Scheduling: The 2015 Valencian MotoGP / Putrajaya ePrix

The 2015 MotoGP season, which has seen some fantastic racing and amazing battles, comes to a controversial conclusion this upcoming weekend in Valencia. It is Valentino Rossi versus Jorge Lorenzo for the MotoGP championship. Following the events in Sepang, Rossi starts Valencia from the back of the grid for his collision with Marc Marquez. I wouldn’t want to predict what will happen in Valencia given that the situation is extremely volatile.

What I do know is that anyone broadcasting MotoGP next weekend will be in line for some bumper viewing figures, including BT Sport who I would expect to smash their current MotoGP record high peak figure of 330k (4.4%) from Le Mans.

Elsewhere, it is the second round of the 2015-16 Formula E season, taking place in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Action will air live on ITV4 on Saturday morning with highlights on Sunday on ITV.

MotoGP – Valencia (BT Sport 2)
06/11 – 08:00 to 15:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 1
=> 10:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 12:00 – Practice 2
07/11 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
08/11 – 07:30 to 09:15 – Warm Up
08/11 – 09:30 to 15:00
=> 09:30 – Moto3 race
=> 11:15 – Moto2 race
=> 12:45 – MotoGP race
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Valencia (ITV4)
09/11 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

Formula E – Putrajaya (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
This assumes the UK does have access to the live streaming service, after confusion in Beijing.
07/11 – 23:45 (Friday) to 01:10 – Practice 1
07/11 – 01:45 to 03:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Putrajaya
07/11 – 05:00 to 07:30 – Race (ITV4)
08/11 – 09:25 to 10:20 – Highlights (ITV)

As always I will update the schedule if anything changes.

Controversy helps MotoGP sizzle

A spectacular MotoGP season hit the tipping point in Sepang this past Sunday, with BT Sport rewarded as a result, overnight numbers show.

Marquez vs Rossi – TV reaps the rewards
The battle off the track between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi soon became an on-track battle, the two colliding in sensational fashion in Sepang. A one-minute peak audience of 300k (8.2%) at 07:15 witnessed the drama come to a head on Sunday morning on BT Sport 2. Live coverage of the race, from 06:30 to 08:00 averaged 186k (5.0%), the 5-minute peak was 269k (7.5%) at 07:15. BT Sport opted to extend their post-race broadcast until 09:00, the extra hour bringing a solid 110k (1.6%). Their entire broadcast from 03:45 to 09:00 averaged 101k (4.4%), this number including the Moto2 and Moto3 broadcasts.

As documented on these pages, BT’s MotoGP ratings upswing comes at a time when TV ratings are heading downwards. Last year’s coverage from Sepang averaged 68k (1.9%) from 04:45 to 09:15, with a 5-minute peak of 179k. Again, 2015’s viewing figures are significantly up on 2014. I think BT have been incredibly lucky to have the season that they have had this year. Over on ITV4, highlights from 20:00 to 21:00 averaged a further 301k (1.3%), recording a 5-minute peak of 384k (1.7%), also up on last year’s figure of 257k (1.1%).

Combined, the two channels recorded an average of 443k, which compares with the BBC’s live and repeat combined average in 2013 of around 1.1 million for Malaysia. You would expect more of a drop off for the fly-away races than the European rounds, the key for BT Sport and ITV is to continue in the right direction for 2016 and not make 2015 a ‘one hit wonder’, as it were. I could say the scale of the drop off is poor versus 2013, and it is as I have mentioned before, but the signs from 2015 so far have been very, very positive for MotoGP. I’m intrigued to see how the Valencia programming performs. It should be BT Sport’s highest ever MotoGP ratings, but as we saw this past weekend with the US F1 Grand Prix, what we expect to happen and what actually materialises are two different things.

Is Formula E about to suffer second season syndrome?
Over in the electric world, the picture was less than rosy. After a strong finish to season one in Battersea Park, Formula E stumbled for the start of season two in Beijing. The ePrix, airing live on Saturday morning on ITV4 from 08:00 to 10:30, averaged just 88k (1.4%) – the third lowest for the series, only behind Putrajaya and Moscow from season one. The Beijing number is significantly lower than the average audience of 266k (4.0%) for the inaugural race in September 2014.

The 5-minute peak of 168k (2.4%) was also down on the equivalent peak figure from 2014 of 477k (6.8%). In my opinion, it is a disappointing figure. On one hand, you could say that the drop was because last year was the inaugural race and all the hype that surrounded that, but on the other hand, did Formula E not gain any new followers from Battersea Park airing on ITV’s main channel in June? The fact that the season started on the same weekend as both Formula 1 and MotoGP running will have dented the numbers though, it should be noted, the lowest three numbers have all been when the series has held a race on the same weekend as Formula 1.

