Controversy helps MotoGP sizzle

A spectacular MotoGP season hit the tipping point in Sepang this past Sunday, with BT Sport rewarded as a result, overnight numbers show.

Marquez vs Rossi – TV reaps the rewards
The battle off the track between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi soon became an on-track battle, the two colliding in sensational fashion in Sepang. A one-minute peak audience of 300k (8.2%) at 07:15 witnessed the drama come to a head on Sunday morning on BT Sport 2. Live coverage of the race, from 06:30 to 08:00 averaged 186k (5.0%), the 5-minute peak was 269k (7.5%) at 07:15. BT Sport opted to extend their post-race broadcast until 09:00, the extra hour bringing a solid 110k (1.6%). Their entire broadcast from 03:45 to 09:00 averaged 101k (4.4%), this number including the Moto2 and Moto3 broadcasts.

As documented on these pages, BT’s MotoGP ratings upswing comes at a time when TV ratings are heading downwards. Last year’s coverage from Sepang averaged 68k (1.9%) from 04:45 to 09:15, with a 5-minute peak of 179k. Again, 2015’s viewing figures are significantly up on 2014. I think BT have been incredibly lucky to have the season that they have had this year. Over on ITV4, highlights from 20:00 to 21:00 averaged a further 301k (1.3%), recording a 5-minute peak of 384k (1.7%), also up on last year’s figure of 257k (1.1%).

Combined, the two channels recorded an average of 443k, which compares with the BBC’s live and repeat combined average in 2013 of around 1.1 million for Malaysia. You would expect more of a drop off for the fly-away races than the European rounds, the key for BT Sport and ITV is to continue in the right direction for 2016 and not make 2015 a ‘one hit wonder’, as it were. I could say the scale of the drop off is poor versus 2013, and it is as I have mentioned before, but the signs from 2015 so far have been very, very positive for MotoGP. I’m intrigued to see how the Valencia programming performs. It should be BT Sport’s highest ever MotoGP ratings, but as we saw this past weekend with the US F1 Grand Prix, what we expect to happen and what actually materialises are two different things.

Is Formula E about to suffer second season syndrome?
Over in the electric world, the picture was less than rosy. After a strong finish to season one in Battersea Park, Formula E stumbled for the start of season two in Beijing. The ePrix, airing live on Saturday morning on ITV4 from 08:00 to 10:30, averaged just 88k (1.4%) – the third lowest for the series, only behind Putrajaya and Moscow from season one. The Beijing number is significantly lower than the average audience of 266k (4.0%) for the inaugural race in September 2014.

The 5-minute peak of 168k (2.4%) was also down on the equivalent peak figure from 2014 of 477k (6.8%). In my opinion, it is a disappointing figure. On one hand, you could say that the drop was because last year was the inaugural race and all the hype that surrounded that, but on the other hand, did Formula E not gain any new followers from Battersea Park airing on ITV’s main channel in June? The fact that the season started on the same weekend as both Formula 1 and MotoGP running will have dented the numbers though, it should be noted, the lowest three numbers have all been when the series has held a race on the same weekend as Formula 1.

Highlights on ITV’s main channel performed okay with an average of 244k (3.1%), peaking with 321k (4.2%) at 10:00, up on ITV4’s highlights number from one year ago. The number is below the slot average and was beaten by three of the other four terrestrial channels. The combined live and highlights average of 332k is down on last year’s inaugural number of 426k, or down nearly a quarter. Moving the highlights to ITV’s main channel has helped reduce the deficit.

Ratings and scheduling aside from the series as a whole, advertising of the series has been poor from ITV. I watched multiple hours of the Rugby World Cup the weekend before last, which attracts a core male audience, and I did not see one trailer for Formula E. A series cannot attract a wider demographic without advertising, ITV need to realise that for the series to draw bigger numbers. ITV did produce a trailer for the season opener. If this was F1, you would expect to see the ITV pre-season trailer multiple times across a week. I didn’t see Formula E’s trailer once (anecdotally, of course). The problem we have: ITV won’t advertise > ITV’s viewing figures stay low > ITV won’t pay Formula E any more money as a result > Formula E want more money > Formula E can’t go to pay-TV otherwise figures would be embarrassing. Of course, Formula E could take the series to pay-TV, but if you are only attracting 300k on free-to-air television, you are looking at below 50k on BT Sport or Eurosport.

