Hamilton’s Bahrain win peaks with 6.3 million

It was a good day for both Formula 1 and MotoGP this past Sunday, with both two and four wheels delivering solid figures across the board. Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix peaked with 6.26 million, whilst Valentino Rossi’s battle with Marc Marquez sent BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage flying above the 300k barrier, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

Race
Live coverage of the Formula 1 race, screened live on BBC One from 15:00 to 18:05 averaged 3.83m (26.0%), peaking with 5.31m (30.8%) at 17:35 as Hamilton crossed the finishing line. Over on Sky, their coverage from 15:00 to 18:30 (using the equivalent slot to 2014), averaged 640k (4.3%), peaking with 951k (5.5%). It should be noted that with the race beginning at a later time, the total TV audience as the race draws to a conclusion is higher than usual, which means that figures are higher in previous years, but with lower shares.

The combined average of 4.47m is the third highest ever for Bahrain, only behind 2010 and 2012, with the combined peak of 6.26m (36.3%) only just shy of 2010’s 6.29m (47.9%). It’s a really good number for Bahrain and again shows the importance of having the mid-afternoon races on free-to-air television in order to draw in the casual viewers. Overall during the race, for every one viewer watching on Sky, there were a further 4.88 viewers watching on the BBC.

MotoGP and BTCC
Away from Bahrain, the main story surrounded the ongoing rise of BT Sport’s MotoGP figures. In Qatar, BT’s coverage peaked with 263k (1.4%), this number increased to 281k (1.2%) for Texas. Argentina was the first time ever that BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage surpassed the 300k barrier, as a record peak of 313k (1.4%) watched Valentino Rossi win on BT Sport 2. From 19:30 to 21:00, their coverage averaged 240k (1.1%) which is significantly above any number recorded in 2014.

ITV4’s highlights, screened at the later time of 22:00 on Monday due to the FA Youth Cup final, averaged 297k (2.1%), peaking with 379k (3.1%). I would put BT’s consistent rise down to the draw of Valentino Rossi, who is clearly back on form this season and drawing people to BT’s live coverage, which they need to take advantage of. Whether it will continue, I don’t know, but it is a shame that there is no live free-to-air coverage of the series. Yes, I’m afraid that klaxon had to be raised.

Staying with ITV4, their British Touring Car Championship from Donington Park peaked with 424k (3.8%) at 14:50. Their average of 199k (1.8%) is across eight hours from 10:30 to 18:30. The numbers slumped after 15:00 against the F1, never once hitting 200k.

The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

F1 stable but low, BT’s MotoGP coverage increases

The Chinese Grand Prix drew an identical number to last year’s ratings low, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

Race
For the third time in as many races, direct comparisons are difficult, as the Chinese Grand Prix began an hour earlier this year compared with last year. Live coverage of the race, screened on Sky Sports F1 from 06:00 to 09:30, averaged 589k (14.4%). The Pit Lane build-up from 06:00 averaged 90k (8.4%), with the race portion itself, as billed in the EPG, averaging 672k (14.4%). Paddock Live, from 09:30 to 10:15, averaged a strong 244k (3.4%). The numbers compare with 681k (11.2%) for last year’s race show from 07:00 to 10:30, with Paddock Live bringing in 173k (2.1%). Paddock Live seems to be performing better this year than last, even on occasions when the race aired earlier than last year.

Over on BBC One, the highlights programme averaged 2.97m (24.5%), which compares with 2.87m (21.1%) from 2014. So the 100k that Sky lost transferred directly over to BBC’s highlights, which again I suspect it due to the earlier start time, like with Australia and Malaysia. Overall though, the total of 3.56m is identical to 2014’s 3.55m. If you want to get statistical about it, then 2015 was up 0.24 percent on 2014. Either way, both numbers are lower than previous years

MotoGP and World Endurance Championship
Heading over to two wheels, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage (or shall we call it #WaterSpillage?) peaked with 281k (1.2%), which is a record high for them and follows on from the Qatar high two weeks ago. The MotoGP portion from 18:30 to around 21:40 averaged 234k (1.0%), also a record high for their coverage. It was a big day for Moto3 and Moto2 as well on Sunday, and this was replicated in the ratings. Moto3 peaked with 127k (0.9%) at 17:15, whilst Moto2 peaked with 218k (1.1%) at 19:00. I believe that is Moto2’s highest ever peak figure for BT Sport.

Unfortunately, any good racing by the British riders was not replicated in ITV4’s highlights rating, which tumbled on Monday evening to 283k (1.3%), peaking with 349k (1.5%). If you think BT and ITV’s numbers look closer than last year, then you are not alone in that thought. That’s not necessarily good. Yes, more people are watching live – excellent. But at the expense of the highlights audience, and more critically, substantially below BBC levels, in my opinion, that’s not good at all. BT will be happy, but the overall picture is not great. It is worth noting that ITV have added more airings of the MotoGP Highlights programmes, so the aggregated picture could be better, but you can’t start adding all the airings together. As I’ve always said, how do you do the line in that situation.

