Motor sport ratings (week ending 14th July, 2013)

With Formula 1 going on its first of two Summer breaks, it meant it was time to shine for some other forms of motor sport, specifically two wheels. Live coverage of MotoGP from the Sachensring in Germany brought an average of 1.01 million viewers to BBC Two from 12:30 to 14:00 according to BARB. This is slightly down on its usual numbers, but not too surprising given the unusually warm British Summer weather as of late. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I dread to think what numbers MotoGP will deliver on BT Sport next year. In my opinion, they are not going to look pretty. Without going into a full blown debate in this post, numbers will more than likely end up below 500,000 viewers with MotoGP being pushed out of the public spotlight. Eurosport’s numbers are unavailable, as are the numbers for BBC’s Red Button service.

Also of interest to motor sport fans on BBC Two was the fantastic Hunt vs Lauda documentary, which acted as a ‘preview’ of Rush, out in cinemas in September. The documentary averaged 2.23 million viewers, slightly above the slot average and benefiting from a Top Gear lead-in of nearly 5 million viewers. Because of that documentary, a repeat airing of Grand Prix: The Killer Years fared brilliantly on BBC Four, averaging 799,000 viewers, making it the most watched programme on the station for the week.

Over on ITV4, the Tour de France again dominated the top ten, with the highlights shows averaging between 463,000 and 698,000 viewers. Live coverage at the weekend averaged 320,000 and 477,000 viewers respectively. Numbers are down on last year, presumably due to no Bradley Wiggins involvement, with highlights shows last year bringing between 650,000 and 850,000 viewers. Sky Sports F1’s highest rated show unsurprisingly was The F1 Show, which averaged 60,000 viewers. All other ratings were under 18,000 viewers as is typical during a non race week. It will be interesting to see if The F1 Show Special did any better than the usual editions. Due to the lack of promotion, I suspect not.

Highlights of the first IndyCar race from Toronto on ESPN averaged 18,000 viewers in the early hours of Sunday morning, whilst live DTM coverage later on at 12:15 brought 15,000 viewers both safely in ESPN’s top ten. I would be surprised if IndyCar’s move to BT Sport 2 for the next race in Mid Ohio changes its fortunes significantly, I imagine you’re looking at similar ratings to now, barring a miracle.

Details for first IndyCar race on BT Sport revealed

Scheduling details for the first IndyCar race on BT Sport have this evening been revealed. The fourteenth round of the season from Mid Ohio will air live on BT Sport 2 on Sunday 4th August from 20:00 to 23:00. BT Sport formally take over from ESPN UK as part of their acquisition of the group, as announced back in May.

In another announcement this evening, it looks like that Georgie Thompson will be part of the new BT Sport channel after all. Thompson, who left Sky Sports in February and announced a move to America last week, is currently listed on DigiGuide as one of the hosts of the BT Sports Panel on Saturday mornings alongside Tim Lovejoy. A mistake? We shall see….

Update on July 29th – The Georgie Thompson listing is still there on DigiGuide. At this stage, it has to be an error, I cannot see it being anything else. I do find that interesting though, because it shows that BT Sport were definitely in advanced stages of bringing her on board, but for whatever reason, original plans fell through. Rather amateurish though of BT Sport not to notify DigiGuide and rectify it.

As for the IndyCar Series, a repeat airing is scheduled for ESPN UK on Monday 4th August from 17:30 to 20:00, whilst Indy Lights Series highlights are scheduled for the Tuesday at 21:30, so it seems nothing is changing on that particular front. I’m not going to list each individual airing, but both are repeated several times throughout next week.

