The Belgian Grand Prix increased slightly in the ratings versus 2012, overnight viewing figures show. However, as has been the pattern since the start of the year, only BBC seen an increase year-on-year, with Sky Sports F1’s ratings again dropping. The BBC’s coverage, from 12:10 to 15:15 averaged 2.89 million viewers, a 28.5 percent share, up 120,000 viewers against last year’s overnight figure. Sky Sports F1 averaged 336,000 viewers, a 3.4 percent share from 11:30 to 16:15. The channel from 12:10 to 15:15 averaged 453,000 viewers, exactly in line with the 35 percent increase which is typically seen between the two measures. Year-on-year, Sky is down about 30,000 viewers, and the 336,000 viewership average is their lowest so far this year.
It goes without saying that the Belgian Grand Prix is always one of the lowest rated races of the season due to its position in the calendar. The August Bank Holiday is the last Summer get away of the year which depletes ratings across the board, including the F1. In ratings term, the Belgian round is a ‘write off’ and it is difficult to do a lot of analysis or read too many conclusions into it. Of course, another reason for the low ratings is the other sporting competition (albeit, not an excuse) and the fact that Spa is normally over within 90 minutes.
Belgian Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2002 – 2.39 million
2003 – no race
2004 – 2.90 million
2005 – 2.10 million
2006 – no race
2007 – 2.67 million
2008 – 3.87 million
2009 – 3.47 million
2010 – 4.18 million
2011 – 3.90 million
2012 – 3.17 million / 3.29 million (using ‘35 percent theory‘)
– overnight figures were 3.10 million / 3.26 million
2013 – 3.23 million / 3.35 million (overnight rating)
By any measure, it is not a great rating, but not a particularly surprising one either. The combined peak, which I’ll get into first was at 13:45, with 4.49 million viewers (41.6 percent share) tuning in, which I believe is the lowest since 2009 for Belgian. You know the race is not great when the viewership is flat across the 90 minutes. 4.39 million viewers were watching at the start, 4.46 million viewers were watching at the end. On another day, it would have been a great race to watch and it would have increased substantially throughout broadcast. Alas, it was not to be.
At the time of the combined peak, BBC One held 3.88 million viewers, whilst the other 618,500 viewers were watching Sky. BBC One was up 190,000 viewers, Sky was down 270,500 viewers, meaning that the ratio between the two channels at the time of the peak was 86.4 percent versus 13.6 percent. It appears that there are a proportion of viewers who, over the past few months for whatever reason are gravitating back to the BBC’s programming. One question that could be asked, and therefore is probably worth briefly discussing here: “Would Sky ever consider getting rid of the F1 channel and putting content onto the main Sky Sports channels?” The answer to that question I think is no. Six Sky Sports channels looks more attractive to Sky than five, it is a simple as that. And, at a time when they are trying to fight off BT Sport, it would not make any logistical sense for them to do that.
Qualifying averaged 2.32 million viewers across both channels, with a peak of 3.04 million at 14:00. BBC’s coverage averaged 2.00 million viewers, with Sky adding 319,000 viewers. Both channels were up year-on-year, but it was the lowest rated Qualifying session of the year. Next up is Italy, which is also a traditionally low rated race, although 2012 did buck that trend, so it will be interesting to see what happens this year.
The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.
The reason this piece is up later than usual is because, there are not many motor sport ratings on BARB to actually report. Sky Sports F1’s top ten is a delayed, so unfortunately there is no rating to report for the fantastic Journalists special of The F1 Show.
An impressive rating that has been reported however are highlights of the World Rally Championship (WRC) round from Finland. Although the ITV4 airing did not make the top ten on Wednesday (9th August) at 20:00, the timeshifted airing made ITV4 +1’s top ten at 21:00, averaging 37,000 viewers. I suspect the ITV4 airing averaged over 100,000 viewers, which obviously would be the highest WRC has been in several years, thanks to ITV4 reaching many more people than ESPN previously did. I haven’t seen any detailed WRC figures, but if I do, I will post them.