Highlights on ITV’s main channel performed okay with an average of 244k (3.1%), peaking with 321k (4.2%) at 10:00, up on ITV4’s highlights number from one year ago. The number is below the slot average and was beaten by three of the other four terrestrial channels. The combined live and highlights average of 332k is down on last year’s inaugural number of 426k, or down nearly a quarter. Moving the highlights to ITV’s main channel has helped reduce the deficit.

Ratings and scheduling aside from the series as a whole, advertising of the series has been poor from ITV. I watched multiple hours of the Rugby World Cup the weekend before last, which attracts a core male audience, and I did not see one trailer for Formula E. A series cannot attract a wider demographic without advertising, ITV need to realise that for the series to draw bigger numbers. ITV did produce a trailer for the season opener. If this was F1, you would expect to see the ITV pre-season trailer multiple times across a week. I didn’t see Formula E’s trailer once (anecdotally, of course). The problem we have: ITV won’t advertise > ITV’s viewing figures stay low > ITV won’t pay Formula E any more money as a result > Formula E want more money > Formula E can’t go to pay-TV otherwise figures would be embarrassing. Of course, Formula E could take the series to pay-TV, but if you are only attracting 300k on free-to-air television, you are looking at below 50k on BT Sport or Eurosport.

Time will tell how this plays out, but for Formula E’s sake, numbers cannot settle at a lower level than last year, in my opinion.

Scheduling: The 2015 United States Grand Prix / Malaysian MotoGP

Alongside the start of the 2015-16 Formula E season, next weekend could be the biggest weekend of the entire year. They call 2015 the year of the goat for a reason.

Next weekend, Valentino Rossi could become a eight-time MotoGP champion, his tenth covering all three classes. Over in America, Lewis Hamilton is on course to become a triple Formula One World Champion. It really could be huge, the former more than the latter. As usual, MotoGP will be exclusively live on BT Sport, with all the action live from Sepang. The crucial MotoGP race starts at 07:00 UK time. Assuming I have not jinxed it by writing the above text, if Rossi holds any sort of lead following the Australian Grand Prix at Philip Island, then it is possible that he could be crowned champion next weekend. BT Sport have extended their post MotoGP programme to 08:30, presumably pre-empting a potential Rossi championship victory.

Over in America, coverage of the United States Grand Prix will be exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, although the race is being simulcast on Sky Sports 1. If Hamilton does clinch the championship either in America or at the Mexican Grand Prix, it will be the first time that Sky have screened the title clinching race since the current deal started in 2012. I discussed this last year, but obviously there will be a substantial dent in viewing figures as a result. It should be Sky Sports F1’s highest ever ratings given the circumstances. Understandably, if Hamilton does win the championship next weekend, it is also a controversial moment from a broadcasting perspective given that there will be no live free-to-air coverage of that happening. BBC are repeating their highlights programme on Monday afternoon on BBC Two, which they have not done since the mid 1990s, in response to Hamilton potentially winning the championship.

Another beneficiary of no live BBC television coverage will be BBC Radio 5 Live, who should record some good numbers both online and DAB. One note about their coverage is that Jennie Gow will be joining them later in the weekend due to the aforementioned Formula E coverage on ITV on Saturday morning, so she will presumably be flying over to America later on Saturday.

Below are all the details you need…

NOTE: Clocks go back one hour on Sunday 25th October, with the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time. The times listed are for BST on Saturday and before; GMT for Sunday and afterwards…

BBC F1
BBC TV
24/10 – 21:45 to 23:00 – Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two England and Wales)
=> BBC Two Scotland: 22:00 to 23:15
=> BBC Two Northern Ireland: 22:15 to 23:30
25/10 – 22:30 to 00:00 – Race Highlights (BBC One)
26/10 – 13:00 to 14:30 – Race Highlights (BBC Two)

BBC Radio
22/10 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
23/10 – 15:55 to 17:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
23/10 – 19:55 to 21:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
24/10 – 16:00 to 17:00 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
24/10 – 18:55 to 20:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
25/10 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
23/10 – 15:45 to 17:50 – Practice 1
23/10 – 19:45 to 22:00 – Practice 2
24/10 – 15:45 to 17:15 – Practice 3
24/10 – 18:00 to 20:45 – Qualifying
25/10 – 17:30 to 22:15 – Race
=> 17:30 – Track Parade
=> 18:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 18:30 – Race
=> 21:30 – Paddock Live
=> simulcast on Sky Sports 1 from 18:55 to 21:30