Elsewhere, live coverage of the first round of the World Endurance Championship season averaged 11k (0.1%) from 11:30 to 18:30 on Motors TV, peaking with 24k. That number does not include anyone who watched via online streaming. Don’t get me wrong, I like the championship and thoroughly enjoyed going to Silverstone this time last year, but anyone who thinks that it is about to become the next big thing is wrong in my opinion. The series needs a free-to-air highlights package. As far as I’m aware, it currently doesn’t have that. There’s more chance of Formula E becoming the next big thing (if there is such a thing) than WEC. Why? Because it actually has a presence on a major television platform in the UK which it can build upon. WEC does not have that in the UK, and I don’t believe it trended on Twitter on Sunday. A lot of noise, but not much movement from those outside of the bubble.

The 2014 Chinese Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Scheduling: The 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix

The Formula 1 and MotoGP paddocks quickly head out of China and America respectively, onto Bahrain and Argentina, as both series see back-to-back races for the first time this year. The Bahrain Grand Prix is the fourth round of the Formula 1 season, with Argentina round number three in MotoGP’s season.

BBC and Sky Sports will both be screening the Formula 1 action live, with some differences compared to BBC’s usual live output. A congested weekend of live sport for them means that the qualifying show on BBC One is truncated, with half an hour of build-up and very little reaction afterwards due to the FA Cup semi-final. As far as I can see, there is not extra coverage on the Red Button for qualifying. On the brighter side, the new F1 Rewind show on BBC Two begins on Friday, as Suzi Perry and Murray Walker look back at classic F1 races, the first episode focusses on classic championship deciders.

Over on Sky, the new-look GP2 Series makes a return. The series in 2015 will feature DRS as well as a new commentator. The identity of the new commentator has yet to be revealed, but GP2’s Twitter page promises us that the revealing will be “soon enough.” So, we shall see. Elsewhere, a new classic race on the channel – the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix. Below are all the details you need…

BBC F1
BBC TV – Sessions
17/04 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
17/04 – 16:00 to 17:40 – Practice 2 (BBC Two)
18/04 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
18/04 – 15:30 to 17:05 – Qualifying (BBC One)
19/04 – 15:00 to 18:05 – Race (BBC One)
19/04 – 18:05 to 19:00 – Forum (BBC Red Button)

BBC Radio – Sessions
17/04 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18/04 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18/04 – 15:55 to 17:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
19/04 – 15:55 to 19:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

Supplementary Programming
17/04 – 15:00 to 16:00 – F1 Rewind (BBC Two)
17/04 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
18/04 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
17/04 – 11:45 to 13:50 – Practice 1
17/04 – 15:45 to 18:00 – Practice 2
18/04 – 12:45 to 14:15 – Practice 3
18/04 – 15:00 to 17:45 – Qualifying
19/04 – 14:30 to 19:15 – Race
=> 14:30 – Track Parade
=> 15:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 15:30 – Race
=> 18:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
16/04 – 13:00 to 13:30 – Driver Press Conference
16/04 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Australia
17/04 – 19:00 to 19:45 – Team Press Conference
17/04 – 20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show
22/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

NEW Classic Races
16/04 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1995 San Marino Grand Prix Highlights

GP2 Series – Bahrain (Sky Sports F1)
17/04 – 10:00 to 10:50 – Practice
17/04 – 17:55 to 18:35 – Qualifying
18/04 – 11:05 to 12:35 – Race 1
19/04 – 12:10 to 13:25 – Race 2

MotoGP – Argentina (BT Sport 2)
17/04 – 13:00 to 20:00
=> 13:00 – Practice 1
=> 15:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 17:00 – Practice 2
18/04 – 13:00 to 20:15
=> 13:00 – Practice 3
=> 16:00 – Qualifying
19/04 – 13:30 to 15:15 – Warm Up
19/04 – 16:30 to 21:00
=> 16:30 – Races
=> 21:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Argentina (ITV4)
20/04 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

IndyCar Series – Long Beach (ESPN)
19/04 – 21:00 to 23:30 – Race

British Touring Car Championship – Donington Park (ITV4)
19/04 – 10:30 to 18:30 – Races

As always, if anything changes, I’ll update the schedule.

