Formula 1 stumbles to the finish in 2015

The 2015 Formula One season ended with a whimper on Sunday afternoon, as 2.6 million tuned into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the UK, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, moved to BBC Two at the eleventh hour due to the conclusion of the Davis Cup, averaged 2.21m (16.9%) from 12:00 to 15:15, recording a five-minute peak of 3.08m (20.8%) as the race came to a conclusion. The race programme on Sky Sports F1 averaged 399k (3.0%) across the same timeslot. Sky’s coverage peaked with 632k (4.6%) in the five minutes from 14:00, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as this was in the gap between the first two Premier League games yesterday.

As alluded to above, the race faced competition from the Davis Cup on BBC One, which itself averaged 3.01m (22.9%) from 12:00 to 15:45. The decision to air the Davis Cup finale on BBC One was unsurprising, what was ridiculous however was that this was decided an hour before both shows were due to go on the air – certainly not something you expect when both events were known weeks in advance. I’m not convinced that number justified switching the two events at the last minute.

Comparisons with 2014 for the race are redundant given that last year was a championship decider and yesterday was not. Nevertheless, the combined average for Abu Dhabi of 2.60 million is comfortably the lowest ever recorded for that race. The previous low was 4.03 million from 2013, traditionally Abu Dhabi does well but for a variety of factors, viewers were not interested in Formula 1 yesterday. There are also these facts, based on the overnight viewing figures:

> lowest season finale since at least 2005
> lowest ‘European time zone’ race audience since the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix
> lowest BBC F1 audience for a live race in the ‘European time zone’ since the corporation returned to the sport
> lowest Sky Sports F1 audience for a ‘European time zone’ race ever

The consolidated figures will make a few of the points above null and void, timeshift is larger in 2015 than in 2010, but I feel that the points still stand. For reference, ‘European time zone’ means any race that has aired live here during the lunch time hours, so anything from 11:00 through to around 14:00. There are multiple reasons for yesterday’s very low rating: increased competition, the switch from BBC One to BBC Two will have hurt the same-day timeshift figures and pure fatigue given that the championship race was over a long time ago.

However, Formula 1 has faced bigger competition before in recent years (Wimbledon finals and major games in football competitions) and has not dropped as low as Abu Dhabi did. Viewing patterns have changed as well, you cannot escape that fact. I will analyse the figures more in a post coming soon, but the picture, whichever way you want to paint it, is not promising.

Qualifying and Pointless
The final qualifying programme of the season averaged 2.05m (21.2%) from 12:10 to 14:05 on BBC One, with Sky Sports F1 adding a further 258k (2.7%) from 12:00 to 14:35. To end on a positive note, a Grand Prix themed edition of Pointless Celebrities averaged a massive 5.73m (29.2%) from 18:00 on BBC One on Saturday, one of its highest ever ratings.

The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Brazilian Grand Prix hits three year high

An average audience of 4.57 million watched the Brazilian Grand Prix, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, broadcast live on BBC One from 15:25 to 18:00, averaged 4.02m (24.9%), up significantly on 2013’s number of 3.45m (19.9%). It should be noted that 2013’s broadcast was 185 minutes long, whereas yesterday’s was 155 minutes long and yesterday would have benefited also from a strong lead-out with the BBC News at Six focussing on events in Paris. Sky Sports F1’s coverage from 15:00 to 18:30 added a further 548k (3.3%), an increase on 2013’s number of 473k (2.7%) across the same timeslot.

The combined average of 4.57 million is the highest for Interlagos since 2012, when Sebastian Vettel clinched his third championship in the final race of the year. Last year, an audience of 4.27 million watched as BBC showed highlights of the race, whilst 3.93 million watched in 2013.

Whilst yesterday’s Grand Prix was not the greatest in the world, it would have benefited from little sporting competition on pay-TV channels with no domestic top-flight football being played. Considering the championship has already been resolved, it is a good number.

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

MotoGP finale peaks with 433k on BT Sport

A peak audience of 433k watched Jorge Lorenzo clinch the 2015 MotoGP championship live on BT Sport, overnight viewing figures show.

MotoGP and Moto3 hit BT Sport highs
Live coverage of the final MotoGP round of the season from Valencia averaged 345k (3.3%) from 12:30 to 14:00 on BT Sport 2, peaking with 433k (3.9%) in the 5-minute period from 13:40. Unsurprisingly, the peak figure is nearly triple last year’s peak of 151k (1.5%) when the title had already been decided.