Supplementary Programming
22/10 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Driver Press Conference
22/10 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: United States
23/10 – 22:00 to 22:45 – Team Press Conference
24/10 – 00:00 to 01:00 – The F1 Show
24/10 – 20:45 to 21:45 – Tales from the Vault: Amazing Achievements
28/10 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

MotoGP – Malaysia (BT Sport 2)
23/10 – 02:00 to 04:45 – Practice 1
23/10 – 06:00 to 09:00 – Practice 2
24/10 – 02:00 to 09:15
=> 02:00 – Practice 3
=> 05:00 – Qualifying
25/10 – 01:30 to 03:15 – Warm Up
25/10 – 03:45 to 08:30
=> 03:45 – Moto3 race
=> 05:15 – Moto2 race
=> 06:45 – MotoGP race

MotoGP – Malaysia (ITV4)
26/10 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

V8 Supercars – Gold Coast 600
24/10 – 05:15 to 08:15 – Race 1 (BT Sport 1)
25/10 – 04:00 to 07:00 – Race 2 (BT Sport ESPN)

I’m not anticipating any changes, but if there are, I will update the above schedule.

Update on October 21st – A very late addition to Sky Sports F1’s schedule for Austin. A new episode of Tales from the Vault will air, called ‘Amazing Achievements’. The show will be presented by Peter Windsor with Johnny Herbert and John Surtees joining him in the studio.

Update on October 23rd – A new BBC F1 show has turned up! Called F1 Focus and presented by Tom Clarkson, it is essentially a longer version of Inside F1 but at 25 minutes in length and more in-depth. Austin’s edition was filmed on Thursday. Whether this is a one off, a new thing, or a replacement to Inside F1, who knows. It could be a one off for Austin and Mexico – but Tom Clarkson’s tweet says “new preview show“, which certainly suggests it will be regular going forward.

Update on October 24th – Following the cancellation of Saturday’s qualifying session, please refer to this updated schedule for Sunday’s Grand Prix timings.

Shedden’s BTCC title victory peaks with 384k

A peak audience just shy of 400,000 viewers watched Gordon Shedden clinch his second British Touring Car Championship on Sunday afternoon, overnight viewing figures show.

Live coverage of the final round of the series from Brands Hatch aired on ITV4 from 10:15 to 18:30, averaging 166k (1.5%), a number slightly below ITV4’s average for that timeslot. The first race of the day peaked with 181k (2.2%) at 11:40. Numbers for race one remained above 100k until 12:03, at which point they dropped to as low as 96k (1.0%) as the Russian Grand Prix started. Race two peaked with 216k (2.4%) at 14:39, but it was race three where all the drama occurred. Featuring no less than three Safety Cars, the race averaged 349k (2.2%) from 17:27 to 17:58, peaking with 384k (2.3%) at 17:47 as Gordon Shedden climbed through the pack to take the championship away from Jason Plato.

The 5-minute peak of 380k (2.3%) at 17:45 is slightly up on the peak audience recorded last year of 357k (2.0%), although the average audience is marginally down year-on-year. The figures year-on-year are good for the championship, but the problem is that the further back you go, the figures are not actually as good. 2013’s season finale peaked with 697k (3.8%). Clashing with the Grand Prix is having a negative impact on the final day of the BTCC championship, and that is evident again this year. BTCC still brings in great numbers for ITV4, but it has lost a little bit of its edge in the past year and a half.

Over in Motegi, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage performed fantastically well on Sunday morning. No doubt boosted by a lot of same-day recording activity, BT’s MotoGP segment from 05:30 to 07:00 averaged 175k (14.4%), peaking with 244k (20.8%) at 06:06. VODSAL activity or not, that is a brilliant number for the coverage, and would give quite a few races from both this season and last season a run for their money. In comparison, BT Sport 2’s coverage in the same time slot last season averaged 70k (6.2%). I imagine BT will be chuffed to double that number, and a bit more on top of that, especially when you consider Marc Marquez won the championship at Motegi this time last year.

It is fair to say that BT have been incredibly lucky to have Valentino Rossi back on top form and fighting near the front. If anyone is capable of boosting BT’s viewing figures, it is Rossi. BT Sport’s full programme from 02:45 to 07:15 averaged a respectable 98k (8.4%), compared with 42k (3.8%) from 2014. Although BT’s viewing figures are a far cry from the combined BBC numbers, they should take solace from the fact that their average of 175k (14.4%) is not too far behind BBC Two’s live Motegi number of 204k (18.4%), albeit that was broadcast from 04:30 to 06:00. BT Sport’s MotoGP repeat added a further 50k (0.5%) at 14:00 on Sunday afternoon.

