Scheduling: The Formula E debut / 2014 Beijing ePrix

After two years build-up, five days of testing, a mock race and many months of speculation, Formula E has arrived! The electric series begins its first season in China for the 2014 Beijing ePrix. Unusually, the series will have all of its race activity in a one day period, and on a Saturday. Practice will begin at 08:15 and 10:30 local time, qualifying at 12:00, with the race at 16:00. For the first race at least, ITV will only be broadcasting the race live, although I imagine this is the case worldwide. In the UK, qualifying is at 05:00, so it makes little sense to broadcast it live.

Instead, highlights of practice and qualifying will be part of the pre-race build-up presented by Jennie Gow. Gow, who seems to get just about everywhere in the motor sport world, will be presenting the show from London with a series of experts – for Beijing that will be gamer turned racer Jann Mardenborough and engineer Kyle Wilson-Clarke. If demand is good, and I really hope the peak is near to one million viewers on ITV4, then maybe we could see qualifying broadcast live for say Uruguay in December when the timezone is much more favourable. I hope advertising for the series picks up on ITV as we build towards the race with adverts during their big shows. The World Feed commentators, which UK viewers will hear, are Jack Nicholls and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. Nicki Shields is the World Feed pit-lane reporter and presenter of the World Feed, but I don’t think ITV watchers will see her in action for the latter. Former McLaren F1 mechanic Mark Priestley will be joining Shields out in Beijing.

There are several programmes before the opening weekend, notably a documentary covering the birth of the series on National Geographic, a preview of which is linked above. Both that, and the season preview on ITV4 are repeated multiple times over the week. From a broadcasting stand-point, it will be fascinating to see how the series is presented. From camera angles to pit lane and onto the soundtrack. The point about camera angles has not been talked about that much, but given that Formula E is limited to 150mph, the camera positions need to be strategic enough to capture this speed. This is one reason why Formula E is street circuit based, so that the lack of speed is not as obvious. Who knows how the soundtrack will really come across to viewers should they go down that route for definite. There’s a sense of intrigue that comes with it, for better for worse, I am excited to see how it goes down.

One thing is for certain: on Saturday 13th September, the eyes of the motor racing world will be on Beijing. And here, for the UK folk, are all the scheduling details you need…

Thursday 4th September
17:30 to 18:00 – Blue Peter (CBBC)
– a feature involving Formula E will air

Saturday 6th September
18:00 to 19:00 – Season Preview (ITV4)

Tuesday 9th September
17:00 to 18:00 – Racing Recharged (National Geographic)

Saturday 13th September
08:00 to 10:30 – LIVE Race (ITV4)
18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights (ITV4)
22:00 to 23:00 – Highlights (BT Sport 2)

Given that this is the inaugural race, I would expect there to be a few media appearances through the next week and a half building up to Beijing. I’ll try and keep the above updated as and when features are announced.

Scheduling: The 2014 Italian Grand Prix

Following the last round in Belgium, which seen Daniel Ricciardo close in on both Mercedes drivers at the front of the field thanks to their own coming together, the field heads to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix!

If you want to jump to the schedules, click the links below…

– Thursday 4th September
– Friday 5th September
– Saturday 6th September
– Sunday 7th September
– Wednesday 10th September
– Classic F1

Both BBC and Sky Sports are live weekend, meaning that it is the usual schedule for both, and not too many surprises worth pointing out. There is an oddity in the Sky schedule which claims that practice one is getting half an hour of build-up, which (outside of Australia) never happens so that should change, which is why I’ve deliberately used the normal programme time in the piece below. One scheduling note that is accurate is BBC giving practice three half an hour of reaction. It’s good to see that happen, and bridges some of the gap between practice three and qualifying shows.

Elsewhere, the second episode of Tales from the Vault is on immediately after the race on Sunday, focussing on underdogs, with Damon Hill, John Watson and Pat Symonds as guests. There currently is not a third episode scheduled for after Singapore, as only two episodes have been filmed so far. I’d expect further episodes to turn up later in the year, or more realistically 2015 sadly given that there is a lot more travel and time involved in the last haul of races. Here are all the details you need:

Thursday 4th September
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:30 to 23:45 – Gear Up for Italy (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 5th September
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
11:00 to 11:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
14:50 to 15:30 – 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 6th September
08:45 to 09:20 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:25 to 09:45 – The F1 Show: Journalists Special (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:30 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1)
12:10 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
13:00 to 15:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky1 + 1)
14:35 to 16:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 7th September
08:20 to 09:20 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:45 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
10:45 to 17:45 – BTCC: Rockingham (ITV4)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live
12:10 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC One)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
16:15 to 17:15 – Tales from the Vault (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 10th September
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
30/08 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1991 Canadian Grand Prix Highlights
31/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1993 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
01/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1994 British Grand Prix Highlights
02/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1986 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
03/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2008 Italian Grand Prix
04/09 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 1989 Italian Grand Prix
05/09 – 18:00 to 20:00 – 2010 Italian Grand Prix
06/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1993 Italian Grand Prix Highlights
07/09 – 17:15 to 18:00 – 1995 Italian Grand Prix Highlights
07/09 – 20:30 to 21:30 – 1973 Season Review
08/09 – 21:00 to 21:30 – 1981 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
09/09 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
10/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix
11/09 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1986 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
12/09 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 1999 Austrian Grand Prix

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

Update on August 30th – Sky’s coverage of qualifying is being simulcast on Sky1. Whilst good, I don’t understand why they are doing this for a race where BBC are also live. Seems a bit of a waste to me.

