Mercedes inquiry boosts Sky’s post-race show

The 2015 Italian Grand Prix may not go down as the greatest race ever, but what happened after the race helped boost Sky Sports F1’s post-race show, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, broadcast on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 15:30, averaged 657k (8.5%) with a peak audience of 1.09m (13.5%) coming at 14:15 as Lewis Hamilton claimed victory. Sky’s exclusive numbers are only up 7.5 percent versus 2014’s shared average of 611k (6.0%). Italy is one race where you expect lower numbers, simply because the race is not as long as the likes of Singapore and Monaco, meaning that there is more post-race analysis to fill.

Typically on a day like yesterday you would expect the audience to drift away to below 150k. However, the Mercedes enquiry meant that a specially extended Paddock Live from 15:30 to 17:05 averaged 256k (2.7%), one of the biggest post-race numbers of the season so far. The audience never dropped below 230k until the end of the programme, which clearly shows that there was demand for Sky to stay on air and capture the verdict live. There was very little drop off, 255k (2.4%) were watching Sky’s post-race show when the stewards decision came in at 16:45. I made the point on Twitter that this is exactly what Sky Sports F1 should be doing, and it is fantastic to see the viewing figures support that assertion. You almost need events like that to happen to justify the existence of the F1 channel, if the F1 was on another Sky Sports channel, they would have no doubt gone off air to cover the next sporting event in the schedules.

As for the race itself, I don’t like saying a race is “made for highlights”, but from the BBC’s perspective, Italy is exactly that (although they have, to my surprise, covered 2013 and 2014 live). BBC’s highlights programme averaged 3.23m (23.7%), in-line with their other highlights programming this year, so no surprises there. To prove the “made for highlights” point, the combined average of 3.88m is the highest for Italy since 2012 which averaged 4.37m, albeit the highlights were in a later slot. The viewing figures continue a run of good or solid numbers for Formula 1, however tricky waters lie ahead with the Rugby World Cup on ITV. BBC’s highlights from Singapore will clash with matches in two weeks time, but apart from that the F1 should escape relatively unscathed.

BTCC hurt by F1
Clashing with the F1 hurt the British Touring Car Championship on ITV4. On air from 10:45 to 17:45, the programme averaged 134k (1.6%). The programme average over seven hours may not tell too much, but the peak of 290k (2.8%) at 16:45 is lower than you would expect from a championship which regularly peaks with over 400k. With the World Series by Renault (BT Sport 2), ELMS (Motors TV), Blancpain GT (BT Sport Europe) and British Superbikes (British Eurosport) also airing live yesterday, it is easy to see how small the audience gets fragmented when the F1 is being broadcast.

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

The best of the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix

Across an entire Grand Prix weekend, the BBC F1 and Sky Sports F1 teams produce around eleven hours of extra content, in addition to the Formula One Management (FOM) World Feed that they, along with all the other broadcasters, have access to. There’s a fair bit of content that probably will not get watched by fans outside of that particular race weekend, probably because the segment is no longer relevant or the VT is just… bad.

However, there are also features that the broadcasters produce each race weekend that do deserve a second watch. The purpose of this piece is to talk about those features for readers who may have missed them first time around. A VT takes a significant amount of time to put together. From getting the perfect shot, to getting the filming location correct for the feature and onto making sure the sound levels are all correct. It takes a lot to put a good feature together. It takes even more to put together something that goes above and beyond those levels.

BBC F1
Interviewer: Lee McKenzie
Personnel: Jos Verstappen; Max Verstappen
Dates: July 14th and 15th, 2015 (1, 2)
Link: BBC website

Lee McKenzie's feature with Jos and Max Verstappen was easily the highlight of BBC's Belgian Grand Prix coverage... — Lee McKenzie’s feature with Jos and Max Verstappen was easily the highlight of BBC’s Belgian Grand Prix coverage…

Max Verstappen has been one of the revelations of the 2015 Formula One season so far. The BBC piece on him felt like it could have been produced by the Top Gear team it was that impressive. The length of the VT allowed the subject, in this case both Max and Jos, to be explored in detail. For me, this was probably one of the best pieces that the BBC have produced in a long time. There was something special and enjoyable about it that is rarely replicated in F1 broadcasting. The piece was split into three distinctive sections. First, a look at Max’s racing career growing up. Second, a more personal look at Max’s life so far, with more of an input from Jos, and lastly Max racing around in go-karts. It was a fabulously produced piece, and one that clearly had a lot of planning – from the initial concept to final execution on screen.

An honourable mention also to the piece that Lee McKenzie did with Fernando Alonso, which is also worth a watch. Note that the Alonso piece is geo-blocked because it contains FOM footage, whereas the piece with the Verstappen’s is not geo-blocked as no FOM footage is present.

