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.

News round-up: Two countries lose F1 FTA; Berger subject of Ofcom complaint

There’s a few broadcasting related bits of F1 news that are making the rounds that there is little point me adding to other than what is already out there, but worth me blogging about in one summary piece.

The first point is that Formula One Management produced their first 4K feed over fibre during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. There’s a video below from Tata Communications for anyone who wants to know more.

Now, whilst I don’t know enough about 4K to answer this, the thought that always comes into my mind is whether 4K is another ‘fad’, and if so, is money being wasted here? Doing a few quick Google searches, the consensus appears to be that 4K is better than 3D (if the two can really be compared). Since Sky screened last year’s final test from Barcelona live and in 3D, the experiment in the UK has began to disappear. The next piece of news from further afield in Europe is that Czech Republic and Slovakia fans will have to subscribe to pay-TV stations to watch Formula 1 from next season. The AMC Networks International Central Europe deal is an exclusive one, including GP2, GP3 and also Sky Sports F1’s Legends series as well.

And lastly, in their bi-weekly bulletin published three weeks ago, Ofcom have cleared Sky Sports over an incident that happened during the Austrian Grand Prix race day programme involving Johnny Herbert and Gerhard Berger. The relevant bit on page 37, notes that Berger uttered the words “fuck” and “shit”, which, despite Herbert apologising at the end of the piece, resulted in one person complaining to Ofcom (not me, for the avoidance of doubt!). Sky said that it “deeply regrets the use of inappropriate language during any of its live broadcasts and takes the issue extremely seriously indeed”, and that the rest of the programme structure was adjusted so that Berger did not appear in the remainder of their live programming. Ofcom considered the matter resolved, in any case.

On a separate note, the eagle eyed of you may notice that I am now a student again, final year undergraduate for anyone interested (more on the ‘About‘ page). I’ll try and keep the blog updated throughout the next eight months, but just in case there are periods of inactivity, that is why!

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.

The current BBC and Sky arrangement and championship run-ins

The 2014 Formula One Drivers’ Championship battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton is, more likely than not, going to be decided at the season decider in Abu Dhabi with five races to go. However, should reliability befall either of them in any of the next two or three races, then the Brazilian Grand Prix could end up being a title decider. Okay, double points makes that unlikely, but let’s assume for the sake of this piece that bad reliability does befall Rosberg and that Hamilton walks into USA and Brazil with one hand on the title. The chances of that happening are low, however it is a possibility.

On the broadcasting side of things, this is the first time that a British driver has been in championship contention since 2010. 2011 and 2013 were walkovers from Sebastian Vettel whilst Vettel battled Fernando Alonso in 2012. It poses some interesting thoughts, when you consider how the final five races are structured in this current landscape:

– October 5th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC and Sky live
– October 12th – Russia (Sochi) – BBC and Sky live
– November 2nd – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky live; BBC highlights
– November 9th – Brazil (Interlagos) – Sky live; BBC highlights
– November 23rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC and Sky live

My first thought is how, on reflection, BBC’s decision to choose Canada over Brazil as a live race may turn out to be an utterly catastrophic move. The pick process begins with BBC choosing three races to broadcast live, and Brazil was not one of them. The problem I see with the way the picks worked out is that you cannot build any momentum whatsoever heading into the season finale. It’s brilliant having all these races in European primetime, but if you’re going to go down the pay-TV road with a 50/50 split, then it wipes out any positive effect that it may well have on viewing figures. Japan and Russia can do brilliantly, but the moment USA comes along, momentum goes as the BBC highlights will be on at 22:30 at night.

I’m going to paint a hypothetical scenario. Heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix, these are the standings, with the Russian, Japan and USA results in brackets:

1. Lewis Hamilton – 302pts (1st/2nd/2nd)
2. Nico Rosberg – 271pts (2nd/DNF/3rd)

Do I think that is going to happen? No. Would I go to the bookies to place a bet on for those results? Absolutely not. But chances are, one of the other will suffer reliability problems before Interlagos. And if Hamilton escapes Texas with a points gap of 25 points or bigger, then there are some fascinating questions. The idea of a British driver winning the championship exclusively live on pay-TV is something I have not mentioned in the two and a half years since I began writing the blog, simply because the possibility has never arose. After the results of Singapore, which swung the championship back into Hamilton’s favour, that possibility has just increased.

A peak audience of 13 million viewers watched Hamilton’s title victory on ITV in 2008, Formula 1’s biggest ever audience in this country. A race, which could end up with a British driver winning the World Championship, is an event of national sporting importance, and one which, in my view, should be screened live on terrestrial television. No ifs. No buts. Brazil could be that race. The Brazilian Grand Prix at the moment is scheduled to be a highlights race, presumably on BBC Two at about 21:00 or 22:00. Whether any room for negotiation could occur would depend on how watertight the contract is, and whether force majeur could be applied. I’m not sure it can in any case: the process for picking races was fair and Sky would quite rightly not be happy if BBC could go and screen a race live that they [Sky] originally picked as an exclusive race for themselves. Such a move would make a mockery of the contract, unless there is a clause that allows BBC to screen any “title deciding races involving a British driver live”.