Time will tell how this plays out, but for Formula E’s sake, numbers cannot settle at a lower level than last year, in my opinion.

Scheduling: The 2015 Beijing ePrix

As Lewis Hamilton heads towards his third Formula One championship in Austin, over the other side of the world in Beijing, preparations for season two of the Formula E championship are well under way! The season, as it currently stands, will comprise of eleven rounds in ten cities, but if rumours are to be believed, we could see eleven turn to twelve or thirteen any time soon. Already, early announcements are being made for season three, which shows how far the series has come in a short space of time.

The good news for viewers of the series is that the World Feed team remains exactly the same as season one. Jack Nicholls returns as the lead commentator, with Dario Franchitti joining him to provide expert analysis. Nicki Shields remains pit lane reporter. Things remain static for ITV too, as Jennie Gow is back as presenter with Mark Priestley joining her in the studio. Gow will be presenting coverage of Beijing, despite the clash with the Formula 1. Alongside Gow and Priestley for Beijing will be ex Mahindra Racing driver Karun Chandhok. It is important for Formula E to retain personnel for season two, which is why I’m incredibly glad to see the duo of Nicholls and Franchitti continuing (not that it was ever in doubt).

In terms of scheduling, the only change for ITV is that highlights are now being broadcast on their main channel. Even if that is only say 250k more than what the highlights were delivering on ITV4, that is 250k extra new faces and any new face that gets their eyes on the championship at this stage is great news. As for Formula E, I assume the live streaming will continue on their website, but they have been conducting some live stream testing on YouTube recently, which may be an indicator of what is going to happen for Beijing (although this may be for countries without TV deals). Elsewhere, Formula E Holdings have teamed up with Grabyo to deliver clips faster and quicker to social media platforms which will only boost their following.

Whilst this blog is predominantly UK based, it should be mentioned that Formula E have announced a whole host of TV deals recently (such as the Eurosport deal), these deals helping to increase their reach across Europe and the remainder of the world. The overall calendar for season two looks similar to season one, and has been criticised for spacing – but actually the spacing is better than last season. The average gap between races is 28 days compared with 31.9 days for the inaugural season. In season one, two races had a gap of over 50 days between that and the previous race, whereas this season has no races with a gap that big. Some of the gaps are still too big for my liking to be honest, but overall the calendar distribution is more evenly spread out than last season.

If Donington testing is anything to go by, season two should be as good, if not better, than season one. And here, are all the scheduling details for Beijing…

NOTE: Clocks go back one hour on Sunday 25th October, with the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time. The times listed are for BST on Saturday and before; GMT for Sunday and afterwards…

Formula E – Beijing (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
24/10 – 02:10 to 03:10 – Practice 1
24/10 – 03:25 to 04:10 – Practice 2
24/10 – 04:45 to 06:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Beijing
24/10 – 08:00 to 10:30 – Race (ITV4)
25/10 – 09:25 to 10:25 – Highlights (ITV)

As always, if anything changes, or if there are any media appearances on the run up to Beijing worth noting, I will update the schedule.

Shedden’s BTCC title victory peaks with 384k

A peak audience just shy of 400,000 viewers watched Gordon Shedden clinch his second British Touring Car Championship on Sunday afternoon, overnight viewing figures show.

Live coverage of the final round of the series from Brands Hatch aired on ITV4 from 10:15 to 18:30, averaging 166k (1.5%), a number slightly below ITV4’s average for that timeslot. The first race of the day peaked with 181k (2.2%) at 11:40. Numbers for race one remained above 100k until 12:03, at which point they dropped to as low as 96k (1.0%) as the Russian Grand Prix started. Race two peaked with 216k (2.4%) at 14:39, but it was race three where all the drama occurred. Featuring no less than three Safety Cars, the race averaged 349k (2.2%) from 17:27 to 17:58, peaking with 384k (2.3%) at 17:47 as Gordon Shedden climbed through the pack to take the championship away from Jason Plato.

The 5-minute peak of 380k (2.3%) at 17:45 is slightly up on the peak audience recorded last year of 357k (2.0%), although the average audience is marginally down year-on-year. The figures year-on-year are good for the championship, but the problem is that the further back you go, the figures are not actually as good. 2013’s season finale peaked with 697k (3.8%). Clashing with the Grand Prix is having a negative impact on the final day of the BTCC championship, and that is evident again this year. BTCC still brings in great numbers for ITV4, but it has lost a little bit of its edge in the past year and a half.