Note: As of this post, The F1 Broadcasting Blog will be reporting one-minute peak audience figures as well as five-minute peak figures. All figures in this post are Live + VODSAL. Where a raw ‘live’ figure has been posted, this will be stated in the main body.

Scheduling: The 2015 Russian Grand Prix

The motor sport calendar is a weird thing. You have weekends where there is not much occurring, and then you have other times when the timetable is full of motor sport. Next weekend is jam-packed: Formula 1, MotoGP, BTCC and a lot more filling the spotlight.

Formula 1 heads to Russia where it feels like the majority of action will take place off the track rather than on it, but we shall see what happens before next Sunday’s race begins. BBC’s schedule is back to usual with the Forum on the Red Button, whilst Sky have a split qualifying show for the second year running due to Russia’s unique schedule which sees the first GP3 race placed in the gap between practice three and qualifying.

While F1 is in Russia, both MotoGP and the World Endurance Championship are in Japan, at Motegi and Fuji respectively. British Eurosport will be covering the latter exclusively live as Motors TV are showing the Bathurst 1000 at the same time. A note on the MotoGP, because of the Rugby World Cup and the timezone difference, BT’s coverage will be mostly studio based for Japan, Australia and Malaysia. Elsewhere, the British Touring Car Championship and the Blancpain Sprint Series come to their conclusion next weekend.

All the scheduling details you need can be found below…

BBC F1
BBC TV – Sessions
09/10 – 07:55 to 09:45 – Practice 1 (BBC Two)
09/10 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
10/10 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
10/10 – 12:10 to 14:25 – Qualifying (BBC One)
11/10 – 11:00 to 14:15 – Race (BBC One)
11/10 – 14:15 to 15:15 – Forum (BBC Red Button)

BBC Radio – Sessions
09/10 – 07:55 to 09:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
09/10 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/10 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/10 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/10 – 11:00 to 14:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Supplementary Programming
08/10 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
09/10 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
10/10 – 14:30 to 15:30 – F1 Rewind (BBC Two)
10/10 – 19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
09/10 – 07:45 to 10:00 – Practice 1
09/10 – 11:45 to 13:55 – Practice 2
10/10 – 09:45 to 11:25
=> 09:45 – Practice 3
=> 11:15 – Qualifying – Part 1
10/10 – 12:15 to 14:35 – Qualifying – Part 2
11/10 – 10:30 to 15:15 – Race
=> 10:30 – Track Parade
=> 11:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 11:30 – Race
=> 14:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
08/10 – 13:00 to 13:30 – Driver Press Conference
08/10 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Russia
09/10 – 15:00 to 15:45 – Team Press Conference
09/10 – 16:00 to 17:00 – The F1 Show
14/10 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

GP2 Series – Russia (Sky Sports F1)
09/10 – 10:00 to 10:50 – Practice
09/10 – 13:55 to 14:35 – Qualifying
10/10 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
11/10 – 08:00 to 09:15 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Russia (Sky Sports F1)
10/10 – 07:30 to 08:05 – Qualifying
11/10 – 06:55 to 07:55 – Race 1
11/10 – 09:25 to 10:25 – Race 2

MotoGP – Japan (BT Sport 2)
09/10 – 01:00 to 03:45 – Practice 1
09/10 – 05:00 to 08:00 – Practice 2
10/10 – 01:00 to 08:15
=> 01:00 – Practice 3
=> 04:00 – Qualifying
11/10 – 00:30 to 02:15 – Warm Up
11/10 – 02:45 to 07:15 – Races

MotoGP – Japan (ITV4)
12/10 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

Blancpain Sprint Series – Zandvoort (BT Sport 2)
10/10 – 13:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying
11/10 – 12:30 to 14:30 – Race

British Touring Car Championship – Brands Hatch (ITV4)
11/10 – 10:30 to 18:15 – Races

V8 Supercars – Bathurst 1000
11/10 – 23:30 to 07:30 – Race (Motors TV)
11/10 – 00:00 to 07:45 – Race (BT Sport Europe)

World Endurance Championship – Fuji
11/10 – 03:00 to 09:15 – Race (British Eurosport)
13/10 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Quest)

If anything changes, I will update the schedule above.

Update on October 10th at 14:30 – The heavy crash of Carlos Sainz in practice three meant that the first GP3 race has been pushed back to tomorrow. I’ve updated the schedule above to take that into account.