Scheduling: The 2016 Berlin ePrix / Italian MotoGP

The penultimate stop on the 2015-16 Formula E calendar takes the championship to Berlin this weekend. It marks round eight of ten before the season concludes with a double header in London in early July.

On the Formula E broadcasting side, Allan McNish is co-commentator alongside Jack Nicholls due to Dario Franchitti’s Indianapolis 500 commitments. It is a replica of BBC’s 5 Live team with Jennie Gow presenting for ITV, the only difference is that Tom Clarkson has yet to get involved with Formula E! Due to Peston on Sunday, Formula E’s highlights programme on ITV airs slightly later than usual on Sunday morning at 11:00.

Speaking of the famous American oval race, BT Sport//ESPN will be covering both Indy 500 qualifying days live for the first time ever. The move is an attempt by the channel to boost their IndyCar coverage in response to feedback from fans. Elsewhere on free-to-air television, British Superbikes is airing live on Quest TV due to coverage of the French Open Tennis and the Giro d’Italia cycling tour on Eurosport.

On two wheels, Suzi Perry will not be presenting BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage due to illness. Below are all the scheduling details you need…

MotoGP – Italy (BT Sport 2)
20/05 – 08:00 to 15:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 1
=> 10:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 12:00 – Practice 2
21/05 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
22/05 – 07:30 to 09:15 – Warm Up
22/05 – 09:30 to 15:00
=> 09:30 – Moto3 race
=> 11:15 – Moto2 race
=> 12:45 – MotoGP race
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Italy (ITV4)
23/05 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Highlights

Formula E – Berlin (online via YouTube)
21/05 – 07:10 to 08:10 – Practice 1
21/05 – 09:25 to 10:10 – Practice 2
21/05 – 10:45 to 12:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Berlin
21/05 – 14:00 to 16:30 – Race (ITV4)
22/05 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Highlights (ITV)

British Superbikes – Brands Hatch Indy
21/05 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Qualifying (British Eurosport 2 and Quest TV)
22/05 – 12:30 to 18:00 – Races (Quest TV)
25/05 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

DTM – Austria
21/05 – 16:30 to 17:45 – Race 1 (BT Sport//ESPN)

Euroformula – Belgium
21/05 – Race 1
=> 13:25 to 14:20 (Motors TV)
=> 13:30 to 14:30 (BT Sport//ESPN)
22/05 – Race 2
=> 12:15 to 13:10 (Motors TV)
=> 12:15 to 13:15 (BT Sport//ESPN)

Formula 3 Europe – Austria
21/05 – Race 1
=> 09:30 to 10:30 (BT Sport 1)
=> 09:35 to 10:40 (Motors TV)
22/05 – 10:10 to 11:15 – Race 2 (Motors TV)

Formula V8 3.5 – Belgium (BT Sport//ESPN)
21/05 – 12:00 to 13:30 – Race 1
22/05 – 14:45 to 16:00 – Race 2

IndyCar Series – Indianapolis 500 Qualifying (BT Sport//ESPN)
21/05 – 21:00 to 23:00 – Day 1
22/05 – 21:00 to 23:00 – Day 2

International GT Open – Belgium
21/05 – 14:30 to 16:00 – Race 1
=> 14:20 to 16:00 (Motors TV)
=> 14:30 to 16:00 (BT Sport//ESPN)
22/05 – 13:15 to 14:45 – Race 2
=> 13:10 to 14:45 (Motors TV)
=> 13:15 to 14:45 (BT Sport//ESPN)

Virgin Australia Supercars – Winton Supersprint (BT Sport 1)
21/05 – 06:30 to 08:15 – Race 10
22/05 – 04:15 to 06:30 – Race 11

World Rally Championship – Portugal
20/05 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Stage 2 (BT Sport 2)
22/05 – 09:00 to 10:00 – Stage 3 (BT Sport 1)

Last updated on May 19th at 18:00 to reflect Suzi Perry’s illness.

Update on May 21st at 15:15 – Allan McNish commentated on Formula E practice and qualifying but had to pull out of the race commentary itself at the last minute, according to lead commentator Jack Nicholls.

Scheduling: The 2016 Russian Grand Prix

The Bank Holiday weekend here in the United Kingdom means that there is not a lot of motor sport choice as May begins.

