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.

Italian Grand Prix peaks with 5.3 million

Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Italian Grand Prix peaked strongly across BBC One and Sky Sports F1 yesterday, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
The race, broadcast live on both BBC and Sky, peaked with 5.29m (47.1%) at 14:20. The share it should be noted is particularly strong, showing that the total available TV audience was slightly lower than usual for this race; in 2011 the race peaked with a much stronger 5.78m but only peaked with a 43.9% share of the audience. It is definitely one of the better figures this year for a European race, although it is difficult to tell whether this was a result of what happened in Spa, or simply a result of their being no Premier League football. At the time of the peak, 4.39m were watching BBC One, with a further 903k on Sky, an 83:17 split, or to put it another way, for every one viewer that Sky had, BBC had nearly five times more. The peak, is higher than 2008, 2009 and 2010, only down on the aforementioned 2011 and 2012, which was a highlights race.

BBC One’s coverage from 12:10 to 15:30 averaged 2.99m (30.1%). Sky Sports F1, from 12:00 to 15:30 averaged 611k (6.2%). Unusually, both channels were up year-on-year which is nice to see. As thus, the combined average of 3.60m is up year-on-year. It is significantly down on 2011 and 2012, but up on 2010’s figure of 3.47m (33.7%). Elsewhere on Sky Sports F1, the Track Parade segment averaged 136k (1.8%) and Paddock Live’s billed slot of 15:30 to 16:15 averaged 160k (1.7%).

Qualifying, BTCC and BSB
Live coverage of qualifying on BBC One averaged 1.95m (23.4%) from 12:10 to 14:30. Sky Sports F1’s coverage from 12:00 to 14:35 averaged 370k (4.5%), bringing the combined figure to 2.32m. I think that figure is marginally down year-on-year, but it is by no means a disaster. Following the qualifying session, GP2 on Sky averaged 72k (0.9%).

Unsurprisingly, when Formula 1 is on, any other motor sport scheduled opposite it is harmed in the process. Both the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbikes were the affected parties yesterday. From 10:45 to 17:45, the BTCC averaged 95k (1.0%) on ITV4, which is much lower than their usual average of above 200k. The peak figure of 229k (2.0%) at 17:05 is significantly below what you would normally expect as a result. Live Superbikes Sunday from 09:15 to 18:00 on British Eurosport 2 averaged 69k (0.8%), peaking with 145k (1.4%) at 16:30.

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

Scheduling: The 2014 Italian Grand Prix

Following the last round in Belgium, which seen Daniel Ricciardo close in on both Mercedes drivers at the front of the field thanks to their own coming together, the field heads to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix!

If you want to jump to the schedules, click the links below…

– Thursday 4th September
– Friday 5th September
– Saturday 6th September
– Sunday 7th September
– Wednesday 10th September
– Classic F1

Both BBC and Sky Sports are live weekend, meaning that it is the usual schedule for both, and not too many surprises worth pointing out. There is an oddity in the Sky schedule which claims that practice one is getting half an hour of build-up, which (outside of Australia) never happens so that should change, which is why I’ve deliberately used the normal programme time in the piece below. One scheduling note that is accurate is BBC giving practice three half an hour of reaction. It’s good to see that happen, and bridges some of the gap between practice three and qualifying shows.

Elsewhere, the second episode of Tales from the Vault is on immediately after the race on Sunday, focussing on underdogs, with Damon Hill, John Watson and Pat Symonds as guests. There currently is not a third episode scheduled for after Singapore, as only two episodes have been filmed so far. I’d expect further episodes to turn up later in the year, or more realistically 2015 sadly given that there is a lot more travel and time involved in the last haul of races. Here are all the details you need:

Thursday 4th September
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:30 to 23:45 – Gear Up for Italy (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 5th September
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
11:00 to 11:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
14:50 to 15:30 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
16:00 to 16:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 6th September
08:45 to 09:20 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:25 to 09:45 – The F1 Show: Journalists Special (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:30 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1)
12:10 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
13:00 to 15:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1 + 1)
14:35 to 16:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 7th September
08:20 to 09:20 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:45 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
10:45 to 17:45 – BTCC: Rockingham (ITV4)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live
12:10 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC One)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
16:15 to 17:15 – Tales from the Vault (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 10th September
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
30/08 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1991 Canadian Grand Prix Highlights
31/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1993 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
01/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1994 British Grand Prix Highlights
02/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1986 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
03/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2008 Italian Grand Prix
04/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 1989 Italian Grand Prix
05/09 – 18:00 to 20:00 – 2010 Italian Grand Prix
06/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1993 Italian Grand Prix Highlights
07/09 – 17:15 to 18:00 – 1995 Italian Grand Prix Highlights
07/09 – 20:30 to 21:30 – 1973 Season Review
08/09 – 21:00 to 21:30 – 1981 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
09/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
10/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix
11/09 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1986 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
12/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 1999 Austrian Grand Prix

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

Update on August 30th – Sky’s coverage of qualifying is being simulcast on Sky1. Whilst good, I don’t understand why they are doing this for a race where BBC are also live. Seems a bit of a waste to me.

