Sky Sports F1 showing extended interview with Jenson Button this week

A new show has popped up on the EPG listings for this week, that being an extended interview with Jenson Button. I assume the interview is an extended cut of that he did with Natalie Pinkham prior to the British Grand Prix weekend. Another option is that it could be his Legends interview with Steve Rider, assuming Rider has interviewed Button yet. In any case, Sky Sports F1 have managed to extend it out to a 30-minute slot, with it being shown at the following times:

– Monday 16th July, 19:00
– Tuesday 17th July, 19:00
– Wednesday 18th July, 20:30
– Thursday 19th July, 19:45
– Friday 20th July, 07:30
– Friday 20th July, 12:30
– Saturday 21st July, 11:15
– Saturday 21st July, 23:35
– Sunday 22nd July, 11:00
– Sunday 22nd July, 20:30

So with a total of ten screenings in total, you have very little excuse to miss this!

British Grand Prix holds up well against Murray onslaught

So a few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on here regarding the scheduling of yesterday’s British Grand Prix. As I noted in that particular piece:

“One has to wonder if the conclusion of the British Grand Prix is less important than the first few sets of the Wimbledon Men’s Singles final, and also whether the Qualifying session is less important than the Women’s Singles final.”

I have to admit, at that time, I thought no, thinking to myself that it will be an all foreign final and Andy Murray will once again get knocked out in the Quarter or Semi Final. Of course, I was left eating humble pie….

He didn’t win, though. He did however, draw an absolutely mammoth peak of 16.9 million viewers to BBC One yesterday at 18:00 and an 11.45 million viewership average throughout. In comparison, the highest Formula 1 race on record, the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, had 8.8 million. So, in reality, the BBC made completely the right decision, as I admitted on Friday on Twitter!

With the mammoth peak, it is no surprise that the F1 was dented, and although the British Grand Prix had its worst viewing figures since 2007, the figures were not bad at all considering the opposition. The weighted programme average was 3.09 million (20.9%) from 12:05 to 15:30. The percentage share, for anyone wondering, is a lot lower than usual due to there being a lot more people watching TV than usual, again due to the Wimbledon final.

I do not have the exact Sky Sports F1 figures, but again you are looking at around about 0.4 million to 0.5 million, which means a combined average of about 3.5 million. Which is actually very respectable when you consider the viewing figures for BBC One. It is not far away from the Monaco Grand Prix figure either. If anything, the Grand Prix did a lot better than I was anticipating. James Allen has helpfully tweeted a peak of 4.2 million for BBC Two, so factoring in Sky Sports F1 will take you to a peak in the 5 million region. I am not sure a ratio is relevant really considering the mammoth opposition, but you are looking at 84% to 16%, approximately give-or-take depending on the exact peak figures.

The delayed Qualifying figure did not do well, a peak of 2.3 million (22.7%) at 13:15 on BBC Two, with an average of 1.9 million viewers. Add an extra 0.2 million or 0.3 million for Sky, which gives you about 2.2 million viewers. Not a very good figure, and the worst for the British Grand Prix Qualifying since 2008. If anything, the rain delay hindered things rather than helped things, as all the casual viewers would have flocked to BBC One when the rain delay started as the Women’s Wimbledon final was getting underway.

One thing that the ratings show is that the scheduling all around has been awful this year from the FIA. The Canadian Grand Prix went against Euro 2012 directly. The British Grand Prix went against the Wimbledon final, and the Hungarian Grand Prix is going to go against the London 2012 Olympics. Who planned this exactly? The schedule should have gone something like this:

– 27th May: Monaco
– 10th June: Europe (Valencia)
– 24th June: Germany
– 1st July: Britain
– 15th July: Canada
– 19th August: Hungary
– 2nd September: Belgium

That just about directly avoids the major sporting events, with nothing directly clashing. I can only assume that there are logistical issues that prevents an event the week before Valencia or a week after in terms of transportation. There would still be a five week break halfway through the season, just slightly different with Hungary after the break rather than before it.

As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Sky Sports F1 schedule times for GP2, GP3 and Season Review repeats next weekend

Next weekend, Sky Sports F1 is showing every GP2 and GP3 Series race from the season so far. Which is a pretty good idea when you think about it, instead of showing the latest F1 race, as it is quite easy to miss a GP2 or GP3 race, so it is a good idea for them to repeat them back-to-back.

Sky are also going back to the start with their Season Reviews. They did broadcast 1988 onwards beginning in March when the channel launched, and are now going back in a full circle starting back in 1988. Here are all the times you need if you want to play catch up.

GP2 Series – Saturday 14th July
07:00 – Malaysia, Race 1
08:25 – Malaysia, Race 2
09:30 – Bahrain, Race 1 (Round 1)
10:55 – Bahrain, Race 2 (Round 1)
12:00 – Bahrain, Race 1 (Round 2)
13:25 – Bahrain, Race 2 (Round 2)
14:30 – Spain, Race 1
15:55 – Spain, Race 2
17:00 – Monaco, Race 1
18:30 – Monaco, Race 2
19:35 – Europe, Race 1
21:00 – Europe, Race 2
22:05 – Britain, Race 1
23:30 to 00:35 – Britain, Race 2

GP3 Series – Sunday 15th July
07:50 – Spain, Race 1
08:40 – Spain, Race 2
09:30 – Monaco, Race 1
10:20 – Monaco, Race 2
11:10 – Europe, Race 1
12:00 – Europe, Race 2
12:50 – Britain, Race 1
13:40 to 14:30 – Britain, Race 2

The EPG should have each race in a separate ‘programme’, so if you for example missed the second GP2 race at Monaco, you can just record that race if you wished to. Although they are not screening full Classic F1 races, the above is definitely a good way to utilise the weekend on Sky Sports F1.