Over in Motegi, BT Sport’s MotoGP coverage performed fantastically well on Sunday morning. No doubt boosted by a lot of same-day recording activity, BT’s MotoGP segment from 05:30 to 07:00 averaged 175k (14.4%), peaking with 244k (20.8%) at 06:06. VODSAL activity or not, that is a brilliant number for the coverage, and would give quite a few races from both this season and last season a run for their money. In comparison, BT Sport 2’s coverage in the same time slot last season averaged 70k (6.2%). I imagine BT will be chuffed to double that number, and a bit more on top of that, especially when you consider Marc Marquez won the championship at Motegi this time last year.

It is fair to say that BT have been incredibly lucky to have Valentino Rossi back on top form and fighting near the front. If anyone is capable of boosting BT’s viewing figures, it is Rossi. BT Sport’s full programme from 02:45 to 07:15 averaged a respectable 98k (8.4%), compared with 42k (3.8%) from 2014. Although BT’s viewing figures are a far cry from the combined BBC numbers, they should take solace from the fact that their average of 175k (14.4%) is not too far behind BBC Two’s live Motegi number of 204k (18.4%), albeit that was broadcast from 04:30 to 06:00. BT Sport’s MotoGP repeat added a further 50k (0.5%) at 14:00 on Sunday afternoon.

Note: As of this post, The F1 Broadcasting Blog will be reporting one-minute peak audience figures as well as five-minute peak figures. All figures in this post are Live + VODSAL. Where a raw ‘live’ figure has been posted, this will be stated in the main body.

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.

Japanese Grand Prix slumps to record low

For the second race running, Formula 1 found itself losing a ratings battle against the Rugby World Cup, as the Japanese Grand Prix slumped to its lowest rating since at least 2005, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Before analysing the figures, it needs to be stated that historical comparisons are difficult for Japan. In the UK in recent years, Japan has started at 05:30, 06:00, 06:30 and 07:00, probably more start times that I can count. From 2010 to 2014, the race started at 07:00 UK time. Prior to that, the race started at 06:00 UK time, although the two events from Fuji in 2007 and 2008 began at 05:30 UK time. You would hope the repeat airing balances things out, but it is worth noting. Due to the events of last year, which affected the viewing figures, no comparisons will be made with 2014 in this post.

Live coverage of the race, broadcast live on BBC One from 05:00 to 09:00 averaged 925k (35.2%). It was billed as an extended race day show with the forum from around 08:30 onwards. The coverage from 05:00 to 08:00 averaged 954k (41.9%), a big difference in share, but no major difference in the raw figure. Sky Sports F1’s coverage from 05:00 to 08:30 averaged 255k (10.2%), with Sky Sports 1 adding a further 21k (0.8%). All of the live numbers are down on 2013, however this is not a surprise given the earlier start time.

BBC One’s repeat struggled against the Rugby World Cup on ITV, averaging only 1.44m (17.0%). The Rugby World Cup match between Scotland vs USA, which kicked off at 14:00, averaged 2.13m (23.0%) on ITV, comfortably beating the Grand Prix highlights. The peak audience for the Formula 1 live airing came at 07:30, as 2.00m (48.2%) watched Lewis Hamilton take victory. The peak share was a massive 1.60m (70.3%) at 06:10, down to a lot of viewers no doubt timeshifting the action to watch later in the day.

Overall, the combined audience of 2.65 million is the lowest on record (since 2005) for the Japanese Grand Prix. The 2009 race from Suzuka averaged 3.61 million. The live airing did fine, it is the BBC repeat that has dragged the numbers down significantly. The drastic drops for Singapore and Japan have had a major effect on the season average, and the numbers need to pick back up, and fast, otherwise the final average at the end of the year will not look pretty. The Russian Grand Prix clashes with Argentina vs Namibia, but I don’t expect that to be troubling the F1.

Rugby World Cup hits BTCC too
Formula 1 was not the only sporting contest kicked into touch yesterday. Live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship from Silverstone, which aired on ITV4 from 10:00 to 18:30, averaged 112k (1.2%). The action peaked with 231k (3.4%) at 12:00. BTCC does not seem to have recovered much of the lost ground compared with 2014. I’m not sure what is happening, but the audience has shifted away from the series in the past year or two, or are consuming less of it compared to previously.

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