ESPN win UK rights to screen the IndyCar Series

ESPN have won the rights to screen the IndyCar Series in the UK for 2013, it has been confirmed today.

The news was first broken by Sky Sports on their Facebook page this morning. In response to a question directed at them, the broadcaster said “Indycar has been signed up by ESPN, so all races will be on there from March.” Following an e-mail request from The F1 Broadcasting Blog, ESPN has this afternoon confirmed that they will be screening the series in 2013, ending Sky’s involvement. One thing to note is that the tweet does not contain the word ‘live’, indicating the coverage may not be live.

I’m afraid for all concerned, this is disappointing news. The viewing figures for IndyCar on Sky Sports were very low, despite the racing being fantastic for the majority of the time, and on ESPN the figures will most likely be in four digits most of the time considering all of Sky’s figures were in the five digit range.

Another complicated factor is that ESPN could well be exiting the UK in the middle of the year thanks to the arrival of BT Vision. If ESPN does exit the UK, then it is anyone’s guess where the series could end up, it could end up like WRC and without a home in the UK. It reminds me potentially of the GP2 situation in early 2009, Setanta Sports went into administration halfway through the season, and British Eurosport picked it back up. One does wonder if it was Sky’s move to drop IndyCar, I suspect it was their decision. Part of the reason could be that the rights were worth a lot less to them now that they had the Formula 1 rights, which of course they did not have when they previously re-negotiated the IndyCar deal back in February 2011.

Unfortunately, as it stands, I, and a lot of other people, will be without access to IndyCar in 2013 thanks to ESPN being an extra £10 on top of Sky Sports.

Update on February 8th – ESPN have today confirmed to me that they do indeed have the rights to screen every race live. However, and I quote “this depends on the programming scheduled for each day. If the race clashes with a higher profile event then the race will not be shown live but on delay.”

The status of IndyCar’s UK broadcasting rights

One talking point for motor sport fans in the off-season is what will happen to Sky Sports’ coverage of the Indy Car Series. With no news yet on whether Sky will be covering the series in 2013, if Sky choose not to cover it, the question becomes ‘which’ (if any) broadcaster will win the rights to show it.

Firstly though, why would Sky Sports choose not to cover it? Unfortunately, the first piece of evidence are the extremely low viewing figures that the Indy Car Series has on Sky. The fifteen races in the 2012 season averaged only 16,000 viewers, a very low number. The highest rated race was round four, which took place in São Paulo. That race achieved 39,000 viewers and coincidentally was also screened on Sky Sports F1. A few weeks later, and the Milwaukee round of the championship brought only 3,000 viewers. The blue-ribboned Indianapolis 500 event, which should comfortably be the most watched race, only had 29,000 viewers. All of the viewing figures can only be described as pitiful.

In comparison, Sky Sports F1’s entire live coverage of the GP2 Series averaged 24,000 viewers, whilst the GP3 Series averaged 20,000 viewers:

Series Averages
– 37,000 viewers – GP2 [Feature Race]
– 31,000 viewers – GP2 [Sprint Race]
– 21,000 viewers – GP3 [Feature Race]
– 19,000 viewers – GP3 [Sprint Race]
– 18,000 viewers – GP3 [Qualifying]
– 17,000 viewers – GP2 [Qualifying]
– 16,000 viewers – IndyCar Series
– 14,000 viewers – GP2 [Practice]

The purpose of the above is not to praise the GP2 and GP3 ratings, because, as I have outlined before, the feature and sprint races should be getting higher viewing figures, but for the IndyCar Series to have lower ratings the GP2 and GP3 Qualifying is criminal. There is the Sky Sports F1 argument and whether IndyCar Series would be benefited? Again, as said earlier, my opinion is that it would be. Any new contract between the IZOD IndyCar Series and Sky should state that races will be screened live on Sky Sports F1. Sky may consider the rights worthless in 2013 if Sky Sports F1 is not an option.

Aside from ratings, I assume that the rights are dirt cheap so they would not cost Sky much to renew it. But what if Sky Sports choose to drop IndyCars? Who will pick it up?

BBC – Highly, highly unlikely especially at a time of cut-backs.

