Scheduling: The 2013 Monaco Grand Prix

From a fairly confusing Spanish Grand Prix, it is time for the glitz and glamour in the Formula 1 world: the Monaco Grand Prix! One of the shocks when the BBC and Sky picks came out at the end of last year was the the Monaco Grand Prix will be screened on Sky Sports F1 exclusively live. As thus, BBC viewers will either have to listen to it on the radio, wait for the highlights or find another method of viewing.

Sky’s coverage during the weekend is broadly similar to last year, with an extra The F1 Show again on the schedule. The Qualifying show is 20 minutes longer but there are no other changes versus last year. As normal, there are five classic races – 1992 and 1996 in highlights form with 2003, 2008 and 2011 as full races. Aside from that, there is some special programming within the schedule. ‘Monaco: The Greatest Race of All’ first airs on Friday 17th May following The F1 Show, as Steve Rider asks drivers past and present their thoughts on the Monte Carlo race. I suspect it is bits from his ‘F1 Legends’ interviews cut into one programme, but we shall see. ‘GP Uncovered’ is a strand of archive programming looking back at past Monaco Grand Prix races. If you don’t have access to Sky Sports F1, the strand is repeated also on the main Sky Sports channels.

On BBC, due to cricket and golf on the schedule, neither Qualifying or Practice 3 are live on BBC Radio, both sessions you can only listen to online. Also not on the schedule is the GP3 Series, despite being on the Monaco Grand Prix schedule last year, they will be having a standalone race towards the end of June. I’ve also added the Indianapolis 500 to the schedule, it is unfortunate that only two men and their dogs will be watching that prestigious event…

Friday 17th May
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 21:30 – Monaco: The Greatest Race of All (Sky Sports F1)

Saturday 18th May
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1955 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the D. A. Clarke archive
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 19:30
20:30 to 21:15 – F1: 1992 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 18:00

Sunday 19th May
20:00 to 20:40 – GP Uncovered: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Castrol archive
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 21:30
20:40 to 21:20 – F1: 1996 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 18:45

Monday 20th May
20:00 to 20:40 – GP Uncovered: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the JFPT archive
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 11:20
20:40 to 22:55 – F1: 2003 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 22:10

Tuesday 21st May
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1962 French Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Castrol archive
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 17:30
20:30 to 23:00 – F1: 2008 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 22:25

Wednesday 22nd May
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
19:45 to 20:00 – F1: Gear up for Monaco (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1958 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Hepolite archive
– repeated on Sunday 26th May at 18:30
20:30 to 23:30 – F1: 2011 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 26th May at 08:15

Thursday 23rd May
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11:00 to 11:35 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 15:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15:10 to 15:55 – 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)
20:00 to 21:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 24th May
10:10 to 11:35 – GP2: Race 1 (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 25th May
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
12:00 to 15:05 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
15:05 to 16:10 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
17:35 to 18:50 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 26th May
11:30 to 16:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
16:00 to 17:00 – F1 Legends: Gerhard Berger (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 20:30 – Indianapolis 500 (ESPN)
17:35 to 19:05 – F1: Race (BBC One)
– note: For Scotland viewers, the race is on BBC Two at 18:35

Wednesday 29th May
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Spanish Grand Prix drops to four year low

The Spanish Grand Prix dropped to its lowest rating since 2009, overnight figures show. BBC One’s programme from 12:10 to 15:15 recorded an average of 3.285 million viewers, a 29 percent share. Sky Sports F1’s exact programme figure is unknown, however, it failed to make ITV Media’s top 10, meaning it had under 483,000 viewers from 11:30 to 16:20.

The joint average is therefore around about 3.77 million viewers – however that is an estimate and could be slightly lower depending on Sky’s exact figure. Either way, using my usual ‘35 percent theory‘, applied to Sky Sports F1 only to account for its longer run-time, brings the average up to 3.94 million.

Spanish Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2002 – 3.72 million
2003 – 3.20 million
2004 – 3.04 million
2005 – 2.72 million
2006 – 2.33 million
2007 – 3.15 million
2008 – 3.51 million
2009 – 3.89 million
2010 – 4.04 million
2011 – 4.75 million
2012 – 4.09 million / 4.28 million
2013 – 3.77 million / 3.94 million*

* overnight figure and approximation of Sky Sports F1 figure

The figures unfortunately do not point to a positive trend. The combined factors of lack of British success and football competition will not have helped. In 2011, Sebastian Vettel was fighting Lewis Hamilton for victory until the last lap, whereas in comparison yesterday was a Fernando Alonso dominating performance, a relative turn off for the British audience.

The peak figures are again not the greatest, a combined peak of 4.83 million viewers, with a 36.1 percent share. BBC had 4.13 million at its peak, with Sky recording 703,000 viewers. The split was 86 percent versus 14 percent, which compared to last year is bigger in BBC’s favour. BBC’s peak is down 470,000 year-on-year, with Sky’s peak down 350,000, despite having a much lower audience reach. The 2011 peak was 6.2 million, so the difference of having a last lap showdown can account for an extra 25 percent of your audience.

Monaco should be interesting from a ratings perspective, as it is a Sky exclusive race. Given that it is considered one of the ‘crown jewels’, surely Sky must see some kind of uplift from its usual exclusive race weekend ratings. I imagine they will be hoping for more viewers, at least a peak of nearly 2 million if the weather in the UK plays in their favour.

The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix ratings report can be found here. Note: The ratings information comes from Digital Spy, TV Ratings UK and BARB.