Aside from that, there are the Season Review programmes, which are as follows:

– 1988: 21:00 to 22:15, Thursday 12th July
– 1989: 22:15 to 23:25, Thursday 12th July
– 1990: 21:00 to 22:00, Friday 13th July
– 1991: 23:00 to 00:10, Friday 13th July
– 1992: n/a
– 1993: 22:00 to 23:05, Sunday 15th July
– 1994: 23:05 to 00:05, Sunday 15th July
– 1995: 21:00 to 22:00, Monday 16th July
– 1996: 21:00 to 22:00, Tuesday 17th July
– 1997: 21:00 to 22:00, Wednesday 18th July
– 1998: 21:00 to 22:00, Thursday 19th July

As the channel had only just launched when the majority of the above were shown, chances are a lot of people did not spot them first time around, so definitely worth watching if you did not see them.

As always, timings are subject to change, and I shall update this blog if they do.

British Eurosport to screen MotoGP live tomorrow

Note: If you have come to this article via a search engine, this article was written in June 2012, and is no longer relevant. It will, however, be kept here for historical purposes. Thank you.

British Eurosport are to screen all three MotoGP races live tomorrow, as well as all three warm-up sessions live tomorrow, it has been announced. The broadcaster normally broadcasts the Moto3 and Moto2 races live, with the MotoGP race on a tape-delay as the MotoGP races air live on BBC Two.

However, due to live coverage of Wimbledon, MotoGP will not be airing live on BBC Two tomorrow. As with past occurrences where this has happened (such as Qatar in the past few years), it means British Eurosport is allowed to air MotoGP live as BBC will only be broadcasting it on the Red Button.

As for the warm-up, I do not remember Eurosport broadcasting Moto3 or Moto2 (even in their previous form 125cc and 250cc) warm-up’s before, so nice to see them broadcasting that too.

British Eurosport 2’s schedule tomorrow therefore runs as follows:

07:35 to 08:05 – LIVE: Moto3 warm-up
08:05 to 08:35 – LIVE: Moto2 warm-up
08:35 to 09:15 – LIVE: MotoGP warm-up
09:15 to 09:45 – LIVE: Build-up
09:45 to 11:05 – LIVE: Moto3 race
11:05 to 12:25 – LIVE: Moto2 race
12:25 to 14:15 – LIVE: MotoGP race

For viewers without access to Eurosport, the three races are live on BBC’s Red Button service from 09:45, with the MotoGP race repeated at 12:30 on BBC Two on Sunday (it’s usual timeslot). The current contract between British Eurosport and BBC expires at the end of the 2013 season.

Scheduling: The British Grand Prix

After a fantastic European Grand Prix, it’s time for Formula 1 to head home. And that means it is time for the British Grand Prix. While Sky are pulling out the stops with Classic F1 in the run up to the race, the same cannot be said for BBC. Due to coverage of Wimbledon, both Qualifying and the Race are on BBC Two, with only the Race Build-Up on BBC One.

As announced at the end of their European Grand Prix show, there is an extra F1 Show on Thursday 5th July, with a two hour build-up to the race on Sunday. Although I have not heard anything concrete, I would expect an increased on-site presence for Silverstone from both the News and F1 team, maybe even with a studio there aside from the Sky Pad, as going on air at 11:00 would be when the Porsche Supercup cars are still on track.

On BBC, there is an extra guy in the pit-lane for Radio 5 Live, former McLaren mechanic Mark Priestley is alongside Jennie Gow. 5 Live also have race car driver Tiffany Chittenden alongside them for the weekend. Finally, don’t be surprised if the F1 Forum overruns, as it is coming live from the main stage as Silverstone, so if you’re going, you may be caught on camera! I’ve also added Inside F1, presented by Lee McKenzie, below the poll for anyone interested.

Thursday 5th July
15:00 to 15:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Friday 6th July
09:45 to 11:55 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
11:50 to 12:30 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
13:45 to 15:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:55 to 15:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
15:55 to 16:45 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
17:15 to 18:00 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 7th July
08:45 to 09:25 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Red Button)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:30 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Two)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 8th July
08:25 to 09:25 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:35 to 10:40 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:00 to 16:15 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 12:55 – MotoGP: Sachsenring (BBC Two)
12:10 to 12:55 – F1: Race Build-Up (BBC One)
12:55 to 15:30 – F1: Race (BBC Two)
15:30 to 16:30 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
17:30 to 20:00 – IndyCars: Toronto (Sky Sports 2)
20:30 to 22:30 – FILM: Senna (Sky Sports F1)

The schedules above are now confirmed, so should not change. I’ve also added BBC’s MotoGP coverage for the Sunday as that is partly the reason why the F1 build-up is on BBC One. IndyCars and a screening of the Senna film is also above.