ESPN – Would not be a good move. ESPN generally attracts less viewers than Sky Sports, meaning IndyCars would not reach out to anyone new. Plus, for people such as myself, IndyCars would become a no go as ESPN would be an extra £10 on top of my existing package.

Eurosport – A preferred option, but their treatment of four wheels is not the greatest. There is also the probability that not every race will be live. And their EPG is a mess at the best of times, sometimes it says Snooker yet you are watching something else.

ITV4 – I’d put this at the top of my list of choices, but I don’t think it would be something that ITV4 would actively look at. Nevertheless, the rights are relatively cheap and could boost IndyCars reputation in this country significantly as well as increasing ITV4’s sports portfolio ever more. A win-win.

Motors TV – Picture quality is not great, but they did screen the Race of Champions event in December, so do have some kind of budget if they wanted to screen it.

Premier Sports – This would be another likely option, but NASCAR also being on Premier Sports may cause potential problems.

My main concern is that the IndyCar Series may not have a home at all in the future in 2013. I dearly hope, that I am proven wrong. 2012 was a fantastic year for the series after a difficult end to 2011 and I hope to be able to see that continue in 2013.

Update at 20:30 on January 8th – In my initial few paragraphs, I forgot to link to this comment last September which goes into detail about the nature of Sky’s contract with the IndyCar Series.

Sky Sports dumps IndyCars behind the Red Button… again

We’ve been here before… and it looks like we’re going here again. As announced by Keith Huewen on Twitter, next Sunday’s IndyCar Series race from Sonoma is again being dumped behind the Red Button from 19:30. Meanwhile, over on Sky Sports F1, they have the Belgian Grand Prix. The remaining Sky Sports channels at 19:30 have:

– Sky Sports 1: Live Spanish Football (18:55 to 23:00)
– Sky Sports 2: Live Super League (18:30 to 21:00)
– Sky Sports 3: Live US Open Tennis (16:00 to 00:00)
– Sky Sports 4: Live PGA Tour Golf (18:00 to 23:00)

With Sky Sports F1’s Sunday schedule is as follows:

Sunday 2nd September 2012 – Sky Sports F1
11:00 – Live Belgian Grand Prix
16:15 – Inside Track: Pastor Maldonaldo
16:45 – GP2: Belgian Race 2 (R)
17:50 – ten minute filler
18:00 – Legends: Murray Walker (R)
18:30 – Inside Track: Pastor Maldonaldo (R)
19:00 – Belgian Grand Prix Highlights
20:30 – Legends: Alan Jones (R)
21:00 – Belgian Grand Prix Highlights
22:30 – Inside Track: Pastor Maldonaldo (R)

So, why can’t the schedule run like this?

11:00 – Live Belgian Grand Prix
16:30 – Inside Track: Pastor Maldonaldo
16:55 – GP2: Belgian Race 2 (R)
18:00 – Belgian Grand Prix Highlights
19:30 – Live IndyCar Series
22:00 – Belgian Grand Prix Highlights

It is as if the schedulers don’t communicate with one another. Yet again, this is Sky treating IndyCars with gross incompetence. Common sense says to anyone that if Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and 4 all have live programming on, then you put it on Sky Sports F1. There is nothing illogical about that, it is the most sensible and obvious thing to do. Plus, give the IndyCar a bit of publicity during the F1 programme, and the job is done.

I’ve wrote multiple times about poor ratings for the IndyCar Series, it needs to be on Sky Sports F1 with more promotion, and putting it behind the Red Button helps no one. The more eye-balls, the better.

To finish off, here are some other IndyCar related pieces I’ve written on this subject:

– April 26th – where common sense did actually prevail
– May 23rd – the benefits of putting Indy 500 on Sky Sports F1
– June 21st – Sky’s IndyCar scheduling this weekend

It is quite ironic how earlier I pushed my latest Verdict post online that included a paragraph on IndyCars and it being put on Sky Sports F1, and then a few hours later we find out that the penultimate race of the championship next weekend will be on behind the Red Button. Disappointing.

Update on August 30th: I’ve updated the above schedules as a result of a Pastor Maldonaldo one-off programme being announced.

