Scheduling: The 2014 Russian Grand Prix

The next round of the Formula One season is just a few days away, however there is a lot of other motor sport action next weekend. For those wishing to jump to the schedule, click the links below.

– Thursday 9th October
– Friday 10th October
– Saturday 11th October
– Sunday 12th October
– Wednesday 15th October
– Classic F1

Beginning with the F1, and Jack Nicholls and Bruno Senna are in for BBC Radio and Sky Sports respectively. The race will be the last for Nicholls this season, whilst Senna will also be with Sky for USA and Brazil. On the schedule front, it is a weird one with timings on Friday two hours earlier, and an hour earlier than a typical European race during the latter end of the weekend. Due to a clash with the Daily Politics, practice two on BBC Two is on a tape delay, however it will air live behind the Red Button. Another oddity concerns GP3, for some reason, the organisers have stuck GP3’s first race of the weekend in between F1’s final practice session and qualifying. What that means is that Sky’s qualifying programme is split into two.

Aside from the F1, there are a plethora of other events throughout the weekend: the BTCC season finale, Bathurst 1000, the 6 Hours of Fuji and MotoGP! The WEC will be tape-delayed on Motors TV and screened live only from Eurosport’s bonus online channel. Considering how other events try and avoid the F1, I’m unsure how we’ve ended up with several top flight series on the same weekend as the F1. In any case, the schedule as always can be found below…

Thursday 9th October
12:00 to 12:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:15 to 23:30 – Gear Up for Russia (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 10th October
06:45 to 09:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
06:55 to 08:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
09:00 to 09:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
10:45 to 12:55 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
10:55 to 12:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
12:55 to 13:35 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
13:20 to 15:00 – F1: Practice 2 Repeat (BBC Two)
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
15:00 to 16:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 11th October
06:30 to 07:05 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
08:45 to 10:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:15 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
10:15 to 10:35 – F1: Qualifying Build-Up (Sky Sports F1)
10:35 to 11:20 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
11:15 to 13:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
11:20 to 13:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
13:35 to 15:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
23:30 to 07:30 – V8S: Bathurst 1000 (Motors TV)
00:30 to 07:30 – V8S: Bathurst 1000 (BT Sport 1)

Sunday 12th October
02:45 to 07:15 – MotoGP: Motegi (BT Sport 2)
07:30 to 13:40 – WEC: Fuji (Motors TV)
– tape delay
07:55 to 08:55 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:00 to 10:15 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
10:15 to 18:30 – BTCC: Brands Hatch (ITV4)
10:30 to 15:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 10:30 – Track Parade
=> 11:00 – Race
=> 14:30 – Paddock Live
11:00 to 14:15 – F1: Race (BBC One)
14:15 to 15:15 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
15:15 to 16:15 – GP Heroes: Mario Andretti (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 15th October
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
06/10 – 21:15 to 22:30 – 1993 German Grand Prix Highlights
07/10 – 21:00 to 00:00 – 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
08/10 – 21:00 to 23:45 – 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
09/10 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2000 Belgian Grand Prix
10/10 – 16:00 to 16:45 – 1994 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
11/10 – 15:05 to 17:35 – 2008 British Grand Prix
11/10 – 20:20 to 21:20 – 1976 Season Review
12/10 – 19:45 to 20:45 – 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
13/10 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2012 European Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
14/10 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1982 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
15/10 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1985 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
16/10 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2012 British Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
17/10 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2010 Belgian Grand Prix
18/10 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
19/10 – 21:00 to 21:30 – 1987 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
20/10 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
21/10 – 21:00 to 23:00 – TBA
22/10 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2005 Belgian Grand Prix
23/10 – 21:00 to 22:45 – 2003 British Grand Prix
24/10 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2010 German Grand Prix

If anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Scheduling: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2014 Formula One season has just five stops left, the first of which is at the legendary Suzuka circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix! Both channels are broadcasting both this and the Russian Grand Prix live and, as noted earlier this week, BBC are not screening either USA or Brazil live.

Over on Radio 5 Live, Jack Nicholls will be in the box as lead commentator for his third race of the year. I don’t think Natalie Pinkham will be with Sky again in Japan, so expect Rachel Brookes to be doing Pinkham’s usual duties. The F1 Show is a Team Principals special on Friday morning, so that should be good to watch.