Round four of the 2016 Formula One season comes from Russia, which moves from its early October slot in the calendar. Russia is Sky Sports F1’s third exclusively live race of the season, with Channel 4 screening highlights of both qualifying and the race on the edge of primetime.

There is no further action of four wheels to be aware of this weekend looking at the schedule. Further afield on two wheels, the Speedway Grand Prix season gets underway live on BT Sport. British Eurosport meanwhile plays host to both the World and British Superbike Championships and as is tradition, the domestic super bike action takes place on Bank Holiday Monday.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
30/04 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying Highlights
01/05 – 18:00 to 20:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
29/04 – 07:45 to 09:50 – Practice 1
29/04 – 11:45 to 14:00 – Practice 2
30/04 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
30/04 – 12:00 to 14:45 – Qualifying
01/05 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
27/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
28/04 – 13:00 to 13:30 – Driver Press Conference
28/04 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
29/04 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Team Press Conference
29/04 – 14:30 to 15:00 – The F1 Show
04/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
29/04 – 07:55 to 09:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
29/04 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
30/04 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
30/04 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
01/05 – 12:30 to 16:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

British Superbikes – Oulton Park
01/05 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Qualifying (British Eurosport 2)
02/05 – 12:30 to 18:00 – Races (British Eurosport 2)
04/05 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

Speedway Grand Prix – Slovenia (BT Sport 1)
30/04 – 17:30 to 21:15 – Races

World Superbikes – Imola
30/04 – 12:00 to 13:15 – Superpole and Race 1 (British Eurosport 2)
01/05 – 10:00 to 14:00 – Race 2 (British Eurosport 2)
03/05 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

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

Last updated on May 1st at 11:00 to reflect the BBC Radio 5 Live schedule change. Race coverage will now be on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra so that the main station can cover updates in the Manchester United vs Leicester City football match.

Scheduling: The 2016 Spanish MotoGP / Paris ePrix

The start of the European phase of the MotoGP season marks the return of Suzi Perry to the two-wheeled paddock. Perry returns to the MotoGP paddock as BT Sport’s new MotoGP presenter after a six-year absence, having been superseded by Jennie Gow as BBC’s MotoGP host in 2010.

Perry hosted BBC’s Formula 1 coverage from 2013 to 2015. The musical chairs following BBC’s F1 TV exit at the end of 2015 means that Perry is now back covering two-wheels, hosting BT’s MotoGP coverage from Jerez alongside Craig Doyle. It will be fantastic to see Perry back doing what she does best, and I’m glad to see that the movement has happened quickly on that front (although it does come at the expense of Iwan Thomas and Abi Griffiths).

Jack Nicholls is also a returnee this weekend, stepping back into his Formula E shoes ready for the inaugural Paris ePrix. The race will be shown live on ITV4 on Saturday afternoon with Jennie Gow presenting as usual. Given the fact that Paris is only a few hours in the Eurotunnel, it would have been nice for ITV to have some on-site coverage instead of studio coverage like London last season, but it looks like that is not the case, unsurprisingly I guess with low viewing figures for the series.

There is a mass of other single-seater action spread across BT Sport and Motors TV ranging from the IndyCar Series to the new Formula V8 3.5 Series. Elsewhere, there is rallying from Argentina to whet the appetite, with highlights airing on Channel 5. Below are all the scheduling details you need…

MotoGP – Spain (BT Sport 2)
22/04 – 08:00 to 15:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 1
=> 10:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 12:00 – Practice 2
23/04 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
24/04 – 07:30 to 09:15 – Warm Up
24/04 – 09:30 to 15:00
=> 09:30 – Moto3 race
=> 11:15 – Moto2 race
=> 12:45 – MotoGP race
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Spain (ITV4)
25/04 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

Formula E – Paris (online via YouTube)
23/04 – 07:10 to 08:10 – Practice 1
23/04 – 09:25 to 10:10 – Practice 2
23/04 – 10:45 to 12:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Paris
23/04 – 14:00 to 16:30 – Race (ITV4)
24/04 – 09:25 to 10:20 – Highlights (ITV)

Blancpain Endurance Series – Monza (Motors TV)
24/04 – 13:30 to 17:30 – Race

Euroformula – Portugal
23/04 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Race 1 (BT Sport//ESPN)
=> note: also showing on Motors TV on a one-hour delay
24/04 – 12:00 to 13:00 – Race 2 (BT Sport X4)

