Scheduling: The 2015 Race of Champions / Macau Grand Prix

Next weekend is a fairly big weekend of motor sport, with two annual events taking place. The Race of Champions will take place at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and is being broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. It looks like they have taken the live rights from Motors TV, I suspect that is a ‘one year only’ thing given that the event is in London.

Given the number of Formula 1 stars competing, such as Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, the channel are presumably hoping that the event will do better than usual non-race weekend coverage, which should be do-able. Sky are providing their own studio coverage, hence a 30-minute edition of The F1 Show live from the Olympic Park. They are taking the World Feed commentary, which is being provided by Martin Haven and Jennie Gow, the first time I believe that either voice has been heard on the channel.

Elsewhere on Sky Sports F1, there is live GP2 and GP3 action from Bahrain, the two series supporting the World Endurance Championship this weekend, itself airing on Motors TV. What this means is that Sky Sports F1 has six and a half hours of live action on Friday, none of which actually contains F1! This is a good thing though, it is about time Sky airs non-F1 content on non-F1 weekends, a case of all things falling at once here.

The other big annual event is the Macau Grand Prix, which will air exclusively live on BT Sport. The channel will be airing just over eight hours of coverage next Saturday and Sunday including the 33rd running of the Formula 3 race.

Race of Champions – London (Sky Sports F1)
20/11 – 19:00 to 23:00
=> 19:00 – The F1 Show
=> 19:30 – Nations Cup
21/11 – 15:00 to 18:00

GP2 Series – Bahrain (Sky Sports F1)
~~19/11 – 08:30 to 09:20 – Practice~~
~~19/11 – 11:15 to 11:55 – Qualifying~~
20/11 – 12:25 to 13:55 – Race 1
21/11 – 07:40 to 08:55 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Bahrain (Sky Sports F1)
~~19/11 – 09:40 to 10:15 – Qualifying~~
20/11 – 10:15 to 11:15 – Race 1
21/11 – 05:55 to 06:55 – Race 2

Macau Grand Prix (BT Sport 1)
21/11 – 04:15 to 08:15
=> 04:15 – FIA GT World Cup Qualifying and F3 Grand Prix
=> 07:00 – Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix
22/11 – 04:45 to 09:00
=> 04:45 – FIA GT World Cup
=> 07:00 – F3 Grand Prix

V8 Supercars – Philip Island
21/11 – 03:45 to 04:45 – Race 31 (BT Sport 2)
21/11 – 05:45 to 06:45 – Race 32 (BT Sport 2)
22/11 – 02:45 to 04:45 – Race 33 (BT Sport 1)

World Endurance Championship – Bahrain
21/11 – 11:30 to 18:35 – Race (Motors TV)
21/11 – 17:00 to 18:15 – Race (British Eurosport)
25/11 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights (Quest)

If anything changes, I will update the above.

Update on November 19th at 09:15 – Per GP2’s official Twitter page, it looks like no World Feed is being provided for practice or qualifying (same applies for GP3), meaning that the scheduled programmes on Sky Sports F1 will no longer air.

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.

News round-up: Formula E expands European reach; Questing not coasting

There have not been too many major news stories in the broadcasting landscape to report on recently, but there have been a few intriguing issues bubbling under the surface worth mentioning on the blog.

Formula E expands European reach, but UK deal remains a mystery
It was confirmed today that Eurosport would be broadcasting seasons two and three exclusively of Formula E in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, with the channel also broadcasting non-exclusive content in Iceland. The announcement is significant, as it allows Formula E to reach far more people than what it currently does in those territories, thanks to the Germany deal being a free-to-air one. Ali Russell, Formula E’s Director of Media and Strategic Partnership said that the deal “reinforces our outreach across key target markets in Europe alongside other existing deals.”

Whilst significant, the news is not necessarily surprising. As noted previously, Eurosport are owned by Discovery Communications who have a minority investment in Formula E. It is important to state that Eurosport’s Formula E deal does not cover the UK as, to quote Ben Constanduros, there are other deals in place which prevent it. As of writing, nothing has been publicly announced regarding where Formula E’s second season will be broadcast in the UK. 60 percent of you think ITV will broadcast season two live. We continue to wait for an official announcement on the situation.