Thursday 2nd October
07:00 to 07:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
16:00 to 16:15 – Gear Up for Japan (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 3rd October
01:45 to 03:45 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
01:50 to 03:40 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
05:45 to 08:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
05:55 to 07:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
08:00 to 08:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
10:00 to 11:00 – The F1 Show: Team Principals Special (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 4th October
02:45 to 04:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
02:55 to 04:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
05:00 to 07:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
05:00 to 07:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
07:45 to 08:45 – GP Heroes: Mika Hakkinen (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying Replay (BBC One)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 5th October
05:30 to 10:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 05:30 – Track Parade
=> 06:00 – Race
=> 09:30 – Paddock Live
06:00 to 09:15 – F1: Race (BBC One)
09:15 to 10:15 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
13:15 to 15:15 – F1: Race Replay (BBC One)

Wednesday 8th October
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
27/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2008 Canadian Grand Prix
28/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix
29/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1987 British Grand Prix Highlights
30/09 – 21:00 to 22:45 – 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
01/10 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 1998 Japanese Grand Prix
02/10 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1988 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights
03/10 – 09:00 to 10:00 – 1975 Season Review
03/10 – 21:40 to 23:10 – 1989 Japanese Grand Prix Extended Highlights
04/10 – 21:15 to 22:15 – 1996 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights
05/10 – 21:00 to 22:15 – 1994 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights

As always if anything changes, I’ll update the schedule above.

Predicting the 2015 calendar pick order

A yearly tradition on The F1 Broadcasting Blog is to predict how the BBC and Sky may play their cards where the Formula One calendar is concerned. The good news, for me, is that a first version of that calendar has been released. The main change is that Mexico returns to the calendar, at least for the moment, India was meant to return but that hasn’t happened. 2015 is a significant year, as it marks the halfway point in the current BBC and Sky broadcasting contract that was announced back in 2011, the deal running from 2012 to, and including, 2018. So, the calendar, provisionally, is therefore as follows:

March 15th – Australia (Melbourne)
March 29th – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 5th – Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 19th – China (Shanghai)
May 10th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 24th – Monaco (Monaco)
June 7th – Canada (Montreal)
June 21st – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 5th – Britain (Silverstone)
July 19th – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 26th – Hungary (Budapest)
August 23rd – Belgium (Spa)
September 6th – Italy (Monza)
September 20th – Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 27th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 11th – Russia (Sochi)
October 25th – USA (Circuit of the Americas)
November 1st – Mexico (Mexico City)
November 15th – Brazil (Interlagos)
November 29th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

Because of the way the BBC and Sky deal works, both sides have to ‘pick’ races. The races that BBC pick will be shown live on BBC One and Sky Sports F1, while the races that Sky pick will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, with highlights on BBC One. The picks go as follows:

– BBC pick three races (pick 1, 2 and 3)
– Sky pick three races (pick 4, 5 and 6)
– BBC pick one race (pick 7)
– Sky pick one race (pick 8)

This continues until every race has been picked. As there’s twenty races on the calendar, it is a 50/50 split, with BBC screening ten races live, and Sky screening the other ten races exclusively live. It goes without saying that both sides will want the high profile races (exclusively in Sky’s case), and may not want any ‘duds’, but it doesn’t work like that. I imagine Sky will go into the process looking for as many primetime races as possible towards the back end of the year, whilst BBC will want a more even distribution of races across the entire year. As always, this post is only a bit of fun, and good for discussion too as the calendar moves forward. Disappointingly, I only got nine out of 19 correct for 2014, compared with the real thing. Must try harder!

BBC pick Britain, Abu Dhabi and Brazil – Brilliant news for the BBC, as the British Grand Prix will not clash with the Wimbledon final! From 2015, the tennis competition will be held a week later, which is good news all around for Silverstone. Abu Dhabi is again the last race, so that will be picked. I was really confused to see that BBC did not pick Brazil as a live race this season, which could well turn out to be a very costly decision if either Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton gain some momentum in the next few races. Either way, whichever one of the American timezone races that the BBC chooses, Sky will immediately go for the other three, it is a no brainer in my eyes. Therefore Sky pick USA, Mexico and Canada. I don’t think Mexico would be as set in stone as the other two, but we will know more as things unfold in the next few months as to whether 2015 is a definite, it looks that way at the moment.

Surprisingly, thanks to there being four American timezone races, Monaco is still on the table after six picks. The only thing that may prevent BBC picking Monaco is that it will clash with the final day of the Premier League season, the top-tier flight finishing unusually late this season. I think the positives outweigh the negatives here though, Monaco traditionally can bring big numbers and it is too good to turn down when you consider what has already been picked. Bahrain I think will be further up Sky’s agenda than perhaps previously, due to its new mid-afternoon timeslot, meaning that it is able to pick up a higher audience than before. Therefore BBC pick Monaco and Sky pick Bahrain.

