British Grand Prix holds up well against Murray onslaught

So a few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on here regarding the scheduling of yesterday’s British Grand Prix. As I noted in that particular piece:

“One has to wonder if the conclusion of the British Grand Prix is less important than the first few sets of the Wimbledon Men’s Singles final, and also whether the Qualifying session is less important than the Women’s Singles final.”

I have to admit, at that time, I thought no, thinking to myself that it will be an all foreign final and Andy Murray will once again get knocked out in the Quarter or Semi Final. Of course, I was left eating humble pie….

He didn’t win, though. He did however, draw an absolutely mammoth peak of 16.9 million viewers to BBC One yesterday at 18:00 and an 11.45 million viewership average throughout. In comparison, the highest Formula 1 race on record, the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, had 8.8 million. So, in reality, the BBC made completely the right decision, as I admitted on Friday on Twitter!

With the mammoth peak, it is no surprise that the F1 was dented, and although the British Grand Prix had its worst viewing figures since 2007, the figures were not bad at all considering the opposition. The weighted programme average was 3.09 million (20.9%) from 12:05 to 15:30. The percentage share, for anyone wondering, is a lot lower than usual due to there being a lot more people watching TV than usual, again due to the Wimbledon final.

I do not have the exact Sky Sports F1 figures, but again you are looking at around about 0.4 million to 0.5 million, which means a combined average of about 3.5 million. Which is actually very respectable when you consider the viewing figures for BBC One. It is not far away from the Monaco Grand Prix figure either. If anything, the Grand Prix did a lot better than I was anticipating. James Allen has helpfully tweeted a peak of 4.2 million for BBC Two, so factoring in Sky Sports F1 will take you to a peak in the 5 million region. I am not sure a ratio is relevant really considering the mammoth opposition, but you are looking at 84% to 16%, approximately give-or-take depending on the exact peak figures.

The delayed Qualifying figure did not do well, a peak of 2.3 million (22.7%) at 13:15 on BBC Two, with an average of 1.9 million viewers. Add an extra 0.2 million or 0.3 million for Sky, which gives you about 2.2 million viewers. Not a very good figure, and the worst for the British Grand Prix Qualifying since 2008. If anything, the rain delay hindered things rather than helped things, as all the casual viewers would have flocked to BBC One when the rain delay started as the Women’s Wimbledon final was getting underway.

One thing that the ratings show is that the scheduling all around has been awful this year from the FIA. The Canadian Grand Prix went against Euro 2012 directly. The British Grand Prix went against the Wimbledon final, and the Hungarian Grand Prix is going to go against the London 2012 Olympics. Who planned this exactly? The schedule should have gone something like this:

– 27th May: Monaco
– 10th June: Europe (Valencia)
– 24th June: Germany
– 1st July: Britain
– 15th July: Canada
– 19th August: Hungary
– 2nd September: Belgium

That just about directly avoids the major sporting events, with nothing directly clashing. I can only assume that there are logistical issues that prevents an event the week before Valencia or a week after in terms of transportation. There would still be a five week break halfway through the season, just slightly different with Hungary after the break rather than before it.

As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Sky Sports F1 schedule times for GP2, GP3 and Season Review repeats next weekend

Next weekend, Sky Sports F1 is showing every GP2 and GP3 Series race from the season so far. Which is a pretty good idea when you think about it, instead of showing the latest F1 race, as it is quite easy to miss a GP2 or GP3 race, so it is a good idea for them to repeat them back-to-back.

Sky are also going back to the start with their Season Reviews. They did broadcast 1988 onwards beginning in March when the channel launched, and are now going back in a full circle starting back in 1988. Here are all the times you need if you want to play catch up.

GP2 Series – Saturday 14th July
07:00 – Malaysia, Race 1
08:25 – Malaysia, Race 2
09:30 – Bahrain, Race 1 (Round 1)
10:55 – Bahrain, Race 2 (Round 1)
12:00 – Bahrain, Race 1 (Round 2)
13:25 – Bahrain, Race 2 (Round 2)
14:30 – Spain, Race 1
15:55 – Spain, Race 2
17:00 – Monaco, Race 1
18:30 – Monaco, Race 2
19:35 – Europe, Race 1
21:00 – Europe, Race 2
22:05 – Britain, Race 1
23:30 to 00:35 – Britain, Race 2

GP3 Series – Sunday 15th July
07:50 – Spain, Race 1
08:40 – Spain, Race 2
09:30 – Monaco, Race 1
10:20 – Monaco, Race 2
11:10 – Europe, Race 1
12:00 – Europe, Race 2
12:50 – Britain, Race 1
13:40 to 14:30 – Britain, Race 2

The EPG should have each race in a separate ‘programme’, so if you for example missed the second GP2 race at Monaco, you can just record that race if you wished to. Although they are not screening full Classic F1 races, the above is definitely a good way to utilise the weekend on Sky Sports F1.

