Scheduling: The 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

No championship battle this year, sadly, but the Formula 1 season once again finishes with the Brazilian Grand Prix from Interlagos. Expect both the full strength BBC and Sky sides out in force as usual. BBC Two’s coverage of Practice 1 is delayed by about 65 minutes due to The Daily Politics airing on the channel from 12:00 to 13:00, but is live on BBC’s Red Button service. Practice 2 and 3 are both live as normal on BBC Two. A quick note too that it may be worth putting BBC Two on record both days in the event that rain is forecast, but I will add to that possibility later should it occur!

Sky have their usual schedule, including five classic races including the 2008 thriller on Thursday evening. A very nice schedule for them actually on the Friday which I must applaud: Classic F1, FP1, Classic F1 and FP2. No reason to move from the sofa between 11:05 and 18:00. Basic, but genius scheduling idea! Obviously it is not possibly during the European season due to GP2 or GP3, but the above really shows how to maximise a schedule. Their scheduling is not always perfect (dubious placing of the classics on Sunday, which should really bookend the new content), but the Friday schedule deserves credit.

Talking of schedules, it appears weather may prove a headache next weekend for the BBC. The title race is over, so should either Qualifying or the Race get red flagged, I am certain it will be bumped off BBC One fairly sharpish – a big night for BBC One next Saturday after the F1. And here are all of the scheduling details you need:

Tuesday 19th November
20:00 to 20:40 – F1: 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 22nd November at 11:05
20:40 to 22:40 – F1: 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Friday 22nd November at 13:50

Wednesday 20th November
20:00 to 22:30 – F1: 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 23rd November at 17:45
22:30 to 00:30 – F1: 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 24th November at 12:15

Thursday 21st November
13:00 to 13:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:00 to 18:15 – Gear Up for USA (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 22:00 – F1: 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 24th November at 22:15

Friday 22nd November
11:45 to 13:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
11:55 to 13:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
13:00 to 14:45 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
– delayed coverage
15:45 to 18:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
15:55 to 17:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
18:00 to 18:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Saturday 23rd November
12:45 to 14:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
15:00 to 17:20 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
15:00 to 17:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)

Sunday 24th November
14:30 to 19:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 14:30 – Track Parade
=> 15:00 – Race
=> 18:30 – Paddock Live
15:00 to 18:05 – F1: Race (BBC One)
18:05 to 19:05 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
19:15 to 20:15 – Legends: John Watson (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 27th November
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

As always, if anything changes I shall update this blog if necessary.

Scheduling: The 2013 United States Grand Prix

The 2013 Formula One season is heading to its conclusion with the final two races of the season, starting with the United States Grand Prix. The teams and drivers make their second visit to the Circuit of Americas which provided one of the best races of the year in 2012, so let’s hope for more of the same next weekend.

Sky are screening five Classic F1 races, albeit four in highlights form in build-up to next weekend’s race. Over on BBC, there is a 5 Live special on Wednesday as Sir Clive Woodward visits Red Bull’s factory in Milton Keynes. Qualifying highlights are a bit late though, last year they were on at 21:00 on BBC Two whereas this year they are on at 22:30. I guess there is no incentive to put them on earlier given that the title race has already been resolved. I hope the combined average in the official ratings is above 3 million, but I’m not even sure that will happen.

The F1 Show is being shown live on Sky Sports 1 and F1 for some reason.

Saturday 9th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1983 United States Grand Prix West Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt

Sunday 10th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1984 Dallas Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 15th November at 14:00

Monday 11th November
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1987 Detroit Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Saturday 16th November at 14:00

Tuesday 12th November
20:00 to 21:00 – F1: 1991 United States Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Saturday 16th November at 19:45

Wednesday 13th November
20:00 to 21:00 – Sir Clive Woodward Meets Red Bull (BBC Radio 5 Live)
20:00 to 22:00 – F1: 2007 United States Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 17th November at 12:30

Thursday 14th November
17:00 to 17:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
21:30 to 21:45 – Gear Up for USA (Sky Sports F1)
21:30 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 15th November
14:45 to 16:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
15:05 to 16:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18:45 to 21:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:00 to 00:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports 1 and F1)

Saturday 16th November
14:45 to 16:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
14:55 to 16:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
17:00 to 19:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
17:55 to 19:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
22:30 to 23:45 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two excluding Wales)
23:10 to 00:25 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two Wales)

Sunday 17th November
17:30 to 22:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 17:30 – Track Parade
=> 18:00 – Race
=> 21:15 – Paddock Live
18:30 to 21:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
22:15 to 22:45 – GP Uncovered: Big John Surtees (Sky Sports F1)
22:25 to 00:25 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 20th November
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

As always, I shall update this blog if there are any small adjustments to be made.