Formula 3 Europe – Hungary
23/04 – Race 1
=> 10:05 to 11:10 (Motors TV)
=> 10:15 to 11:00 (BT Sport Europe)
23/04 – Race 2
=> 13:50 to 15:00 (Motors TV)
=> 14:00 to 15:00 (BT Sport Europe)
24/04 – Race 3
=> 10:05 to 11:10 (Motors TV)
=> 10:15 to 11:00 (BT Sport Europe)

Formula V8 3.5 – Hungary
23/04 – 12:30 to 14:00 – Race 1 (BT Sport Europe)
24/04 – 14:00 to 15:30 – Race 2 (BT Sport//ESPN)

IndyCar Series – Alabama (BT Sport//ESPN)
24/04 – 20:30 to 23:00 – Race

International GT Open – Portugal
23/04 – 15:00 to 16:45 – Race 1 (BT Sport//ESPN)
=> note: also showing on Motors TV on a one-hour delay
24/04 – Race 2
=> 13:00 to 14:30 (BT Sport X4)
=> 13:30 to 14:30 (BT Sport Europe)

TCR International Series – Portugal (Motors TV)
24/04 – 11:10 to 12:10 – Race

World Rally Championship – Argentina
22/04 – 16:00 to 17:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 2)
22/04 – 23:00 to 00:00 – Stage 2 (BT Sport 2)
24/04 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Stage 3 (BT Sport//ESPN)
24/04 – 16:00 to 17:00 – Power Stage (BT Sport//ESPN)
25/04 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

World Touring Car Championship – Hungary
24/04 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Race 1 (British Eurosport 1)
24/04 – 16:00 to 17:00 – Race 2 (British Eurosport 2)

As always, the schedule will be amended if anything is adjusted.

Scheduling: The 2016 Chinese Grand Prix

As well as the Chinese Grand Prix, next weekend is another busy weekend of motor sport across British Eurosport, BT Sport, ITV4 and Motors TV.

The third round of the Formula One season airs live on Sky Sports F1 from China, with extended highlights on Channel 4. No word on who is conducting analysis for the latter, but I will not be surprised if it is a slimmer operation than Australia and Bahrain with the team of five featuring Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Ben Edwards, Lee McKenzie and Karun Chandhok.

If you look at the show lengths, there will not be a massive amount of analysis around the highlights package itself so it makes little sense to take an extra pundit to China if they will not be utilised too much. The usual operation and scheduling over on Sky Sports F1. Three races in, and there is no sign of any additional supplementary programming yet beyond their current race weekend shows.

Outside of Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship gets underway from Silverstone. There was some confusion a few weeks back about who is screening the series live, but the answer remains Motors TV for 2016 (apart from Le Mans where Eurosport steps into the fray). As of writing, no highlights package is currently scheduled to air on Quest TV for either itself or the World Touring Car Championship. It looks like the experiment which started at the end of 2015 is not going to continue.

The first round of the brand new Formula V8 3.5 Series will air live on BT Sport 2. This is likely a similar arrangement to previous years under the previous Formula Renault 3.5 banner where themselves or Eurosport air the event live depending on what else both channels are covering during the weekends. I’ve included a lot more events than usual below, not something I usually do, but hopefully it gives an idea just how many events receive coverage of some nature on UK television.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
16/04 – 12:30 to 14:00 – Qualifying Highlights
17/04 – 13:30 to 15:30 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
15/04 – 02:45 to 04:50 – Practice 1
15/04 – 06:45 to 09:00 – Practice 2
16/04 – 04:45 to 06:15 – Practice 3
16/04 – 07:00 to 09:45 – Qualifying
17/04 – 05:30 to 10:15 – Race
=> 05:30 – Track Parade
=> 06:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 06:30 – Race
=> 09:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
13/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
14/04 – 08:00 to 08:30 – Driver Press Conference
14/04 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
15/04 – 09:00 to 09:30 – Team Press Conference
15/04 – 09:30 to 10:00 – The F1 Show
20/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
15/04 – 02:55 to 04:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15/04 – 06:55 to 08:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
16/04 – 04:55 to 06:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
16/04 – 06:55 to 08:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
17/04 – 06:30 to 09:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

British Touring Car Championship – Donington Park (ITV4)
17/04 – 10:30 to 18:15 – Races

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 – Aragon
16/04 – 11:30 to 13:00 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
16/04 – 17:15 to 18:15 – Race 2 (BT Sport//ESPN)
17/04 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Race 3 (BT Sport 2)