One thought, and a potential compromise should the Brazilian Grand Prix become a bonafide title decider would be for BBC to begin their highlights programme whilst the race is happening, at about 16:30 UK time, joining the closing laps as live if needs be. Whilst this exact scenario has not happened, jumping into a race halfway through from highlights to live has happened before, as Mark Wilkin, BBC’s F1 producer at the time, noted from the 1990 Mexican Grand Prix: “It became clear while we were playing out the early highlights of the race that the latter stages were going to be really exciting. We had an edit of what had happened so far on a tape that was going to air as the excitement was building live. I felt it was more important to be live for the closing laps than it was to show the highlights of the missing laps. That was when Prost got into, I think, second place. And so the programme jumped forward.”

“The explanation offered by James Hunt was ‘now we can go live’. Modern technology would make it easier to have seamless coverage even in those circumstances but we simply couldn’t shorten anything once it was on air in those days (because it was on a physical tape) so the choice was to miss everything live (and probably incur an overrun) or get live. That meant at least we were live for Mansell’s amazing pass of Gerhard Berger around the outside of Peraltada”, Wilkin continued. Another possibility, if the above was not an option, would be for Sky to simulcast the Brazilian Grand Prix live on Sky1 for those without access to the F1 channel. Cricket and golf fans reading this blog will know what it is like to have events of a national importance behind a pay wall, notably The Ashes and the Ryder Cup.

Personally, as I said at the outset, I don’t think the championship will be won until Abu Dhabi thanks to double points, but if the momentum continues to swing towards Hamilton, both broadcasters better be prepared to make some contingency arrangements, or face criticism, heading into Interlagos…

Update on October 18th – So with both Japan and Russia now gone, Lewis Hamilton has two more wins to his name, with Nico Rosberg having two more second places, meaning that Hamilton has extended his gap to 17 points. Daniel Ricciardo is now effectively out of the title race. For Hamilton to win the championship in Brazil, he needs to leave Interlagos with at least a 50 point gap, meaning he needs at least a 25 point margin coming out of USA for that possibility to occur. Note that exactly a 50 point gap out of Brazil would be good enough, as Rosberg has only four wins to Hamilton’s nine as of writing.

So, what needs to happen in USA for Brazil to potentially become a title winning race for Hamilton?

– Hamilton needs to win and Rosberg to finish in 3rd or lower
– Hamilton needs to finish 2nd and Rosberg to finish in 5th or lower
– Hamilton needs to finish 3rd and Rosberg to finish in 7th or lower
– Hamilton needs to finish 4th and Rosberg to finish in 8th or lower
– Hamilton needs to finish 5th and Rosberg to finish in 9th or lower
– Hamilton needs to finish 6th and Rosberg to finish outside of the points

Anything else, and the championship will definitely go to Abu Dhabi. A retirement for Rosberg in America and all of a sudden the possibility of Hamilton clinching the title in Brazil is a more realistic possibility. We shall have to wait and see what actually does happen.

Singapore soars to record highs

The Singapore Grand Prix attracted record viewing figures in the UK across the weekend, as both BBC and Sky enjoyed their highest numbers for Formula 1 in recent memory.

Race
Live coverage of the race, screened exclusively on Sky Sports F1, averaged 961k (10.5%) from 12:00 to 15:45 according to unofficial overnight figures. That number in my opinion is particularly good considering what was happening in the Leicester City vs Manchester United game over on Sky Sports 1 at the same time, no doubt there was a lot of channel hopping during yesterday afternoon. It is also up nearly 200k on the 2013’s figure. BBC One unsurprisingly also recorded an increase year-on-year. The highlights programme from 17:00 to 18:30 averaged a strong 3.72m (23.9%), comfortably BBC’s highest highlights figure of the entire year.

The combined average of 4.68m is easily the highest ever for Singapore, beating the previous best of 4.43m (35.7%) in 2010. In comparison, last year’s average was 3.94m, so a year-on-year increase of 19 percent. For a European time-zone round, it is the highest figure for over a year. It is a brilliant number, and one that was desperately needed given the well known ratings difficulties that Formula 1 has had this year. The peak figures are just as impressive. Sky Sports F1 peaked with 1.46m (13.9%) at 15:00, whilst BBC One’s highlights programme peaked with 4.75m (28.9%) at 18:10 as the race edit came to a conclusion, a combined figure of 6.22m. In comparison, the 2011 race peaked with 5.74m (41.6%), admittedly there are some people in the 2014 figure who may have watched both channels, but the exact number who may have chose to do that is impossible to know.

Qualifying
BBC One’s highlights of qualifying averaged 2.45m (17.9%), with Sky Sports adding 509k (5.9%). The 2.96m combined figure is also the highest ever figure for a Singapore qualifying session. As always the case, the numbers exclude Now TV, Sky Go, BBC iPlayer and the such like. In the UK, numbers for the remaining rounds should all be up year-on-year, given the slump we seen at the back end of last season. It looks like that the Lewis Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg title battle is starting to draw in casual viewers, in the UK at least.

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