WEC and WTCC gain UK free-to-air coverage
Good news for UK fans of the World Endurance Championship and the World Touring Car Championship, free to air highlights of both series are coming. Continuing the same theme as above, Quest TV, who are under the same umbrella as Eurosport and therefore Discovery, will begin airing a one-hour show with immediate effect.

The WEC programme will be presented by Toby Moody, airing on the Tuesday after each race weekend. The first WTCC highlights show aired last night and is currently available to watch on Quest On Demand, presented by Neil Cole. The development follows Quest TV’s successful coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans earlier this year. This is only good news for both championships, as it allows them to increase their foothold and bring in a bigger audience. I won’t be surprised if Formula E highlights turn up on Quest for season two, even if the live action is covered elsewhere. Anything that increases a motor sport series audience is good news in my view.

BT’s MotoGP ratings bounce back
A thrilling two rounds of MotoGP from Silverstone and Misano resulted in mixed viewing figures on BT Sport, overnight viewing figures showed. Silverstone peaked with 209k (2.3%), only marginally up on last year’s number of 205k (2.4%). Bank Holiday was the main reason for that number, however it was still a slight surprise when you consider that the trend so far this year has been of increases on a significant scale.

Misano fared much better than Silverstone, averaging 242k (2.8%) from 12:30 to 14:00, peaking with 317k (3.6%) at 13:40. A sign of how well Misano did is that this year’s MotoGP average is higher than last year’s peak number of 211k (2.6%). I would have expected Scott Redding and Bradley Smith’s podium finishes, along with the inclement weather, to boost ITV4’s highlights number. What we actually saw was a year-on-year drop. An average audience of 335k (1.5%) watched ITV4’s programme this past Monday, compared with 357k (1.6%) for last year’s Misano highlights programme.

Elsewhere…
Formula 1 celebrates one year of having a proper Twitter account this weekend with the Singapore Grand Prix. Technically, the F1 account on Twitter has been live since August 2009, but the proper interaction that you would actually expect from an account began last September. In the past year, their reach on Twitter has increased 62 percent from 937k to 1.52m, a fairly hefty jump, overtaking MotoGP in the process.

Over in America, great news for the IndyCar Series which witnessed a 70 percent jump in NBC Sports Network’s numbers between 2014 and 2015. Some of that has to be natural growth, but there is another part which is no doubt a result of piggybacking off Formula 1’s recent success over there. It’ll be interesting to see how much influence Alexander Rossi has on viewing figures. Okay, he is unlikely to trouble the points scores given the car he is in, but it may move NBC’s F1 numbers up further a notch or two.

24 Hours of Le Mans peaks with 428,000 viewers

The 2015 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans peaked with nearly half a million viewers across British Eurosport and Quest TV, overnight viewing figures reveal.

The race, screened live on British Eurosport from 13:45 on Saturday through to 14:15 on Sunday, averaged 70k (1.1%), which is up on last year and equal with 2013’s average. The 5-minute peak on Eurosport of 172k (2.0%) came at 13:50 on Sunday afternoon, again up on 2014, but down on 2013’s peak audience of 248k. Of course, that is taking Eurosport’s figures in isolation. When you take into account Quest’s numbers, the picture is significantly different.

Quest TV aired four programmes: two live programmes at the start and end of the race respectively, alongside two highlights programmes. The start of the race on Quest, from 13:30 to 15:30 on Saturday, averaged 140k (1.7%). In comparison, Eurosport averaged 131k (1.6%) from 13:45 to 15:30. The combined peak during this time period was a whopping 345k (4.1%) at 15:20, with the audience split 190k (2.3%) on Quest versus 154k (1.8%) on Eurosport.