Update on August 30th at 18:30 – So an advert during Saturday Night Football concerning the F1 shows that Sky’s coverage does indeed start Friday ‘at 08:30’. I’m not sure why that is, and for what it’s worth, that hasn’t been amended in the last week since Belgium, it has always been the case.

Update on September 2nd – Sky schedule for the Friday now the usual-selves so nothing to see here.

Update on September 6th – A late edition to the schedule’s for today, and repeated multiple times is the addition of an F1 Show Journalists Special, at twenty minutes long focussing on the Mercedes drama from Spa.

Belgian Grand Prix fails to reverse pre-Summer decline

Formula 1’s struggles in the ratings continued after the Summer break, as the Belgian Grand Prix in the United Kingdom recorded the worst figure for a European round since 2008, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

Race
Before going any further, of course this is Bank Holiday weekend. However, this is by no means unusual, 2012 aside, Belgium has fell on the August Bank Holiday weekend for many, many years. So I don’t think the Bank Holiday reason is one that applies here as there is a fair playing field year-on-year. Live coverage of the race, screened live on BBC One from 12:10 to 15:30, averaged 2.44m (26.4%), peaking with 3.27m (31.8%) at 14:25. In comparison, their 2013 broadcast averaged 2.89m (28.5%), albeit over a shorter slot finishing at 15:15, peaking with 3.90m (35.8%). The BBC figure is pretty bad, and is another decline for the broadcaster.

A peak audience of 784k (8.3%) at 13:05 saw Sky Sports F1’s broadcast, which averaged 475k (5.2%) from 12:00 to 15:30. Both numbers for Sky are up year-on-year, the average is up on both 2012 and 2013. 2013’s race averaged 419k (4.2%) and peaked with 698k (6.8%) for the channel. Interestingly during the race itself, neither channel failed to add on many viewers. The combined peak of 4.04m (42.7%) was recorded at 13:05, after which the audience slowly dropped to around 3.75m, before picking up to 3.99m (38.7%) at the finish. 2013’s peak in comparison was 4.52m (41.9%) half way through the race. The figures for 2014 definitely indicate that they was a turn off as soon as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg clashed on lap two, those viewers never came back until the last few laps.

It’s worth noting that there was a BBC Two highlights broadcast last night at 19:00, which usually would have been on BBC Three. I don’t know why it was on BBC Two, and I also don’t know whether any viewers were fooled into thinking that this was a BBC highlights race as a result. For the avoidance of doubt, that programme averaged 859k (5.1%). You could bundle it into the above, but then are you presenting a fair comparison? In my view, no, where would you stop the line? I could bundle in all the repeats on Sky Sports F1. You’d be carrying on for a long time. The simplest thing to do is to take into the account the live airings for the European rounds where both are live, and that is it.

The combined average of 2.91m is the lowest for a European round since the 2008 European Grand Prix, which clashed with the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Due to its positioning in the calendar, Belgium has never rated very well, which is fair enough, you cannot expect every race to set the ratings alight. The average from yesterday is down on the circa. 3.25m from 2012 and 2013, and nearly a million viewers down on the 2010 and 2011 averages.

Qualifying
Live coverage of Qualifying on BBC One averaged 1.80m (21.3%) from 12:10 to 14:20. Sky’s F1 broadcast from 12:00 to 14:35 averaged 297k (3.6%). The combined number of 2.10m looks to be down on 2013, but up slightly on 2012.

It’s worth ending this piece by mentioning a comment made by Bernie Ecclestone this past week. Ecclestone, when asked about declining TV audiences by AUTOSPORT, said: “I don’t know. We were talking to TV people about that. They [audience figures] seem to have drooped everywhere – all sports. And not just sport – other things. There are too many other things to look at.” If we are to focus on the UK for a second, then Ecclestone’s comment is accurate. There are many TV shows which have dropped significantly year-on-year. You would have to look at each case one-by-one though, especially if it is a drama or a soap opera, there may very well be circumstances unique to those particular shows (i.e. viewers not liking particular storylines to give an example).

I don’t believe sport is affected as much as other shows, from what I have seen. The Italian Grand Prix in two weeks is also live on both BBC One and Sky Sports F1, so it will be interesting to see if the figures bounce back after Belgium’s poor number.

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