Aside from that, there are the Season Review programmes, which are as follows:

– 1988: 21:00 to 22:15, Thursday 12th July
– 1989: 22:15 to 23:25, Thursday 12th July
– 1990: 21:00 to 22:00, Friday 13th July
– 1991: 23:00 to 00:10, Friday 13th July
– 1992: n/a
– 1993: 22:00 to 23:05, Sunday 15th July
– 1994: 23:05 to 00:05, Sunday 15th July
– 1995: 21:00 to 22:00, Monday 16th July
– 1996: 21:00 to 22:00, Tuesday 17th July
– 1997: 21:00 to 22:00, Wednesday 18th July
– 1998: 21:00 to 22:00, Thursday 19th July

As the channel had only just launched when the majority of the above were shown, chances are a lot of people did not spot them first time around, so definitely worth watching if you did not see them.

As always, timings are subject to change, and I shall update this blog if they do.

British Eurosport to screen MotoGP live tomorrow

Note: If you have come to this article via a search engine, this article was written in June 2012, and is no longer relevant. It will, however, be kept here for historical purposes. Thank you.

British Eurosport are to screen all three MotoGP races live tomorrow, as well as all three warm-up sessions live tomorrow, it has been announced. The broadcaster normally broadcasts the Moto3 and Moto2 races live, with the MotoGP race on a tape-delay as the MotoGP races air live on BBC Two.

However, due to live coverage of Wimbledon, MotoGP will not be airing live on BBC Two tomorrow. As with past occurrences where this has happened (such as Qatar in the past few years), it means British Eurosport is allowed to air MotoGP live as BBC will only be broadcasting it on the Red Button.

As for the warm-up, I do not remember Eurosport broadcasting Moto3 or Moto2 (even in their previous form 125cc and 250cc) warm-up’s before, so nice to see them broadcasting that too.

British Eurosport 2’s schedule tomorrow therefore runs as follows:

07:35 to 08:05 – LIVE: Moto3 warm-up
08:05 to 08:35 – LIVE: Moto2 warm-up
08:35 to 09:15 – LIVE: MotoGP warm-up
09:15 to 09:45 – LIVE: Build-up
09:45 to 11:05 – LIVE: Moto3 race
11:05 to 12:25 – LIVE: Moto2 race
12:25 to 14:15 – LIVE: MotoGP race

For viewers without access to Eurosport, the three races are live on BBC’s Red Button service from 09:45, with the MotoGP race repeated at 12:30 on BBC Two on Sunday (it’s usual timeslot). The current contract between British Eurosport and BBC expires at the end of the 2013 season.

Scheduling: The British Grand Prix

After a fantastic European Grand Prix, it’s time for Formula 1 to head home. And that means it is time for the British Grand Prix. While Sky are pulling out the stops with Classic F1 in the run up to the race, the same cannot be said for BBC. Due to coverage of Wimbledon, both Qualifying and the Race are on BBC Two, with only the Race Build-Up on BBC One.

As announced at the end of their European Grand Prix show, there is an extra F1 Show on Thursday 5th July, with a two hour build-up to the race on Sunday. Although I have not heard anything concrete, I would expect an increased on-site presence for Silverstone from both the News and F1 team, maybe even with a studio there aside from the Sky Pad, as going on air at 11:00 would be when the Porsche Supercup cars are still on track.

On BBC, there is an extra guy in the pit-lane for Radio 5 Live, former McLaren mechanic Mark Priestley is alongside Jennie Gow. 5 Live also have race car driver Tiffany Chittenden alongside them for the weekend. Finally, don’t be surprised if the F1 Forum overruns, as it is coming live from the main stage as Silverstone, so if you’re going, you may be caught on camera! I’ve also added Inside F1, presented by Lee McKenzie, below the poll for anyone interested.

Thursday 5th July
15:00 to 15:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 6th July
09:45 to 11:55 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
11:50 to 12:30 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
13:45 to 15:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:55 to 15:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
15:55 to 16:45 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
17:15 to 18:00 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 7th July
08:45 to 09:25 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Red Button)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Two)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 8th July
08:25 to 09:25 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:35 to 10:40 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:00 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 12:55 – MotoGP: Sachsenring (BBC Two)
12:10 to 12:55 – F1: Race Build-Up (BBC One)
12:55 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC Two)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
17:30 to 20:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (Sky Sports 2)
20:30 to 22:30 – FILM: Senna (Sky Sports F1)

The schedules above are now confirmed, so should not change. I’ve also added BBC’s MotoGP coverage for the Sunday as that is partly the reason why the F1 build-up is on BBC One. IndyCars and a screening of the Senna film is also above.