‘Dead rubber’ Abu Dhabi Grand Prix drops below 4 million

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix dropped below 4 million viewers to its lowest rating yet, overnight ratings reveal. This really should not be a surprise given the title race is over. What may be surprising, however, is that it appears that Sky Sports F1’s exclusive coverage actually did worse than the shared coverage for last year’s race. At this stage that is not 100 percent confirmed, and will only become confirmed in the official ratings next week.

BBC One’s highlights coverage averaged 3.367 million viewers, a 19 percent viewer share according to ITV Media. Qualifying highlights on the Saturday averaged 2.97 million viewers, a really good number for Qualifying, but again not surprisingly below what Pointless has been doing in the same slot on Saturday’s recently.

Last year, Sky Sports F1’s programme officially averaged 541,000, which is about 730,000 for 12:10 to 15:15. Yesterday failed to make ITV Media’s multi-channel top 10 which meant ‘it’ averaged under 607,000 viewers. What ‘it’ is, I don’t know. Is it the full programme average or is it the 12:00 to 15:15 average in Sky money? Either way, even with the title race over, this is fairly concerning – last year coverage was also live on BBC One, this year it was exclusively live on Sky. The problem for Sky though is that no casual viewers at all that would normally watch a race would be drawn at all towards their channel when a title race is over, they would have no reason to and are therefore unlikely to tune in. In that respect, terrestrial television and the BBC definitely has more of an advantage.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2009 – 4.88 million
2010 – 5.85 million
2011 – 4.69 million
2012 – 4.49 million / 4.68 million (using ‘35 percent theory‘)
– overnight figures were 4.40 million / 4.55 million
2013 – 3.82 million / 3.99 million (overnight rating)
– rough estimate and subject to revision

I’m not looking forward to USA’s rating, frankly. Another dead rubber race, which I cannot see doing well. It could well be a fairly embarrassing number. The side effect of that means that the season average is continuing to drop. It is not often the first half of the season is competitive and the second half of the year is domination all over. A tale of two halves, and the end number may not be pretty.

The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Vettel’s title win improves on 2012 Indian Grand Prix rating

The Indian Grand Prix yesterday was seen by approximately 4 million viewers, overnight viewing figures suggest. The figure represents an increase on 2012, where only Sky Sports F1 shown it live, but a hefty drop on 2011. BBC One’s live airing averaged 2.53 million viewers from 08:30 to 11:45. Sky Sports F1, failed to make ITV Media‘s multi-channel top ten for last Sunday meaning it was perhaps unsurprisingly under 626,000 viewers. In comparison, BBC One’s live airing in 2011 had 4.18 million viewers, so we can already see the big drop.

BBC One’s repeat airing had under 1.38 million viewers. Nevertheless, we can see that there is a fairly big drop on 2011, although up on last year. For what it is worth, I will continue recording Sky’s full programme numbers even though they have split it into three. For 2014, if it is a three piece programme for the entire season, then I will only record the main race segment figure for the purpose of these blogs.

Indian Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2011 – 5.61 million
2012 – 3.46 million / 3.67 million (using ‘35 percent theory‘)
– overnight figures were 3.48 million / 3.66 million
2013 – 4.13 million / 4.27 million (overnight rating)
– rough estimate and subject to revision

The 2013 figure may fluctuate a few hundred thousand either way, but I think we can definitely say it was up and 2012, but down on 2011. I think it is an okay rating, but not spectacular when you consider that it was the title decider. It will be interesting to see the ratings for the final few races. Abu Dhabi and Brazil should be okay, but USA could be very low, with Sky exclusivity and BBC airing at 22:30.

The 2012 Indian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Scheduling: The 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

With both championships now over, the last three races are probably more of a formality. The first of those three races takes us to Abu Dhabi, where both the GP2 Series and GP3 Series come to a conclusion.

Sky are also screening in full the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s in the build-up to the weekend’s race. A reminder too of their new format, first implemented in India, where the race show will be split into three: track parade, race and Paddock Live. Paddock Live is fifteen minutes longer this week, meaning that the ‘race show’ is fifteen minutes shorter. Clearly someone up high has decided that three quarters through their second year doing Formula 1 is the perfect time to tweak it. Right…

Tuesday 29th October
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Friday 1st November at 18:00

Wednesday 30th October
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 2nd November at 15:20

Thursday 31st October
11:00 to 11:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
19:00 to 19:15 – Gear Up for Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 3rd November at 20:15

Friday 1st November
06:15 to 06:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
08:45 to 10:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12:45 to 14:55 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14:55 to 15:35 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:00 – 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 2nd November
06:00 to 06:35 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
08:05 to 09:30 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12:00 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14:30 to 15:20 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:10 to 18:15 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC One)
19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 3rd November
07:55 to 08:45 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:10 to 10:15 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:15 – Paddock Live
12:50 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
16:15 to 17:15 – Architects of F1: Jo Ramirez (Sky Sports F1)
16:30 to 18:00 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 6th November
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)