Less than 18,000 viewers watch Indianapolis 500 in UK

Less than 18,000 viewers watched live coverage of the Indianapolis 500 on ESPN UK, official ratings from BARB show. The official ESPN UK top 10 for that week shows:

1 – 120k – Live Aviva Premiership Rugby (Saturday, 14:00)
2 – 24k – Live Football Friendly (Saturday, 23:01)
3 – 24k – Live Football Friendly (Thursday, 25:20)
4 – 23k – Live UFC (Saturday, 27:00)
5 – 22k – ESPN FC Press Pass (Tuesday, 18:00)
6 – 22k – Live UFC Preliminary Fights (Saturday, 25:05)
7 – 21k – Goal! Special (Saturday, 17:47)
8 – 19k – ESPN FC Press Pass (Wednesday, 18:02)
9 – 19k – ESPN FC Press Pass (Monday, 18:00)
10 – 18k – Pardon the Interruption UK (Monday, 16:30)

I suspect the figure was near to 10,000 viewers on average. It also shows, as I said at this time last year why the race gets little coverage in the UK. This is unlikely to change on BT Sport from August onwards. Yes, IndyCar will still remain on ESPN (but under BT’s ownership), but there will be no incentive for BT to promote IndyCar’s when you look at the figures above. Here are the figures for the year so far:

– 24/03 (St Petersburg) – 25,000 viewers
– 07/04 (Barber) – under 15,000 viewers
– 21/04 (Long Beach) – no ESPN data reported
– 05/05 (Sao Paolo) – 16,000 viewers
– 26/05 (Indianapolis 500) – under 15,000 viewers

Some of last year’s Sky Sports figures can be found here. In my opinion, year-on-year comparisons are largely irrelevant when the figures are so minuscule. If IndyCar finds itself clashing with a more higher priority event from August onwards, it will draw the short straw – again. As far as I can see, there is nothing that will change on that subject any time soon.

USA Ratings: Formula 1 rockets to six year high; Indianapolis 500 slumps to record low

Whilst the Monaco Grand Prix did not do great numbers in the United Kingdom, over in America the picture was significantly different as the sport soared to six year ratings highs. It was not all good news for motor sport, however.

The race, screened on NBC from 05:00 Pacific and 08:00 Eastern, was seen by an average of 1.46 million viewers. The figure makes it the highest figure for a Formula 1 race since the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, which averaged 1.49 million viewers. In comparison, last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was seen by 427,000 viewers on SPEED Television. FOX’s four race average for 2012 was 1.04 million, so Monaco’s figure was considerably higher than that. Overall, the ratings picture is looking very rosy in America, the fans over there liking the ‘new style’ Formula 1 where tyres, DRS and KERS are concerned. It also shows what happens when a sport moves to a higher profile network, as has happened in America with the rights moving from SPEED to NBC.

NBC’s press release also notes increases versus SPEED’s coverage in two key demographics:

– 461,000 vs 127,000 in the Adults 18-49 demographic
– 674,000 vs 160,000 in the Adults 25-54 demographic

Elsewhere, NASCAR is still king with an average of 7 million viewers over on FOX in primetime. No Indianpolis 500 viewership numbers have been reported, however, Sports Media Watch are reporting that the race scored a 3.8 overnight rating, the lowest since the race began airing live in 1986. After several barren years, Formula 1’s popularity appears to be back on the rise in America, thanks to the success of Formula 1’s return to America last year, and no doubt ratings may improve further if an American such as Alexander Rossi comes onto the scene in the future, the country is such a huge market which the sport needs to exploit.

BT Sport to screen IndyCar Series from August

BT Sport are to screen the IndyCar Series from August, it has been confirmed this evening. As confirmed by Mark Coyle, BT’s Head of Digital Production on Twitter: “Our confirmed list of US sports: College basketball, Indy Car, NASCAR, college football, MLB, Red Bull, MLS.”

At the beginning of 2012, it was announced that the IndyCar rights would be switching to ESPN following a long association with Sky Sports. The announcement that ESPN was to be owned by BT Sport from August left fans concerned that BT Sport would not cover the series.

The news this evening puts an end to that speculation. The ESPN channel will still exist after July, however, so whilst the rights have formally switched to BT Sport, I fully expect IndyCars to continue to be screened on ESPN, just now under the BT Sport umbrella.