5.2 million watch Canadian Grand Prix

An average of 5.2 million viewers watched the Canadian Grand Prix across BBC One and Sky Sports F1 yesterday, overnight viewing figures show. The figures are up on last year’s ratings, which hit a six year low thanks to coverage being exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Yesterday’s coverage on BBC One from 18:15 to 21:10 averaged 4.61 million viewers, a 23.6 percent viewing share. A further 624,000 viewers watched on Sky Sports F1 from 17:30 to 22:00, bringing a combined average of approximately 5.2 million viewers. Amusingly, the combined average is higher than last year’s combined peak figure – which shows the significant effect that live free to air prime time viewing can have on the overall figures. As of writing, I have not seen a peak figure yet, but looking at the numbers above, I imagine it is between 6.5 million and 7 million viewers.

It is worth noting that the average is down on the 6.1 million number and the 8.5 million peak seen in 2011. This should not be considered a surprise really when you compare yesterday’s race to 2011’s race – the latter is much more likely to bring in casual viewers thanks to how that race developed.

Canadian Grand Prix – Official Ratings
2002 – 5.74 million
2003 – 4.00 million
2004 – 3.58 million
2005 – 4.97 million
2006 – 2.74 million
2007 – 4.69 million
2008 – 3.99 million
2009 – no race
2010 – 5.31 million
2011 – 6.21 million
2012 – 3.46 million / 3.79 million (using ‘35 percent theory‘)
2013 – 5.23 million / 5.45 million

One thing that you will spot is how the ratings fluctuate for Canada massively year-on-year. The odd years tend to do better than the even years, the reason being that the even years tend to find themselves either against the European Championship or the World Cup football, which inevitably dents the F1. I think overall yesterday’s rating is good, not fantastic, but a solid performance nevertheless.

Qualifying on BBC One averaged 2.41 million viewers from 17:00 to 19:10. Once Sky’s rating is factored in, it will be down on 2011 but up on 2010’s number of 2.35 million (albeit that was on BBC Two) and level with 2012’s number of 2.68 million. The more impressive number of the weekend for me was for practice three, which averaged a very respectable 700,000 viewers on BBC Two.

As of writing, I have not yet done the year-on-year comparisons ready for the mid-season blog posts in August, but I think (barring any significant decreases or increases) that the numbers will be in-line with 2012, but again down on the ratings highs we were used to seeing in 2011.

The 2012 Canadian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here. Note: The ratings information comes from Digital Spy, Media Guardian and BARB.

Sky Sports F1 – Top 10 ratings (week ending 26th May, 2013) – ratings delayed

Another week, another ratings delay unfortunately as BARB has reported no ratings for Sky Sports F1. The reason will be that incorrect programme logs were submitted by Sky, presumably because of the Monaco Grand Prix overrun.

The channel reach for the race week was 2.785 million this year compared with 2.469 million last year.

Are current Sky ‘HD Pack only’ customers with Sky Sports F1 set for a shock? [UPDATED]

There have been several rumours across social media websites in the past week concerning the status of Sky Sports F1. Specifically, the rumours state that those people that have had the HD Pack since before April 2013 and do not have the Sports Pack will be asked to upgrade to the Sports Pack in order to continue to view the channel.

The tweets that I have seen so far are:

F1Smasher ‏@F1Smasher
Following a conversation with Sky, it sounds like existing #SkyF1 viewers without Sky Sports Bundle should enjoy it while it lasts… #F1
7:59 PM – 28 May 13

Richard ‏@RTAY94
@kels430 I have Sky+ HD and it says I have to upgrade to the Sky Sports package. They hinted at this a while ago, didn’t think they’de do it
5:58 PM – 1 Jun 13

Back in March, it was confirmed that new customers from April 1st onwards would need both the Sports and HD Packs to view Sky Sports F1 in HD, whereas previously it was just the HD Pack required. Anyone who just had the HD Pack, however, would keep the channel. It appears that last statement is changing – with existing customers being asked to sign up to the Sports Pack or risk losing Sky Sports F1.