Scheduling: The 2015 Chinese Grand Prix

It is a mammoth weekend of motor racing next weekend. Alongside the third round of the Formula One season from China, there is also MotoGP action from Texas, IndyCar action from Louisiana and the first round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season from Silverstone. It is definitely one of the busiest weekends that I can remember in a long time. The victim, from a UK scheduling perspective is the IndyCar Series, which finds itself consigned to BT’s Red Button as a result.

The main broadcasting news is that Jennie Gow will be returning to the 5 Live team, as she never travelled to either of the first two races due to scheduling clashes, in the case of the Australian Grand Prix, it clashed with Formula E, which Gow presents for ITV. Elsewhere, there is not much to report, although it appears that Anna Woolhouse will be back presenting the Midweek Report.

Sky’s offering outside of the race weekend continues to remain distinctly thin, with very few new Classic F1 races appearing in the schedule, whilst there is no sign of F1 Legends returning yet, either (although why they can’t do a similar series with the journeymen of the sport, I don’t know). Tales from the Vault should be back soon, as episodes are being taped this month.

Below are all the scheduling details, for what will hopefully be Hamilton vs Vettel – Round 2…

BBC F1
BBC One
11/04 – 13:00 to 14:15 – Qualifying Highlights
12/04 – 14:00 to 15:55 – Race Highlights

BBC News Channel
11/04 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1
12/04 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1

BBC Radio
09/04 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
10/04 – 02:55 to 04:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/04 – 06:55 to 08:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/04 – 04:55 to 06:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/04 – 07:55 to 09:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12/04 – 06:30 to 09:00 – Race

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
10/04 – 02:45 to 04:50 – Practice 1
10/04 – 06:45 to 09:00 – Practice 2
11/04 – 04:45 to 06:15 – Practice 3
11/04 – 07:00 to 09:45 – Qualifying
12/04 – 05:30 to 10:15 – Race
=> 05:30 – Track Parade
=> 06:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 06:30 – Race
=> 09:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
09/04 – 08:00 to 08:30 – Driver Press Conference
09/04 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Malaysia
10/04 – 09:00 to 09:45 – Team Press Conference
10/04 – 11:00 to 12:00 – The F1 Show
15/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

NEW Classic Races
12/04 – 18:15 to 19:00 – 1990 French Grand Prix Highlights

MotoGP – Texas (BT Sport 2)
10/04 – 15:00 to 22:00
=> 15:00 – Practice 1
=> 17:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 19:00 – Practice 2
11/04 – 15:00 to 22:15
=> 15:00 – Practice 3
=> 18:00 – Qualifying
12/04 – 16:30 to 21:00 – Races
12/04 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Texas (BT Sport Xtra)
12/04 – 14:50 to 16:30 – Warm Up

MotoGP – Texas (ITV4)
13/04 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

IndyCar Series – Louisiana (BT Sport Xtra)
12/04 – 20:00 to 23:00 – Race

World Endurance Championship – Silverstone (Motors TV)
12/04 – 11:30 to 18:30 – Race

As always, I’ll update the schedule if anything changes.

ITV’s MotoGP highlights stumble as BT increases

Highlights of the first MotoGP race of 2015 stumbled off the starting blocks last night as BT Sport recorded a record high for its MotoGP coverage, unofficial overnight viewing figures show.

Last year, BT Sport’s coverage from Qatar averaged 126k (0.8%) from 15:00 to 20:30. The MotoGP portion averaged 187k (0.8%), peaking with 230k (1.1%). The programme length this year was slightly shorter due to rugby coverage preceding it, with new programme The Chequered Flag following at 20:00. Yesterday, from 16:00 to 20:00, BT Sport 2 averaged 172k (1.1%), which is up on the equivalent number of 142k (0.8%) from twelve months ago. For the MotoGP race, from 18:30 to 20:00, the channel averaged 212k (1.1%), peaking with 263k (1.4%). By all three measures, BT Sport was up year-on-year, by around 15 percent. BT’s numbers are actually a record high for them.

Those of you that follow my F1 posts know that, even if the pay TV broadcaster does increase its numbers, it is rendered redundant if the free-to-air broadcast struggles. And that is the case with ITV4. ITV4’s Qatar highlights programme last year from 20:00 to 21:00 averaged 492k (2.2%), peaking with 603k (2.6%). This year, the programme averaged 372k (1.6%), peaking with 455k (1.9%). So whilst BT gained, ITV4 lost a quarter of its audience. The end result is that, combined, coverage averaged 584k versus 679k last year, a drop of 14 percent. Again, I would remind readers that in 2013, BBC Two’s live coverage averaged 1.67m (6.9%), peaking with 2.12m (8.4%).

It’s probably worth noting that, over the course of last year, ITV’s higlights dropped off towards an average of 300k. The first 2015 rating is slightly above that. Whether 2014’s first programme was an anomaly for ITV because it was the start of the new deal, remains to be seen.