The Moto3 race, which saw Danny Kent claim Britain’s first Grand Prix motorcycle title since 1977, peaked with 217k (2.4%) at 10:40. The entire programme, excluding Chequered Flag from 09:30 to 14:15, averaged a strong 205k (2.1%). ITV4’s highlights programme actually fared worse than BT Sport’s live MotoGP race. An average audience of 331k (1.5%) watched ITV4’s highlights on Monday evening at 20:00, peaking with 381k (1.7%) in the 5-minutes from 20:35. ITV4’s MotoGP shows have performed worse year-on-year, for the Monday airings at least, with the pendulum swinging towards BT Sport – noticeably there is now around a 50/50 audience split between the two broadcasters, something that was not the case last year.

It should be noted that ITV4 have added a lot of MotoGP repeats into their schedule this year, but my motto is not to add in multiple highlights, otherwise where do you stop? In 2013, when Marc Marquez beat Lorenzo to the championship, an average audience of 1.21m (11.9%) watched on BBC Two, with a peak of 1.49m (14.0%) recorded. Including British Eurosport, that number jumps to around 1.7m. The combined peak in 2015 of 814k is not the highest under this current contract, that honour remains with Qatar 2014 which recorded a combined peak of 833k. So viewing figures for the finale were down around half what they were in 2013, on your traditional devices at least.

I believe Sunday’s figures were BT Sport’s highest ever outside of football, so they will be happy with the numbers. As always, all figures exclude the BT Sport app and similarly BBC iPlayer from 2013.

Formula E struggles, but up year-on-year
Elsewhere, live coverage of Formula E from Putrajaya averaged just 23k (1.6%) from 05:00 to 07:30 on Saturday on ITV4. That number includes anyone who recorded the live programme and watched it before 02:00 on Sunday morning. The audience peaked (5-minute measure) with 58k (4.9%) ten minutes into the race. Last year, Putrajaya averaged 66k (5.1%), peaking with 137k (7.2%).

Highlights on Sunday morning fared significantly better, benefiting from the slot on ITV’s flagship channel. An audience of 201k (2.8%) watched, which compares with the 95k (0.5%) that watched ITV4’s highlights programme on Saturday evening last year. Formula E’s figures can be spun two different ways. Here are the facts. ITV4’s live coverage, in an identical slot to 2014, dropped 65 percent year-on-year, a very similar percentage drop to Beijing two weeks ago. Including the highlights show, the combined audience is up 40 percent year-on-year, from 160k to 224k.

It is a confusing picture. On one hand you can say, that the combined number is up or you can say that the live airing is down. What you also need to remember is the respective channel slot averages. By default, a programme airing on ITV should get a lot more viewers than on ITV4. However, Formula E’s number of 201k (2.8%) is down on ITV’s slot average. I think Punta del Este will tell a clearer story. My own opinion is that the numbers so far for Formula E’s second season are not good. Punta will either confirm that, or reverse the decline shown for the live numbers on ITV4.

There’s an interesting pattern here. Formula E, MotoGP and BTCC have recorded drops on ITV4 this year/recently, which could imply a wider issue to do with the broadcaster itself rather than an issue with a particular series…

2.8 million watch Mexican Grand Prix

An average audience of 2.8 million watched Nico Rosberg win the the Mexican Grand Prix in the UK yesterday, overnight viewing figures show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, broadcast on Sky Sports F1 from 18:00 to 21:30, averaged 690k (3.1%), with Sky Sports 1’s simulcast from 18:30 averaging a further 227k (1.0%), bringing a combined weighted Sky Sports average of 885k (3.9%). Highlights, which aired on BBC One from 22:30 to 00:00, averaged 1.96m (20.1%).

Being a new race in the modern era, we have no historical comparisons, and you cannot compare a viewing figure from 1991 to one in 2015. The combined average across BBC and Sky of 2.85 million is unsurprising when you consider that the championship has been resolved, but low nevertheless. The best comparison I can think of is with the 2013 United States Grand Prix which was held under similar circumstances with Sebastian Vettel having claimed the championship two rounds earlier in India. That race averaged 2.42 million, which remains Formula 1’s lowest figure in many years. Mexico yesterday was at least higher than that, and higher than Japan last month.

It does mean that a Grand Prix has not recorded an overnight viewing figure average of above 3.5 million since the Italian Grand Prix in September. As always, these figures exclude viewing from BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and Now TV. How much of a difference other forms of viewing actually makes is up for debate.

Qualifying
Highlights of qualifying, broadcast on BBC Two from 22:45 to 00:00, averaged 920k (8.3%). Sky Sports F1’s live coverage, airing from 18:00 to 20:45, averaged 344k (1.7%). The number does not take into account various BBC Two opt-outs yesterday evening. With a combined average of around 1.26 million viewers, it is below the average number for qualifying of 2 million viewers. I have not looked into the qualifying numbers recently, but 1.26 million is a throwback to the ITV days in the mid 2000s, when qualifying would struggle over the one million barrier.

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.