Scheduling: The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix

After the four fly away races, Formula 1 heads back to Europe, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. Both BBC and Sky Sports are live this weekend for the second time this season. Also this weekend is coverage of the GP2 Series, and round one of the GP3 Series with commentary as always from Will Buxton. One personnel addition to note for Spain, and that is Allan McNish making his first of six appearances for the BBC 5 Live F1 team, as revealed back in March.

Sky’s schedule also has several Classic F1 race highlights as outlined below, along with some 1983 action, more details on that can be found here. BBC’s schedule has slightly different practice lengths, with more post practice discussion for FP2 and FP3, a good move by them. Here’s how the schedule shapes up:

Monday 6th May
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: 1986 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 10th May at 08:00
21:45 to 22:30 – F1: 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 10th May at 12:05

Tuesday 7th May
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Saturday 11th May at 18:00
21:45 to 22:30 – F1: 1996 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Saturday 11th May at 18:45

Wednesday 8th May
20:00 to 22:30 – F1: 2011 Spanish Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 12th May at 20:45

Thursday 9th May
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
17:45 to 18:00 – F1: Gear Up for Spain (Sky Sports F1)
22:00 to 22:30 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 10th May
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
11:00 to 11:40 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:45 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
14:50 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 11th May
08:45 to 09:30 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:15 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)

Sunday 12th May
08:20 to 09:10 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:35 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 15:15 – F1: Race (BBC One)
15:15 to 16:15 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
16:00 to 17:00 – Architects of F1: Max Mosley (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 15th May
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

If anything changes, I shall update the schedule.

Update on May 4th – Sky’s new online show ‘Midweek Report’ presented by Anna Woolhouse has been added to the schedules, as thus I have added it above.

Bahrain Grand Prix ratings drop versus 2012

Coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix dropped on both Sky Sports F1 and BBC One versus 2012 last Sunday, overnight ratings show. Whilst the two channels averaged 4.24 million in 2013, the number is down on the 4.39 million average in 2012.

Sky Sports F1’s race coverage on Sunday averaged 656,000 viewers (6.1% share), peaking with 1.29 million (12.0%) at 13:20. Both figures are down on the 2012 numbers of 738,000 viewers (6.2%) and a peak of 1.6 million, following the trend seen so far this season where Sky’s figures are down versus last year. The race average itself was 1.19 million, compared with 1.4 million in 2012. The closeness in the average and peak figures again shows how Sky’s figures stay very stable during the race, but fail to bring any big peaks.

BBC One’s highlights show averaged 3.58 million, down on the 3.65 million versus from 2012. The figures are by no means a big drop, in the grand scheme of things it is fairly small compared to some of the huge drops we seen late last year for the Asian flyaways.

Overall, the 2013 ratings will be below 2010 which averaged a high 4.76 million viewers due to it being a season opener, but the weighted number for 2013 (892,000 viewers for 12:10 to 15:15 for Sky and 3.58 million for BBC’s highlights) is above 2009’s number of 4.39 million viewers. So whilst there was a drop versus last year, it is not a big enough of a drop to be concerned about and appears to within the usual year-to-year fluctuations for Bahrain.

Football competition hurts Chinese Grand Prix ratings

Competition from Sky Sports 1’s Ford Super Sunday and ITV’s coverage of The FA Cup yesterday dented Formula 1’s ratings yesterday, overnight figures show. BBC One’s re-run show averaged only 1.35 million viewers, the lowest ever figure for a Chinese Grand Prix re-run. On Sky, their second Ford Super Sunday game from 14:00 averaged 1.21 million viewers, whilst ITV’s FA Cup coverage had over 4 million viewers.

The dent in the re-run rating did not increase the live ratings, as both BBC and Sky were down year-on-year. BBC One’s live coverage brought 2.58 million (35.6 percent) to the channel, compared with 2.85 million (39.4 percent) last year. Sky averaged 455,000 viewers from 06:30 to 11:00, compared with 480,000 from 06:30 to 11:30 last year. Overall, here is a summary of the overnight race ratings:

2008 – 4.42 million (2.44m + 1.98m)
2009 – 4.63 million (3.23m + 1.40m)
2010 – 4.70 million (3.17m + 1.53m)
2011 – 4.74 million (3.27m + 1.47m)
2012 – 4.93 million (2.85m + 1.60m + 480k)
2013 – 4.38 million (2.58m + 1.35m + 455k)

The live race on BBC One peaked with 3.88 million, compared with 4.21 million last year; Sky’s peak being 846,000 viewers versus 887,000 viewers last year. Whilst the football was a valid reason for the BBC’s re-run ratings, it does not explain the drop for the race ratings, especially when you consider that a Brit was on pole.

Whilst the race was down year-on-year, Qualifying and Practice performed very well, soaring to record highs for China despite the farce that Qualifying turned into. BBC’s live coverage averaged 1.13 million, up on 1.09 million last year. The re-run averaged 1.90 million (20.6 percent) versus 1.17 million (11.9 percent) last year, albeit last year’s Qualifying re-run was on BBC Two. Sky’s coverage was marginally up – 283,000 viewers versus 251,000 viewers last year. Here is a round-up of Qualifying in China:

2008 – 1.96 million (0.63m + 1.33m)
2009 – 2.90 million (1.00m + 1.90m)
2010 – 2.30 million (1.13m + 1.17m)
2011 – 2.93 million (1.38m + 1.55m)
2012 – 2.53 million (1.09m + 1.17m + 251k)
2013 – 3.31 million (1.13m + 1.90m + 287k)

Finally practice on BBC Two performed very solidly for the channel. Live coverage of practice 2 averaged 201,000 viewers, whilst the re-runs averaged 311,000 viewers and 470,000 viewers.