Which leaves us in this position:

March 15th – Australia (Melbourne)
March 29th – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 5th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 19th – China (Shanghai)
May 10th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 24th – Monaco (Monaco) – BBC
June 7th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 21st – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 5th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 19th – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 26th – Hungary (Budapest)
August 23rd – Belgium (Spa)
September 6th – Italy (Monza)
September 20th – Singapore (Marina Bay)
September 27th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 11th – Russia (Sochi)
October 25th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 1st – Mexico (Mexico City) – Sky
November 15th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 29th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

If we are to continue looking at the early races, I think we will see BBC pick Malaysia and Sky pick Australia. In reality, I do feel that BBC need to pick the opening round next season, because it seems to be a trend now that, since the new deal, the opening round has struggled as a result of it being exclusively live on Sky. If BBC had the opening race, they’re more likely to promote that fact more, resulting in higher viewing figures all around, but I don’t see it happening. Following that, BBC pick Belgium, Sky pick Italy, BBC pick Singapore and Sky pick Austria. Closing off the European rounds, we have BBC pick Hungary and Sky pick Germany. Germany would again be a no-go for the BBC as it clashes with The Open Golf championship.

Which means we are left with this:

March 15th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 29th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC
April 5th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 19th – China (Shanghai)
May 10th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 24th – Monaco (Monaco) – BBC
June 7th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 21st – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – Sky
July 5th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 19th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 26th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC
August 23rd – Belgium (Spa) – BBC
September 6th – Italy (Monza) – Sky
September 20th – Singapore (Marina Bay) – BBC
September 27th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 11th – Russia (Sochi)
October 25th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 1st – Mexico (Mexico City) – Sky
November 15th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 29th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

For those wondering, why Spain has been left until nearer the end as it falls on the weekend after the General Election (which did result in some slight schedule changes for the F1 in 2010) and the 5 Live team might be depleted that weekend due to Formula E. We also have China, Japan and Russia. The issue for BBC too is that China falls on The FA Cup semi-final weekend. Again, at a time when BBC’s live sport portfolio is not the largest, it makes no sense to make one weekend ‘top heavy’ with another weekend featuring no content at all. With that in mind, BBC pick Russia and Sky pick Japan. General election or not, Spain is much more attractive than China, so BBC pick Spain and Sky pick China. Which leaves the final calendar as follows:

March 15th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 29th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC
April 5th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
April 19th – China (Shanghai) – Sky
May 10th – Spain (Barcelona) – BBC
May 24th – Monaco (Monaco) – BBC
June 7th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 21st – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – Sky
July 5th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 19th – Germany (Hockenheim) – Sky
July 26th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC
August 23rd – Belgium (Spa) – BBC
September 6th – Italy (Monza) – Sky
September 20th – Singapore (Marina Bay) – BBC
September 27th – Japan (Suzuka) – Sky
October 11th – Russia (Sochi) – BBC
October 25th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 1st – Mexico (Mexico City) – Sky
November 15th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
November 29th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC

I will update this post periodically like I did last year as the calendar changes. But this is how I imagine the pick order progressing.

Updated on September 18th, 2014.

Scheduling: The 2014 Singapore Grand Prix

Formula 1 heads into the dark for its second night race of the year with the Singapore Grand Prix. The race will continue the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as the championship heads into the final third. Sky Sports F1 will be screening this race exclusively live, with highlights on the edge of primetime on BBC One. With the race normally lasting near to two hours though, it means that it will be another ‘chopped up’ package, there will be about an hour to 70 minutes of action.

On the line-up side of things, Bruno Senna is back with Sky for his third appearance of the year. Someone who won’t be there is Natalie Pinkham, it was noted on The F1 Show that she cannot fly long distances, which presumably rules her out of the latter stages of the year, Russia and Abu Dhabi aside.

A surprising and somewhat disappointing omission from proceedings is the GP2 Series, the series presumably having chosen Russia over Singapore. I enjoyed seeing GP2 as the night drew in at Singapore, and it does mean that the Sky schedule is a bit sparse over the race weekend. One piece of new content worth mentioning is a new edition of F1 Legends with Niki Lauda as guest, that should be worth a watch following the race on Sunday. The race has an extra 15 minutes of air-time on Sky Sports F1 to accommodate for the longer length.