I revealed back in March that the rights are for this season only. I really, really hope that ITV4 continue screening it in 2014, it would be disastrous if the series was thrown back into the abyss where viewing figures are concerned. Thankfully, if the figures above suggest, the World Rally Championship is again showing signs of life in the UK after a torrid few years.
Elsewhere, the viewing figures for Motors TV’s top ten ranged from 4,000 to 13,000 viewers, NASCAR and V8 Supercars their highlights.
Having looked at both the BBC and Sky Sports F1 teams along with their respective programming, part five of ‘The Verdict so far’ series brings us to the UK television ratings. Which is, quite simply, a measure of Formula 1’s popularity. Have Formula 1’s ratings dropped further since 2012, or have they rebounded? In this blog post, we shall find out the answer.
Before I start though, again it is worth reiterating figures I use. All of the figures in the blog are programme averages, unless stated otherwise. This is because these are the figures most readily available, and I do not have industry access to the viewing figures. Therefore, I am relying purely on the figures I already have and those that are reported in the public domain. I also have the Formula 1 viewing figures going back to the early 1990’s, those can be sourced from Broadcast magazine. All figures in this particular piece are official consolidated ratings from BARB, which include recordings within seven days.
For those of you that haven’t followed my ratings, we have seen since 2000 three ‘phases’. Phase 1, from 2000 to 2006 saw ratings drop from 4 million viewers to under 3 million viewers thanks to the lack of British interest and Michael Schumacher’s dominance. With Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on the horizon, and Formula 1 returning to BBC, meant that phase 2 from 2007 to 2011 saw ratings rise, from just over 3 million viewers to 4.6 million viewers. Phase 3 is simply 2012. Ratings dropped half a million between 2011 and 2012. Whilst the change of broadcasting rights was definitely one reason, as I outlined in my 2012 piece at the end of last year, the ‘Summer of sport’ in this country was another factor which has to be accounted for.
Official ratings from BARB show that, as it stands, 2012 was a blip. So far, Formula 1 is rating in between 2010 and 2011’s mid-season average and is back to the viewing figure levels pre-2012. As always, the figures comprise of:
– Sky live and BBC highlights
– Sky live, BBC live and BBC re-run (Asian based races)
– Sky and BBC live (non-Asian based races)
However, it is not all rosy. Further analysis shows that, versus the same races last season, BBC’s Formula 1 ratings have increased 21 percent, whilst Sky Sports F1’s ratings have dropped 9 percent.
– BBC F1 (3.18 million vs 3.83 million)
– Sky Sports F1 (699,000 vs 638,000)
The Sky drop is further reflected in their channel reach, which has dropped half a million during live race weeks this year:
Sky Sports F1′ s weekly viewership reach at the half way point of the 2013 season. Source: BARB.
As the graph shows, only two races for them this season have increased in terms of reach, Monaco, one of their exclusive races, and Hungary due to no Olympics clash. Regarding programme averages for them, only Britain, Monaco and Hungary have increased. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find many positives for Sky as the picture is mainly decreases. Overall, the 2013 season is currently averaging 4.47 million viewers, or 4.70 million viewers when taking into account Sky’s long programming length.
– 2009 – 4.38 million
– 2010 – 4.41 million
– 2011 – 4.62 million
– 2012 – 3.89 million / 4.10 million
– 2013 – 4.47 million / 4.70 million
Typically, viewing figures drop in the second half of the season due to the run of Asian based races, whilst Belgian and Italy tend to be low too. Nevertheless, the headline figures are very, very positive. If you were to look at the first ten races of previous seasons, then you get:
Averages (Aus, Mal, Chn, Bah, Spa, Mon, Can, GB, Ger, Hun)
– 2009 – 4.30 million
– 2010 – 4.63 million
– 2011 – 4.86 million
– 2012 – 3.82 million / 4.06 million
– 2013 – 4.47 million / 4.70 million
Which places 2013 between 2010 and 2011 as I noted earlier. I expect 2013 to drop like 2010 and 2011 did, to end up with a season average of around 4.20 million / 4.50 million. The only reason 2009 increased towards the end of the year was because of Jenson Button, whilst the first half of 2012 was hurt by other sporting events as I’ve said multiple times. However, if Lewis Hamilton does put up a title fight, the figures of the season so far could be maintained.