Unsurprisingly, the highlights programming on Quest rated lower than the live action, with 94k (0.5%) at 21:00 on Saturday and 45k (1.6%) at 07:00 on Saturday, although both numbers were higher than the equivalent timeslot on Eurosport. Quest’s live programme on Sunday from 13:00 to 14:30 averaged 198k (2.3%), their most watched programme of the day. The combined peak audience for the entire race came at 14:00 on Sunday, as 428k (5.0%) watched the #19 Porsche car win outright. At the time of the peak, 258k (3.0%) were watching on Quest, with a further 171k (2.0%) on British Eurosport.

What is interesting about the numbers is that Eurosport never lost any viewers, their audience broadly stayed the same year-on-year. Quest TV’s audience appears to be new, because of the wider reach that the channel has, and presumably filled with viewers who can not access Eurosport. Looking at the breakdowns, Quest’s live programming outperformed the slot average comfortably, suggesting that what they did this year worked. It bodes well for them increasing their coverage in 2016, although I don’t think a complete simulcast of Eurosport’s coverage is viable or feasible. It should be remembered that both Eurosport and Quest TV are owned by Discovery Communications, this is simply two channels with the same owner working together for the greater good. Quest TV provided their own, distinct colour to the coverage with Louise Goodman and Marc Priestley presenting their shows.

Quest TV isn’t the most well known channel, but it shows what can be done. I do think Le Mans could do even better if the UK rights were not restricted by Discovery exclusivity. I can understand why it is done, as it makes the event easier to distribute across Europe, but from a viewing figures perspective, it limits the potential. According to BARB, ITV4 reaches triple the number of Quest TV, and could therefore bring triple the viewers with it. As shown, any change would not be detrimental to Eurosport’s numbers. Nevertheless, looking at 2015, the numbers are superb for Le Mans and hopefully can be built on further if the “Quest formula” is repeated and more importantly enhanced upon.

The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans ratings report can be found here

Scheduling: The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The greatest endurance race on earth takes place next weekend with the 24 Hours of Le Mans! British Eurosport have their usual extensive coverage which begins on Monday 8th June, covering practice, qualifying and the race itself. This is the only race in the World Endurance Championship season that Motors TV do not cover, with Eurosport screening the race exclusively live. Saying that, Quest TV, which like Eurosport is owned by Discovery Networks, will be covering the start and the end of the race live on their channel.

There is a half hour portion which Eurosport will not be covering live from 20:00 to 20:30 on the Saturday due to cycling highlights. As in previous years, Martin Haven leads Eurosport’s coverage, with a range of voices including Mark Shaw, Jeremy Shaw, Tom Gaymor and Liz Halliday also involved in their coverage. For those of you that watch overnight, you’ll be happy to hear that you are guaranteed a full service with the news that TV cameras will be active for the entire 24 hours.

Monday 8th June
20:00 to 20:30 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

Tuesday 9th June
21:55 to 22:30 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

Wednesday 10th June
15:00 to 19:00 – Live Practice (Eurosport 2)
20:30 to 21:00 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
21:00 to 23:00 – Live Qualifying 1 (Eurosport)

Thursday 11th June
18:00 to 20:15 – Live Qualifying 2 (Eurosport)
20:15 to 20:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
20:45 to 23:00 – Live Qualifying 3 (Eurosport)

Friday 12th June
21:15 to 21:45 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport 2)

Saturday 13th June
07:45 to 08:45 – Live Warm Up (Eurosport)
08:45 to 09:45 – Live Legends Race (Eurosport)
13:15 to 13:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
20:00 to 20:30 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
– for details of the race itself, see below

Sunday 14th June
07:30 to 08:00 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
14:15 to 14:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

The race itself beginning on the Saturday…
13:30 to 15:30 – Quest TV
13:45 to 20:00 – Eurosport
20:30 to 07:30 – Eurosport
21:00 to 22:00 – Quest TV [Highlights]
07:00 to 08:00 – Quest TV [Highlights]
07:30 to 08:00 – Eurosport 2
08:00 to 14:15 – Eurosport
13:00 to 14:30 – Quest TV

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.