European Le Mans Series – Silverstone
16/04 – 14:15 to 18:45 – Race (Motors TV)
16/04 – 14:15 to 19:00 – Race (BT Sport 2)

FIM CEV Repsol – Valencia (BT Sport//ESPN)
17/04 – 09:45 to 15:00 – Races

Formula V8 3.5 – Aragon (BT Sport 2)
16/04 – 13:00 to 14:15 – Race 1
17/04 – 12:30 to 13:45 – Race 2

IndyCar Series – Long Beach (BT Sport 2)
17/04 – 21:30 to 00:00 – Race

V8 Supercars – Phillip Island (BT Sport 1)
16/04 – 07:00 to 08:45 – Race 6
17/04 – 04:45 to 06:45 – Race 7

World Endurance Championship – Silverstone
17/04 – 11:30 to 18:10 – Race (Motors TV)
17/04 – 16:00 to 18:10 – Race (Quest)
17/04 – 16:00 to 18:10 – Race (Eurosport 2)

World Rallycross Championship – Portugal (Quest)
17/04 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race

World Superbikes – Assen
16/04 – 09:15 to 13:00 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
17/04 – 10:00 to 13:00 – Race 2 and Support Races (Eurosport 2)
19/04 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

World Touring Car Championship – Slovakia
16/04 – 13:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
17/04 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Race 1 (Eurosport)
17/04 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Race 2 (Eurosport)

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

Last updated on April 16th at 14:10.

BTCC starts 2016 best of the rest

The British Touring Car Championship was best of the rest on Sunday (3rd April) in the motor racing stakes, unofficial overnight viewing figures show. Alongside the F1, cricket and football, there was a plethora of motor sport: BTCC, MotoGP and Formula E to name a few.

British Touring Car Championship peaks with 369k…
Live coverage of round one of the BTCC from Brands Hatch on Sunday averaged 169k (1.6%) across eight hours from 10:15 on ITV4. The action recorded a five-minute peak audience of 360k (3.8%) at 14:35 as the second race of the day came to a conclusion. As you would expect, the one-minute peak came within that segment at 14:36 with 369k (3.9%) watching.

Earlier in the day, the first race of the new season hit a one-minute high of 340k (4.8%) at 11:46 half way through the action. As is typical when the British Touring Car Championship clashes with Formula 1, audiences slump within the F1 time slot. As thus, the final BTCC race of the day recorded a one-minute peak audience of 145k (0.9%) at 17:35. Viewing figures for the championship have dropped slightly in recent years, but nevertheless it still benefits from the significant amount of air-time given by ITV4.

…MotoGP tucks in behind…
MotoGP on BT Sport was close behind the BTCC, but suffered too as a result of the Bahrain Grand Prix and other sporting competition. Live coverage of all three races, including Moto2 and Moto3, averaged 131k (0.7%) from 16:30 to 21:00 on BT Sport 2, marginally down on the equivalent figure last year of 147k (0.8%). The MotoGP segment from 19:30 to 21:00 averaged 193k (0.9%), peaking with 246k (1.1%). It was the main race that suffered the most year-on-year. Last year, the MotoGP race itself averaged 240k (1.1%) live on BT Sport.

Back on ITV4, highlights from Argentina averaged 309k (1.9%), compared with 297k (2.1%) from 2015. I think it is too early to judge BT’s MotoGP figures for this season compared to previous years: the competition was unusually tough, we should get a clearer picture once we get to the European races, beginning with Jerez in two weeks’ time.

…with Formula E on the back foot
Season two of the Formula E championship hit Long Beach for round six. Live coverage on ITV4 on Saturday evening from 23:00 to 01:30 averaged 78k (1.1%), peaking with 118k (1.5%). That’s not a good number and continues Formula E’s second season syndrome when you consider that Long Beach last season averaged 121k (1.9%). As always, being on the same weekend as Formula 1 never helps, but this is an ongoing pattern now with Formula E that is not reversing itself.

Highlights of the ePrix averaged a further 163k (2.4%) on ITV from 09:25 to 10:20 on Sunday morning, peaking with 195k (3.0%). The last four highlight shows on ITV have averaged around 160k, it is pretty clear that the highlights have settled within that region now. In the UK at least, there are no signs that the Formula E fan base is growing.