Thursday 18th September
11:00 to 11:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:45 to 21:00 – Gear Up for Italy (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 19th September
10:45 to 12:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
10:55 to 12:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14:15 to 16:15 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
14:25 to 16:05 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
16:15 to 17:00 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:30 to 19:30 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 20th September
10:45 to 12:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
10:55 to 12:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
13:00 to 15:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
13:55 to 15:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
17:10 to 18:20 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC One)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
22:30 to 05:35 – WEC: Austin (Motors TV)
23:00 to 05:00 – WEC: Austin (Eurosport)

Sunday 21st September
11:30 to 16:30 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:45 – Paddock Live
12:55 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
16:30 to 17:30 – Legends: Niki Lauda (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:30 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 24th September
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
13/09 – 21:45 to 00:00 – 2007 Canadian Grand Prix
14/09 – 21:00 to 21:40 – 1982 Austrian Grand Prix Highlights
15/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix
16/09 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
17/09 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1991 British Grand Prix Highlights
18/09 – 21:00 to 23:45 – 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
20/09 – 00:40 to 03:40 – 2011 Singapore Grand Prix
20/09 – 15:45 to 18:45 – 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
21/09 – 17:30 to 18:30 – 1974 Season Review
22/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
23/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1981 British Grand Prix Highlights
24/09 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2007 Chinese Grand Prix
25/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 1989 San Marino Grand Prix
26/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1988 British Grand Prix Highlights

As always, if anything changes I shall update this blog if necessary.

Update on September 18th – Two very slight BBC schedule changes, due to the Scotland independence referendum, both of the highlights shows have had five minutes shaved off the end.

Scheduling: The Formula E debut / 2014 Beijing ePrix

After two years build-up, five days of testing, a mock race and many months of speculation, Formula E has arrived! The electric series begins its first season in China for the 2014 Beijing ePrix. Unusually, the series will have all of its race activity in a one day period, and on a Saturday. Practice will begin at 08:15 and 10:30 local time, qualifying at 12:00, with the race at 16:00. For the first race at least, ITV will only be broadcasting the race live, although I imagine this is the case worldwide. In the UK, qualifying is at 05:00, so it makes little sense to broadcast it live.

Instead, highlights of practice and qualifying will be part of the pre-race build-up presented by Jennie Gow. Gow, who seems to get just about everywhere in the motor sport world, will be presenting the show from London with a series of experts – for Beijing that will be gamer turned racer Jann Mardenborough and engineer Kyle Wilson-Clarke. If demand is good, and I really hope the peak is near to one million viewers on ITV4, then maybe we could see qualifying broadcast live for say Uruguay in December when the timezone is much more favourable. I hope advertising for the series picks up on ITV as we build towards the race with adverts during their big shows. The World Feed commentators, which UK viewers will hear, are Jack Nicholls and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. Nicki Shields is the World Feed pit-lane reporter and presenter of the World Feed, but I don’t think ITV watchers will see her in action for the latter. Former McLaren F1 mechanic Mark Priestley will be joining Shields out in Beijing.

There are several programmes before the opening weekend, notably a documentary covering the birth of the series on National Geographic, a preview of which is linked above. Both that, and the season preview on ITV4 are repeated multiple times over the week. From a broadcasting stand-point, it will be fascinating to see how the series is presented. From camera angles to pit lane and onto the soundtrack. The point about camera angles has not been talked about that much, but given that Formula E is limited to 150mph, the camera positions need to be strategic enough to capture this speed. This is one reason why Formula E is street circuit based, so that the lack of speed is not as obvious. Who knows how the soundtrack will really come across to viewers should they go down that route for definite. There’s a sense of intrigue that comes with it, for better for worse, I am excited to see how it goes down.

One thing is for certain: on Saturday 13th September, the eyes of the motor racing world will be on Beijing. And here, for the UK folk, are all the scheduling details you need…

Thursday 4th September
17:30 to 18:00 – Blue Peter (CBBC)
– a feature involving Formula E will air

Saturday 6th September
18:00 to 19:00 – Season Preview (ITV4)

Tuesday 9th September
17:00 to 18:00 – Racing Recharged (National Geographic)

Saturday 13th September
08:00 to 10:30 – LIVE Race (ITV4)
18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights (ITV4)
22:00 to 23:00 – Highlights (BT Sport 2)

Given that this is the inaugural race, I would expect there to be a few media appearances through the next week and a half building up to Beijing. I’ll try and keep the above updated as and when features are announced.