Looking ahead to 2015

2014 has been a fascinating year in the world of motor sport broadcasting, from the launch of BT Sport’s MotoGP series to the launch of the Formula E series. 2015 looks like it will be another intriguing year with plenty of news lines heading into the New Year and beyond.

Something I was expecting to be announced last week did not happen. Normally, the BBC and Sky 2015 picks are revealed before Christmas, as has been the case previously. Presumably, the reason for the delay is because neither broadcaster expects Korea to appear in the finalised calendar. I would be surprised if there was a separate reason, but we shall see. The picks will need to be confirmed in the first few weeks of January, so that both sides can start publicity, in particular Sky where their exclusive races are concerned.

Another story that will be followed throughout the first few months of 2015 are the Premier League highlights rights, which went out to tender recently. The Guardian reported in November that ITV are going to bid for the highlights contract. It goes without saying that the Premier League highlights, through their Match of the Day brand, is the most important contract that BBC Sport currently hold. Any attempt to destabilise BBC Sport’s portfolio could have major consequences. The early rumour was that Wimbledon could be split between BBC and BT Sport, although this has been denied. Let us hope that any change does not effect the current BBC F1 package…

Formula One Management’s social media expansion is set to continue into 2015, with the relaunch of Formula1.com. What exactly will the new website bring? Furthermore, based on Marissa Pace’s recent comments, we may well see an official Formula 1 channel on YouTube in 2015. Elsewhere, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage enters year two, and Formula E will be entering year two in September. From a UK perspective, I hope year two remains live on ITV, but we won’t know the answer to that question for many months yet. 2015 looks set to be another intriguing year on and off the track as Formula 1 heads into its second season with the V6 power units.

Official F1 feeds heading to YouTube and Facebook

The latest news in the ongoing Formula One Management social media cycle was revealed today, as it emerged that FOM will be creating official F1 channels on both YouTube and Facebook in the near future.

As noted in a detailed Q&A session with Bernie Ecclestone and Marissa Pace (FOM’s Digital Media Manager) on the Forbes website, Pace noted that the plan for FOM is to begin with Twitter, as happened back in Singapore, moving onto YouTube and eventually Facebook. “We are rebuilding Formula1.com and from Singapore onwards you may have noticed we have taken a more active role in social media so, starting with Twitter, we started in Singapore carrying on through to Youtube in the future and eventually Facebook when we get it past the legal team”, Pace said.

Pace, who was part of Kangaroo TV, noted that the “impressions were over 80 million from Singapore until the end of the season. Impressions is anybody who has seen the @F1 content that we pushed out”, whilst lastly confirming the news that James Allen revealed last month, stating that the official Formula 1 website is being rebuilt from the ground up. The new website will contain a membership area, Pace did not specify whether the membership area would be free or pay to use. If it was pay, I can’t say I would be enticed to sign up unless there were some valuable extras, for example access to (present or past) some of FOM’s archive which has been hyped up a bit given that it was part of the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize, the winners of which were announced today.

The YouTube content, according to Pace, will be similar to the content currently on the app, something that Ecclestone agreed with, Ecclestone himself noting that content such as the driver pen interviews would not “hurt anybody and it’s good and interesting because it’s instant.” Ecclestone rejected the notion that their YouTube channel would contain any race action, which should not be too much of a surprise given the nature of the current broadcasting contracts. It is difficult to know when the YouTube and Facebook will happen, I hope FOM has presence on both platforms in time for the 2015 season.

It is clear, as has been the case before, that Ecclestone himself does not understand social media. “People in here tell me that we need social media because it is good for us. It’s better than Aspirin. Since people have been breaking my balls about social media I have been looking at this Twitter thing and I can’t see anything on there except [Mercedes motorsport boss] Toto Wolff and one of my daughters and I thought people put things on there, how does that help Formula One?”, Ecclestone says in the Q&A.

Commenting further on social media, Ecclestone said “If it works, the whole point about this I believe, is to encourage people to watch television. I’m not sure, and I have always thought ‘does it actually do that’ and I don’t know. So probably in a year’s time I shall be looking for figures to see what has happened. The only trouble about that is that if there are more people watching television is it because of this or because there are more people watching television?”

An interesting line from the piece is that their social media team only has eight people. I would assume that does not include the people developing the app and the website, otherwise that would be an extremely small group of people. As I’ve said before, it is good again to see FOM heading in the right direction with social media, and this is just further evidence. Whether they are moving as quickly as some people would like, that is up for debate…

Revamped Formula 1 website to launch in 2015

Following on from comments made by Bernie Ecclestone to Campaign Asia, which I analysed yesterday on this blog, I see that James Allen has confirmed that a revamped Formula 1 website will be launching in 2015.

Writing on his website, Allen said that, in response to falling viewing figures, Formula One Management “has now got a social media department at Ecclestone’s base in Princes Gate; it’s why they are investing in a new F1.com for 2015 and in the official F1 app, which has sold over 3 million editions. F1.com had 67 million unique users last season and that is set to rise this year. The new site is set to engage the younger audience, using all the social media tools Ecclestone refers to and will have a level of personalisation and fan engagement which is way beyond what is there today.”

> May 2013 – FOM “may consider live streaming online”
> September 2014 – F1’s Twitter page finally hits the 21st century
> November 2014 – Are FOM taking the first steps to create their own “F1 Network”?

I’m very happy to read this. Although I can not say this with any certainty, I imagine that we could see a new version of the Formula 1 website during the off-season. The current version has been around since 2007, with a few aesthetic changes along the way, so it is about time that it has a complete overhaul. It will be interesting to see how Facebook and Twitter will be integrated into the website, given that FOM/FODM does not have a Facebook presence at the moment. I doubt we will see YouTube integration, unless FOM take the step of creating a YouTube account, which is highly unlikely.

Even if Ecclestone himself does not care much about social media, it is good to see that those under him do. As usual, Ecclestone’s comments do undermine the work of those behind the scenes at FOM/FODM, which is unfortunate as it looks like a lot will change in the next 12/24 months in their digital world. The website revamp, will only help a new generation become more interested in Formula 1, which in my view is absolutely critical for the sport in the next few years and beyond.