Sky Sports F1
Interviewer: Martin Brundle
Personnel: Stoffel Vandoorne
Link: Sky Sports website

...whilst Martin Brundle gave us a great insight into what lies in Stoffel Vandoorne's future — …whilst Martin Brundle gave us a great insight into what lies in Stoffel Vandoorne’s future.

Staying in the same vein as the BBC’s Verstappen piece, Sky Sports used the Belgian Grand Prix as an opportunity to interview Stoffel Vandoorne. As with the BBC piece, we were treated to beautiful shots this time in the August sunshine. There were some big talent in the other Sky pieces, notably the team did a feature with Idris Elba in the snow at Spa. The casual viewer may remember that Elba piece better than the Vandoorne segment from an enjoyment perspective, but the Vandoorne feature is more important in the long run.

On occasion, broadcasters focus too much on the past and present, but fail to look ahead to the future. Barring any mishaps, Stoffel Vandoorne will be a major name in Formula 1 in a few years time. It is important that viewers are introduced to future characters early in their career, so that viewers can build a relationship with them, and see the young man turn into a champion one day (hopefully, they say). The piece between Vandoorne and Brundle sets the tone for the future. It builds a storyboard, and that storyboard with Vandoorne has only just begun.

Whilst BBC and Sky produced some great television during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, you cannot overlook the fact that FOM’s Digital Media team are producing more content that will no doubt make the end of season DVD review. I won’t go into as much detail as above, but one piece I’d strongly recommend watching is a piece with Fernando Alonso talking about the challenges of Eau Rouge. Yes, a piece of that nature has been done multiple times over the years. But cleverly, I felt that FOM managed to put a different spin on things here. With some great graphics and archive footage, this stood out to me as one of the best Eau Rouge pieces that I’ve seen in a long time.

Scheduling: The 2015 Italian Grand Prix

The last race of the European season comes from Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. It marks the first BBC highlights race since Austria, nearly three months ago thanks to the absence of the German Grand Prix.

As in Belgium, Sky are not simulcasting their shows on any other Sky Sports channel. I think it is fair to assume, for the moment, that the simulcasts we saw in June and July was just a Summer thing rather than anything more, but we will see if anything more turns up in the schedules as we head into the Asian and American races.

The usual schedule details are below. I’ve not included Sky’s classic races, as there are no new races to the channel in the schedule, whilst I think we are safe in saying that the F1 Legends strand of programming is not returning to the channel this year sadly. I have, however, included the World Series by Renault from Silverstone which BT Sport are giving extensive live coverage to this weekend. Abi Griffiths and Gemma Scott will be presenting the coverage, with Keith Collantine, Johnny Mowlem and Oliver Webb alongside them.

BBC F1
BBC One
05/09 – 17:00 to 18:10 – Qualifying Highlights
06/09 – 17:05 to 18:35 – Race Highlights

BBC News Channel
04/09 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1
05/09 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1

BBC Radio
04/09 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
04/09 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
05/09 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
06/09 – 12:30 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
04/09 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
04/09 – 12:45 to 15:00 – Practice 2
05/09 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
05/09 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying
06/09 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
03/09 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
03/09 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Italy
04/09 – 16:00 to 16:45 – Team Press Conference
04/09 – 17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show
09/09 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

GP2 Series – Italy (Sky Sports F1)
04/09 – 11:00 to 11:50 – Practice
04/09 – 14:50 to 15:30 – Qualifying
05/09 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
06/09 – 09:30 to 10:45 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Italy (Sky Sports F1)
05/09 – 08:45 to 09:20 – Qualifying
05/09 – 16:10 to 17:10 – Race 1
06/09 – 08:20 to 09:20 – Race 2

British Touring Car Championship – Rockingham (ITV4)
06/09 – 10:45 to 17:45 – Races

World Series by Renault – Silverstone
05/09 – 11:00 to 18:15 – Races (BT Sport 2)
06/09 – 11:00 to 16:15 – Races (BT Sport 1)

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Belgium draws identical audience year-on-year

The Belgian Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton, drew an identical audience year-on-year, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the Grand Prix on BBC One, which aired from 12:10 to 15:30, averaged 2.44m (22.5%), peaking with 3.38m (27.5%) at 14:25 as Hamilton won. Last year’s race aired across the same timeslot to an identical audience, albeit a different share: 2.44m (26.4%), with a peak of 3.27m (31.8%) as Daniel Ricciardo won. The trend, the same audience but lower share is repeated over on Sky Sports F1. Their race day show, from 12:00 to 15:30, averaged 470k (4.3%), peaking with 768k (6.2%) at 14:05. Last year’s Sky coverage averaged 475k (5.1%), peaking with 784k (8.3%) at 13:05.

