ways, I can’t say I particularly blame them.

Indianapolis 500
Over on BT Sport 2, live coverage of the Indianapolis 500 peaked with 36k (0.3%) at 18:50. The main programme from 16:30 to 21:00 averaged 23k (0.1%). The number is up comfortably on 2013, and at the lower end of the Sky Sports numbers. Since I’ve started this blog, a recurring question is always “why so low”, where the Indianapolis 500 is concerned. Sadly, the answer is, and always will be fairly simple for me to answer, as I noted two years ago.

The 2013 Monaco Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.