As of writing, I have not had this officially confirmed by Sky. Speaking to a Sky representative via their Live Chat, they say that those that have had the HD Pack since before April 2013 should get the channel without fail. I have, however, reached out to Sky via e-mail and will post any response I get here. Those that do choose to upgrade, it will mean an increase of £10.75 per month or £26.00 a month. on their bill. The increases are based on:

Currently for those HD Pack customers since before April 2013
– £21.50 – Entertainment Pack
– £10.25 – HD Pack
=> TOTAL = £31.75 per month
I assume that old users with the HD Pack were not automatically placed into the new Entertainment Extra+ pack, which instead would make a total of £31.50 per month

If Sky gets you to switch to a new contract
– £21.50 – Entertainment Pack (if you wish to watch in HD, you need the Entertainment Extra+ Pack instead)
– £21.00 – Sports Pack
=> TOTAL = £42.50 per month (or £57.75 per month with HD)

UPDATE on June 3rd – Sky have officially denied that there will be any package changes for current customers regarding Sky Sports F1. If anyone still does get a phone call from Sky though concerning the channel, leave a comment underneath on what was said.

Scheduling: The 2013 Canadian Grand Prix

The controversy of ‘secret’ testing looks set to boil over into next week, as the Formula 1 roller-coaster moves into its first trip to North America this year for the standalone Canadian Grand Prix. Unlike last year, both BBC and Sky Sports F1 have live coverage of the race. From a ratings perspective, I am very pleased about that as it means I should not have to repeat headlines such as this. It also means that Formula 1 blockades BBC One in primetime, which should lead to nice viewing figures.

There are some schedule changes compared to the usual BBC live race, though. Firstly, practice two is on BBC Three, however, the bigger oddity is that the first 45 minutes of practice one is not on BBC Two, instead a Springwatch repeat taking priority. Why? I’m not entirely sure. It seems to be one of them strange decisions without any logic or thought. You could argue that the first half of practice will probably have little action, but still strange regardless. I assume that practice one in full will be on the Red Button, but have not seen that confirmed anywhere.

On the Sky side of things, Natalie Pinkham will not be with the team this weekend as confirmed on her Twitter. Rachel Brookes, who will be out in Montreal for Sky Sports News, will also be presenting The F1 Show alongside Ted Kravitz as a result, a good move by the channel and one that I’m pleased about. Don’t forget that there is no GP2 or GP3 action in Canada. GP2 returns at Silverstone, whilst GP3 has a standalone weekend in Valencia. The Sky Sports F1 schedule details for the latter will be up on the blog early next week.

Sunday 2nd June
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1991 Canadian Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Saturday 8th June at 19:45

Monday 3rd June
20:00 to 20:45 – F1: 1995 Canadian Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Saturday 8th June at 20:30

Tuesday 4th June
20:00 to 22:00 – F1: 2007 Canadian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 9th June at 00:15

Wednesday 5th June
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2008 Canadian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 9th June at 09:25

Thursday 6th June
16:00 to 16:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – F1: Gear Up for Canada (Sky Sports F1)
19:45 to 22:30 – F1: 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 9th June at 14:30

Friday 7th June
14:45 to 16:50 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
14:55 to 16:45 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
15:45 to 16:45 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
18:45 to 21:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
19:00 to 21:00 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Three)
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
23:00 to 00:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)

Saturday 8th June
14:45 to 16:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
14:55 to 16:10 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
17:00 to 19:10 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
17:00 to 19:45 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)

Sunday 9th June
17:30 to 22:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
18:15 to 21:10 – F1: Race (BBC One)
21:10 to 22:10 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
22:00 to 22:45 – GP Uncovered: The Ringmasters 1967 (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 12th June
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

Last updated on June 5th.

Sky Sports F1 – Top 10 ratings (week ending 19th May, 2013) – ratings delayed

Unfortunately there is nothing from BARB this week as the ratings have been delayed, so expect to see them in six weeks.

In its absence, this week is the first full week for Motors TV in its new EPG slot on Sky. The channel reach for the past few weeks has been as follows:

Motors TV – Channel Reach – Week Ending
07/04/13 – 412,000 viewers
14/04/13 – 461,000 viewers
21/04/13 – 414,000 viewers
28/04/13 – 359,000 viewers
05/05/13 – 269,000 viewers
12/05/13 – 243,000 viewers <- channel changes EPG slots on May 9th
19/05/13 – 311,000 viewers

Oddly, the reach dropped before the switch. At this point it is difficult to tell how much of an effect the EPG switch has had. Motors TV’s 311,000 viewers reach compares with 511,000 viewers for Sky Sports F1 in the same week, despite the former getting nowhere near as much promotion as the latter.