Update on August 30th at 18:30 – So an advert during Saturday Night Football concerning the F1 shows that Sky’s coverage does indeed start Friday ‘at 08:30’. I’m not sure why that is, and for what it’s worth, that hasn’t been amended in the last week since Belgium, it has always been the case.

Update on September 2nd – Sky schedule for the Friday now the usual-selves so nothing to see here.

Update on September 6th – A late edition to the schedule’s for today, and repeated multiple times is the addition of an F1 Show Journalists Special, at twenty minutes long focussing on the Mercedes drama from Spa.

Scheduling: The 2014 Belgian Grand Prix

The battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg heads into the second half of the season as the Formula 1 teams and drivers reconvene in Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix! With eleven points separating the two, it is pretty much a guarantee that the title battle will, barring a miracle, go down to the wire at the last race of the season, the controversial ‘double points’ round in Abu Dhabi. For those wishing to jump to the scheduling, click the links below…

– Thursday 21st August
– Friday 22nd August
– Saturday 23rd August
– Sunday 24th August
– Wednesday 27th August
– Classic F1

On the broadcasting front, the situation is interesting in the championship run-in. Sky have only three exclusive races left this year, compared with BBC’s five live races. One of the BBC’s five live races is Russia. In the unlikely event that Formula 1 chooses to avoid the situation in Russia and removes it from the calendar, it poses an interesting question of whether BBC could ‘claim’ another live race in the championship run in, because the removal of Russia would leave BBC with eight live races and ten highlight races across the entire season, obviously that is not a 50/50 split. I’ll follow that line in the run up to Russia if it is axed, it would be interesting to see what the contract stipulates (there is the more serious point as to whether BBC and Sky choose to send their teams to Russia, but that is a separate subject and one that will probably be monitored nearer to the event).

Back to Belgium, and the BBC side is at full strength again, both Lee McKenzie and Eddie Jordan will be back with the team. Over on Sky, their new show with unseen footage from Formula One Management’s archive will première on Sunday 24th August on the channel. The first edition will focus on team-mates with Nigel Mansell and Christian Horner alongside Steve Rider. I hope this doesn’t fly under the radar, but that relies on Sky to promote it. And by that I mean get the message out to the wider F1 media. The key phrase, as I’ve said before should be “unseen footage”. If that isn’t a trigger for an interesting article or two on whatever footage they’ve got hold of, I don’t know what is. It depends how good/revealing the footage is too as to whether they can ‘sell’ it to the F1 journalists to write about, or whether it is just another Sky F1 programme which probably won’t be written about in the future (hopefully not, mind).

Elsewhere, ESPN have the penultimate round of the IndyCar Series on Sunday evening, whilst ITV4 have live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship from Knockhill. Below are all the details you need:

Thursday 21st August
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:30 to 23:45 – F1: Gear Up for Belgium (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 22nd August
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
11:00 to 11:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
14:50 to 15:30 – 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 23rd August
08:45 to 09:20 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:20 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
14:35 to 16:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 24th August
08:20 to 09:05 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:45 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
10:45 to 18:00 – BTCC: Knockhill (ITV4)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live
12:10 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC One)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
16:15 to 17:15 – Tales from the Vault (Sky Sports F1)
21:30 to 00:00 – IndyCars: Sonoma (ESPN)

Wednesday 27th August
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
16/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1996 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
17/08 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2011 German Grand Prix
18/08 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
19/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1985 Belgian Grand Prix Highlights
20/08 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 1998 Belgian Grand Prix
21/08 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2010 Belgian Grand Prix
22/08 – 18:00 to 19:45 – 2000 Belgian Grand Prix
23/08 – 21:20 to 22:05 – 1982 Belgian Grand Prix Highlights
24/08 – 17:15 to 18:15 – 1972 Season Review
24/08 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2005 Belgian Grand Prix
25/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2012 Spanish Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
26/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2011 Chinese Grand Prix
27/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix
28/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
29/08 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2012 European Grand Prix (Sky commentary)

As always, any scheduling updates will be posted here as well.

Scheduling: The 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

It’s the last Formula One race before the Summer break as the field head to Budapest for the tight and twisty Hungarian Grand Prix. As always, the race will be live on Sky Sports F1, with extended highlights across the BBC. For the full schedule, click the links below…

– Thursday 24th July
– Friday 25th July
– Saturday 26th July
– Sunday 27th July
– Wednesday 30th July
– Classic F1

Due to the Commonwealth Games, highlights of qualifying are on BBC Two. Highlights of the race are on BBC One, albeit in an 80 minute slot, so clearly someone at the BBC is banking on a dull Hungarian Grand Prix! Lee McKenzie is again not with the BBC team due to the games, and will be back with them in Belgium.