Now, some people will rightfully say “yeah, but Germany was inflated by Wimbledon, so in reality 2013 is not up versus 2012”. Removing Germany takes the average down to 4.30 million / 4.53 million viewers. So at this stage it makes some difference, but come the end of the season, it will mean an increase of about 0.1 million to the total average, which is not a significant amount in the grand scheme of things.
If we are to compare further back, using data from 2000 onwards for Australia, Spain, Monaco, Britain and Hungary, we see the following:
Averages for the above five races
– 2000 – 4.29 million
– 2001 – 3.83 million
– 2002 – 3.49 million
– 2003 – 3.37 million
– 2004 – 2.99 million
– 2005 – 3.09 million
– 2006 – 2.58 million
– 2007 – 3.52 million
– 2008 – 4.12 million
– 2009 – 4.31 million
– 2010 – 4.54 million
– 2011 – 4.74 million
– 2012 – 3.79 million / 3.98 million
– 2013 – 3.95 million / 4.16 million
Interestingly, while that does show an increase, the increase is not as severe as the main headline figure. I think, in every season, some Formula 1 ratings have good luck and bad luck attached to them, and at the end of the year, it balances it all out. By the above measure, ratings are up versus 2012, but not as much as I said above.
A similar method would be to look at the first ten races only of the season:
Averages for the first ten races
– 2006 – 2.85 million
– 2007 – 3.66 million
– 2008 – 3.74 million
– 2009 – 4.36 million
– 2010 – 4.45 million
– 2011 – 4.66 million
– 2012 – 3.88 million / 4.12 million
– 2013 – 4.47 million / 4.70 million
At this point, no matter how many averages you take, the overriding point is that viewing figures are up versus last year. Are they near to 2011? It appears so, but the full picture will emerge as the season progresses, and more importantly if a title fight emerges. I’m pleased to see ratings increase, it is never a good sight to see ratings drop, so I’m happy to see a turn in the right direction. What is interesting is that all of the increase is due to the BBC. The move to sacrifice screening Monaco live has paid off dividends, it meant that they could pick Canada as a live race and being in primetime meant higher viewing figures for the latter.
Another brilliant move of their behalf was choosing Germany as a highlights race. It meant a combined average of 6 million viewers, which is unheard of for Formula 1 today. It is with BBC where the viewers lie, and clearly there is a section of the audience who have decided not to view Sky live this season and instead settle with the highlights. Cost? Who knows. I suspect it is one of the reasons. If everyone with the HD Pack and no Sports Pack has a nasty surprise in the off-season, then Sky’s figures could drop further. Unfortunately that is what the viewing figures show. I may be called “anti-Sky” for saying that about Sky’s figures, but the figures do not lie.
Although there is still half of the season ahead, and viewing figures could drop substantially, I think the recovery proves that the Olympics was a major factor in Formula 1’s ratings dropping. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – even if every Formula 1 race last year was live on BBC I think ratings would have dropped. Without stating the obvious, 2012 was a big, big year for the UK and Formula 1 just was not a part of that, nothing was going to change that fact. The only surprise for me was the severity of the drop. But, it is good to see ratings back up. How much are they up, we will know the answer at the end of the season.
Qualifying also recovered from 2012, and surprisingly an average of 2.88 million so far means that it is the most watched Qualifying ‘season’ so far since records began. That surprises me a lot. Aside from Britain, which averaged 2.36 million viewers on BBC and Sky, every Qualifying programme has recorded an average above 2.6 million viewers, which is a fantastic achievement when you consider only five years ago the average was less than 2 million. Of course, it goes without saying that some race weekends had Qualifying on the fringes of primetime, but that should not take away from the above.