Sky’s IndyCar scheduling this weekend

So this weekend there is Live IndyCars on Sky Sports 2 at 02:30. Which is fair enough, that’s just the luck of the draw unfortunately that some races are on in the early hours. What I don’t get, though, is where the repeats are scheduled, or rather the lack of repeats are scheduled on one particular channel. Scrolling through the channels, I see:

– 02:30 to 05:00 – Sky Sports 2 [live]
– 10:00 to 12:00 – Sky Sports 2 [repeat]
– 17:00 to 19:00 – Sky Sports 4 [repeat]
– 20:00 to 22:00 – Sky Sports 3 [repeat]

Two of the three repeats are either against F1 or Football while the other repeat is against the Legends programme featuring Mika Hakkinen on Sky Sports F1.

With scheduling like this, it is as if Sky are not willing to commit to IndyCars given the disastrous three thousand viewers last Saturday. Fact is there, there are a lot of people that want to watch IndyCars, but can’t. Why? Because they have Sky Sports F1 but don’t have the other Sky Sports channels. I outlined the various ratings reasons here, but to summarise, this is how the IndyCar Series has rated so far this season:

Round 1 – St. Petersburg
– first hour and a half shown behind Red Button due to Malaysian Grand Prix overrunning
– Sky Sports F1
– Sunday 25th March, 19:00 to 20:30
– programme average: 21,000 (0.09%)
– peak: 34,000 (0.15%) at 19:05

Round 2 – Barber
– Sky Sports 4
– Sunday 1st April, 20:00
– programme average: under 30,000; outside of BARB Top 10

Round 3 – Long Beach
– Sky Sports 4
– Sunday 15th April, 21:00
– programme average: under 25,000; outside of BARB Top 10

Round 4 – São Paulo
– was originally meant to be shown on Sky Sports 4, but moved to Sky Sports F1 as race time was moved earlier (more here)
– Sunday 29th April, 16:30 to 19:00
– programme average: 16,000

Round 5 – Indianapolis
– Sky Sports 4
– Sunday 27th May, 16:30 to 21:00
– programme average: 28,000
– peak: 53,000 at 17:20

Round 6 – Detroit
– Sky Sports 4
– Sunday 3rd June, 20:30 to 25:00
– programme average: under 35,000; outside of BARB Top 10

Round 7 – Texas
– Sky Sports 1
– Saturday 9th June, 01:30
– programme average: ???

Round 8 – Milwaukee
– Sky Sports 3
– Saturday 16th June, 18:00 to 22:00
– programme average: 3,000 (0.01%)
– race average from 20:00 to 22:00: 4,000 (0.02%)

The above ratings are criminally low, and are in fact lower than all live content that airs on Sky Sports F1, including GP2 and GP3. With that in mind, would it not make sense to move it to Sky Sports F1 to try and boost ratings?

The current schedule for this Sunday on Sky Sports F1 is:

09:30 – LIVE: GP2 Series
10:35 – filler
11:30 – LIVE: European Grand Prix
16:15 – NEW: Legends: Mika Hakkinen
17:15 – filler
19:00 – NEW: European Grand Prix Highlights
20:30 – Legends: Mika Hakkinen (R)
21:30 – GP2 Race 2 (R)
22:35 – European Grand Prix Highlights (R)
24:05 – Legends: Mika Hakkinen (R)
25:00 – off-air

Filler’s are in the wrong place there quite frankly. The schedule, in my opinion, should go:

09:30 – LIVE: GP2 Series
10:35 – NEW: Legends: Mika Hakkinen
11:30 – LIVE: European Grand Prix
16:15 – NEW: IndyCar Series
18:15 – NEW: European Grand Prix Highlights
19:15 – Legends: Mika Hakkinen (R)
20:15 – GP3 Race 1 (R)
21:00 – GP3 Race 2 (R)
21:50 – GP2 Race 1 (R)
23:15 – GP2 Race 2 (R)
24:20 – off-air

The schedule above has nine hours back-to-back of original content without any fillers to get into the way, with the highlights show sensibly on slightly earlier to avoid a clash with Euro 2012.

For those wondering, the Legends’ series has had:

– Nigel Mansell, 18th March: 76,000 (1.03%)
– Jody Scheckter, 25th March: 49,000 (0.65%)
– Alan Jones, 22nd April: 25,000 (0.16%)
– John Surtees, 13th May: 15,000 (0.10%)

So a timeslot change for itself to earlier in between GP2 and the main Formula 1 show on Sky may actually help it. Although I suspect for such a cheap programme, ratings are not as relevant, plus they are repeated multiple times so do their job well. Back to IndyCars though, and this particular Sunday moving the Legends programme to 10:30 would open up a slot for the IndyCar Series repeat to go into at 16:15 and give it some much needed exposure on Sky Sports F1.

Because let’s face it, the IndyCar Series ratings above are not only sad, but also plain embarrassing.