There are two other changes to note. The first note is that Hungary will be Jack Nicholls’ second race in the Radio 5 Live commentary box, taking James Allen’s position. Nicholls, as of September, will also be heard during Formula E’s television coverage as lead commentator alongside Dario Franchitti. Over on Sky Sports F1, Bruno Senna will be making his third appearance this season with the team. All of the details you need are listed below…

Thursday 24th July
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 25th July
08:30 to 08:45 – F1: Gear Up for Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11:00 to 11:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14:50 to 15:30 – 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 26th July
08:45 to 09:20 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:15 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14:35 to 16:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:40 to 18:55 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC Two)

Sunday 27th July
08:20 to 09:20 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:45 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live
13:00 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
17:10 to 18:30 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC One)

Wednesday 30th July
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
Sky’s schedules do not go beyond August 15th, so anything beyond the 15th, I will include in the Belgium schedule piece. As you can see, there’s no themes during the Summer break. I’m more likely to watch (or keep track of) classic F1 if there was a running theme, as I’ve said before. Throwing on random race after random race seems like a complete waste to me.

21/07 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1982 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
22/07 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1987 Detroit Grand Prix Highlights
23/07 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix
24/07 – 21:00 to 23:45 – 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix
25/07 – 18:00 to 20:15 – 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
26/07 – 17:15 to 18:15 – 1971 Season Review
26/07 – 21:20 to 23:35 – 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix
27/07 – 17:15 to 18:00 – 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Highlights
28/07 – 21:00 to 21:30 – 1990 United States Grand Prix Highlights
29/07 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix
30/07 – 21:00 to 22:30 – 1989 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights
31/07 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1989 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
01/08 – 21:00 to 23:45 – 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
02/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
03/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1990 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
04/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
05/08 – 21:00 to 23:00 – 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
06/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2008 Chinese Grand Prix
07/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1987 British Grand Prix Highlights
08/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix Highlights
09/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2012 European Grand Prix (Sky commentary)
10/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1988 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights
11/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights
12/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1996 Japanese Grand Prix Highlights
13/08 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1996 Australian Grand Prix Highlights
14/08 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1986 British Grand Prix Highlights
15/08 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2013 Chinese Grand Prix (Sky commentary)

If anything significant changes, I will amend the above as necessary.

Scheduling: The 2014 German Grand Prix

The Formula 1 season hits the halfway point as the teams and drivers’ convene on the Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix! The action will be live on Sky Sports F1, with extended highlights on BBC later in the evening. If you want to jump straight to the schedule, click the links below…

– Thursday 17th July
– Friday 18th July
– Saturday 19th July
– Sunday 20th July
– Wednesday 23rd July
– Classic F1

This year, due to The Open, the race highlights, like in 2012, will be aired on BBC Two from 19:00. Given that the highlights show is not following on from an Andy Murray final at Wimbledon, I fully expect a substantial ratings drop compared with 2013, a more realistic barometer is 2012 and before. In a little bit of good scheduling though, a repeat of the film Grand Prix precedes the BBC Two highlights show.

The main BBC personnel news is that Lee McKenzie will not be with the team for either Germany or Hungary due to the Commonwealth Games. It will be the first race that she has missed since 2008, before BBC had the Formula 1 television contract. Jennie Gow is stepping into McKenzie’s shoes for the weekend, Gow continuing her 5 Live commitments at the same time.

Elsewhere, there is a double bill of the IndyCar Series with two races in Toronto, both airing live on ESPN.

Thursday 17th July
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 22:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
23:30 to 23:45 – F1: Gear Up for Germany (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 18th July
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
11:00 to 11:50 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
14:50 to 15:30 – 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 19th July
08:45 to 09:25 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:15 – 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 16:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:25 to 18:40 – F1: Qualifying Highlights (BBC One)
19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
~~20:30 to 23:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (ESPN)~~

Sunday 20th July
08:20 to 09:20 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:45 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live
12:45 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
15:30 to 17:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (ESPN)
16:15 to 17:15 – GP Heroes: Niki Lauda (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 19:00 – FILM: Grand Prix (BBC Two)
19:00 to 20:30 – F1: Race Highlights (BBC Two)
20:30 to 23:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (ESPN)

Wednesday 23rd July
20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Classic F1 on Sky Sports F1
12/07 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 1998 Belgian Grand Prix
13/07 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
14/07 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix
15/07 – 21:00 to 23:15 – 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
16/07 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 2000 German Grand Prix
17/07 – 21:00 to 22:00 – 1982 German Grand Prix Highlights
18/07 – 18:00 to 20:00 – 2010 German Grand Prix
19/07 – 17:15 to 18:30 – 1993 German Grand Prix Highlights
20/07 – 17:15 to 18:15 – 1970 Season Review
20/07 – 21:00 to 21:45 – 1996 German Grand Prix Highlights

If anything changes, as always, I will update the schedule.

Update on July 14th – Piece updated to mention Jennie Gow doing double duty.

Update on July 20th – Yesterday’s IndyCar race one has been rescheduled to today due to heavy rain, so I have amended the above.