Outside of the main sessions, practice remained level with last year, whilst The F1 Show increased slightly, but the averages remain below 100,000 viewers. GP2 has increased from 34,000 to 38,000 for its feature and sprint races, GP3 has remained at 21,000 viewers for its average. Unfortunately, the signs of life that the support races have shown are few and far in between. That is it for the mid-Summer verdict on the blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the pieces, and as always comments are welcome.
Note: All the figures quoted here are the averages for the whole race programme, not the race average as these figures are unavailable. Figures are official figures from BARB and Broadcast magazine. While I have made comparisons and analysis of figures, I should note that I do not have every single ratings figure. The figures for that races that I am missing are:
1992 – Australia, San Marino, France, Portugal, Japan (live and both for AUS, JPN)
1993 – France (live), Japan (highlights)
1994 – Pacific (highlights), San Marino, France, Hungary, Japan (live)
1995 – Australia, Argentina, San Marino, Spain, Japan (all live)
1996 – Canada, Japan (all live)
1997 – Japan (live)
1998 – Australia,France, Japan (all live)
2000 – Malaysia (live and re-run), Japan (live)
2001 – Japan (live)
2003 – Malaysia; Japan (both live)
2004 – China (live)
If anyone is reading and has any of them ratings, leave a comment.
Motor sport is now officially in Summer recess, but thankfully there were some series back in action to keep things ticking over. Unfortunately, ratings for BT Sport 2, Motors TV and Sky Sports F1 have not been reported by BARB and are therefore delayed.
ITV4’s contribution comes via the British Touring Car Championship which averaged 285,000 viewers across seven hours on Sunday (4th August). You can see why it was a no brainer for both parties to extend their contract earlier this year considering the healthy ratings it delivers. Highlights of the Goodwood Festival of Speed followed, averaging 301,000 viewers.
Over on BBC Two, the last in the series of Top Gear, with Mark Webber as guest, averaged 5.49 million viewers. Figures are slightly down on what it used to achieve on the channel, but iPlayer plays a huge part with Top Gear, as it regularly gets over 1 million viewers on there which paints a better picture of the shows performance.
Formula 1’s first Summer break came to a conclusion with the Hungarian Grand Prix, and in the official BARB ratings, both BBC and Sky recorded improvements versus 2012. BBC One’s highlights programme averaged 3.78 million viewers, an increase of 140,000 viewers against the overnight ratings, which is quite frankly tuppence by today’s standards where primetime programmes can timeshift near to a million viewers. Like I said, it is marginally up on 2012, 80,000 viewers up to be exact. Sky Sports F1’s race programme averaged 812,000 viewers, an increase of 70,000 viewers from the overnight ratings, although this is as a result of the ad-breaks being stripped out of the official ratings. The programme average was up 94,000 on 2012.
Elsewhere on Sky Sports F1:
– 432,000 – Live Qualifying (Saturday, 12:00)
– 94,000 – Live Practice 3 (Saturday, 09:45)
– 59,000 – GP Uncovered (Sunday, 16:30)
– 54,000 – Live GP2 Race 1 (Saturday, 14:35)
– 47,000 – The F1 Show (Friday, 17:00)
– 42,000 – Live Practice 2 (Friday, 12:45)
Overall, the practice ratings are up year-on-year although practice one was for some reason outside of the top ten. Nevertheless, very pleasing to see GP Uncovered in the top ten as it is not often that it makes the top ten. Solid rating for the first GP2 race, I do hope it continues to improve ratings wise, Sky need to maximise the fact that GP2 and GP3 after F1 Qualifying as much as possible.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed was ITV4’s main highlight, with ‘The First 20 Years’ bringing 350,000 viewers to the channel on Wednesday (24th July) at 21:00. 390,000 viewers watched the 2013 action a day later. Motors TV is the only other worthy mention this week, the Blancpain Endurance Series topping its chart with 19,000 viewers.
Motorsport Broadcasting 