Scheduling: The German Grand Prix

F1 heads off from Britain to a slightly more drier Hockenheim circuit in Germany. I’ve probably just jinxed it saying that… in any case, this weekend Sky Sports F1 have exclusive live coverage with BBC having highlights only. This also applies for the Hungarian Grand Prix, meaning the next live action for BBC viewers will not come until the Belgian Grand Prix at the very back end of August. The BBC highlights are being shown on BBC Two thanks to the Open Golf Championship on BBC One. If you can’t watch the first showing of the race highlights on Sunday, then they are repeated at 23:40 on BBC One.

On the personnel side of things, the BBC’s Summer line-up changes are back into effect this weekend, this time thanks to the Olympic Games. As I noted a while back, due to Jake Humphrey covering the Olympics for BBC, Lee McKenzie is presenting this weekend’s Grand Prix. With McKenzie presenting, it means that Tom Clarkson steps into her shoes again interviewing drivers.

For Sky, they are screening an extended interview with Jenson Button in the build-up to the race, the schedule times for that can be found here. Sky this weekend have Allan McNish again with them, but I am not sure if Johnny Herbert will be there now that his five race deal has expired. Time shall tell.

As I did with Canada, I’ve added the 5 Live F1 schedule below in italics for those without access to Sky Sports F1. Neither Practice 2 or Practice 3 are on 5 Live or 5 Live Sports Extra, thanks to Golf and Cricket.

UPDATE on 17th July: Sky have confirmed on their website that Anthony Davidson is back with them for the remainder of the season after his horrific crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Johnny Herbert is back with the team. Rachel Brookes of Sky Sports News is replacing Natalie Pinkham for the weekend, the latter is getting married. I’m especially pleased that Brookes is getting a promotion to the Sky Sports F1 channel for the weekend, as I do think her F1 efforts on Sky Sports News do go unnoticed, she has definitely grown as F1 reporter for the channel since February in my opinion.

Thursday 19th July
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 20th July
08:45 to 10:55 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10:55 to 11:35 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:45 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
14:45 to 15:25 – 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)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 21st July
08:40 to 09:20 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:10 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two and BBC HD)

Sunday 22nd July
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 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:30 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
17:30 to 19:00 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC Two and BBC HD)
19:00 to 20:00 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
19:00 to 21:30 – IndyCars: Edmonton (Sky Sports 4)

Scheduling: The British Grand Prix

After a fantastic European Grand Prix, it’s time for Formula 1 to head home. And that means it is time for the British Grand Prix. While Sky are pulling out the stops with Classic F1 in the run up to the race, the same cannot be said for BBC. Due to coverage of Wimbledon, both Qualifying and the Race are on BBC Two, with only the Race Build-Up on BBC One.

As announced at the end of their European Grand Prix show, there is an extra F1 Show on Thursday 5th July, with a two hour build-up to the race on Sunday. Although I have not heard anything concrete, I would expect an increased on-site presence for Silverstone from both the News and F1 team, maybe even with a studio there aside from the Sky Pad, as going on air at 11:00 would be when the Porsche Supercup cars are still on track.

On BBC, there is an extra guy in the pit-lane for Radio 5 Live, former McLaren mechanic Mark Priestley is alongside Jennie Gow. 5 Live also have race car driver Tiffany Chittenden alongside them for the weekend. Finally, don’t be surprised if the F1 Forum overruns, as it is coming live from the main stage as Silverstone, so if you’re going, you may be caught on camera! I’ve also added Inside F1, presented by Lee McKenzie, below the poll for anyone interested.

Thursday 5th July
15:00 to 15:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 6th July
09:45 to 11:55 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
11:50 to 12:30 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
13:45 to 15:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:55 to 15:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
15:55 to 16:45 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
17:15 to 18:00 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 7th July
08:45 to 09:25 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Red Button)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Two)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 8th July
08:25 to 09:25 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:35 to 10:40 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:00 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 12:55 – MotoGP: Sachsenring (BBC Two)
12:10 to 12:55 – F1: Race Build-Up (BBC One)
12:55 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC Two)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
17:30 to 20:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (Sky Sports 2)
20:30 to 22:30 – FILM: Senna (Sky Sports F1)

The schedules above are now confirmed, so should not change. I’ve also added BBC’s MotoGP coverage for the Sunday as that is partly the reason why the F1 build-up is on BBC One. IndyCars and a screening of the Senna film is also above.