It is not often you get an identical audience year-on-year, let alone an identical channel breakdown. The combined average for 2015 of 2.91m is the same as 2014, and the combined peak of 4.15m is up on the peak of 4.04m. Unfortunately, because the 2015 average is lower than 2014 (2.9065m vs 2.9103m), it does mean that the 2015 Belgium Grand Prix now holds the unwanted statistic of being the lowest rated European round since the 2008 European Grand Prix. That race went up against the Olympic Games closing ceremony from Beijing.

There are multiple reasons though why I don’t think Belgium’s numbers are anything to worry about. Alongside the warm weather, Belgium was up against a lot of sporting opposition. Premier League football on Sky Sports would have taken away a chunk of the audience, and The Ashes cricket no doubt played a factor as well. The biggest opposition though came from Usain Bolt running in the 100m final at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing. Screened live on BBC Two, the athletics hit 3m (24.4%) at 14:15. During the same five minute period, the F1 dropped to 3.12m (25.7%), showing the effect that Bolt had, albeit a very short effect given the length of the 100m race!

Looking ahead, the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks time should bring in a good number. It is a highlights race, and as we saw with 2012, should draw a big number in comparison to previous years.

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

Dissecting Bernie Ecclestone’s latest BBC F1 quotes

There are multiple websites this morning reporting quotes attributed to Bernie Ecclestone, made yesterday during the Belgium Grand Prix weekend, with relation to the current BBC and Sky deal that is due to expire at the end of 2018.

The quotes, which can be attributed to the Telegraph, AUTOSPORT or the Daily Mail, have Ecclestone saying: “I hope [BBC] continue. We’re not interested in the money, we’re interested in entertaining the public and doing a service. That’s what we’re there for. I think it would be good [to continue as we have at the moment]. It’s works at the moment, so there’s no reason why it should change. Sky have done a super job. They’ve lifted the level and lifted the BBC up.”

In relation to whether BT Sport are interested in Formula 1, Ecclestone said: “Let’s see. They’ve not been in to see me, but then even if they had I wouldn’t tell you.” The quotes were made in response to the news that RTL have extended their current deal in Germany to cover both 2016 and 2017. The price quoted by the Daily Mail for the RTL deal is 25 million per season (I’ve adjusted this sentence, Karol296 in the comments section notes that this is €25m, which is £18m, a bargain). The Daily Mail also say that it is £25 million per year for the current BBC deal, although I have in the past put that number at between £15 million and £20 million. You won’t find any information about the exact number in the public domain, but both RTL and BBC are definitely paying less than previously.

All three websites have also reported a factual inaccuracy. The current BBC and Sky deal does not expire as the end of 2017 as the three websites note. It expires at the 2018, as the BBC say themselves on their website. Where 2017 comes from, I have no idea, but I would have thought ‘end of 2018’ is a basic fact in the story. By bringing that date forward a year, you are changing the complexion of the story somewhat. I talked about what could happen in the future last month. If BBC want to stay in Formula 1, then they will enter negotiations with Sky and Formula One Management earlier than expected. A BBC spokesperson told this blog last month “We remain committed to our existing contracts for Formula 1.”

We’re not interested in the money, we’re interested in entertaining the public and doing a service. – Bernie Ecclestone (August 21st, 2015)

The majority of Ecclestone’s quote is your normal talk and nothing out of the ordinary. The only line, in my opinion, that is worth discussion is the one I’ve put in the block quote above. Coming from Ecclestone, it is difficult to look at a quote of that nature with a straight face. Every other sporting contract in the recent past has seen their value jump such as the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. The last F1 contract renewal which started the current arrangement was completed before BT Sport entered the fray. Fact is, if someone throws Ecclestone a bundle of money at the table, he is unlikely to reject it. That is just my opinion, after all Formula 1 is more a business than an entertainment franchise.

If money is no object either, then why is every race not live on free-to-air television? If RTL are paying £25 million to cover every race live, is there not precedence for saying that the BBC should be able to cover every race live by paying the exact same amount? If money is no object, then you may as well invite ITV or Channel 4 to the table and come up with a deal similar to the recent Six Nations deal that was announced. For a business built, and skewed, around money, that quote is surprising. What I think the quote does show with certainty that Ecclestone wants BBC to stay in the game. Maybe it shows that he is concerned that BBC could exit Formula 1 soon, but I’m not sure as no doubt that quote applies to RTL as well.

The earliest in my opinion that we will hear any news is the middle of next year, but that is only if BBC want to renegotiate. If they want to continue in the same vein as now, then I don’t expect to hear any news until 2017.