Sky Sports to broadcast F1 exclusively from 2019

Sky are to broadcast F1 exclusively from 2019 in the United Kingdom, it has been confirmed. In a huge bombshell announcement on Wednesday evening, the broadcaster announced that they will show every race live from 2019 to 2024 after agreeing a new deal with Formula One Management. The announcement means that Channel 4 will only be showing their element of live Formula 1 from 2016 to 2018.

The British Grand Prix remains live and free-to-air, as will highlights of every race and qualifying session. Furthermore, at least two ‘prime time’ races will be shown live on Sky Sports Mix. Sky have also announced that from 2017, every race will be shown live in Ultra HD via SkyQ. Interestingly, there is no explicit reference of ‘Sky Sports F1’ as a channel beyond 2018.

Bernie Ecclestone said “I am delighted that we will continue to work together. Sky’s commitment to the Sport and standard of coverage is second to none.”

Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said “This is a brilliant deal that takes Sky’s partnership with F1 to the next level. Since 2012, we have demonstrated unrivalled commitment to F1, offering fans innovations including a dedicated channel and the very best broadcasting talent. We are delighted that we are strengthening our coverage for viewers even further, with live and exclusive F1 from 2019 and the chance to watch in Ultra High Definition for the first time from next season. We are pleased to support F1 and look forward to working with them to progress, develop and enhance coverage of the Championship during the agreement.”

Martin Brundle said “I joined Sky Sports because I wanted to be part of a dedicated F1 channel with a total and long term commitment to the sport. And we have certainly delivered on that. In a fast changing media landscape, our coverage will get even better for F1 fans.”

In response to the news this evening, a Channel 4 spokeswoman has told this blog: “This deal does not affect Channel 4’s three-year deal for 2016-2018. Channel 4 is still the terrestrial home of F1 for the next three years.”

Analysis – A huge bombshell
The idea that Formula 1 was going to move exclusively live to pay-TV at some point is not surprising. What is extremely surprising is the timing. One race into the 2016 season and the rights for 2019 onwards have been decided. In my opinion, this is Sky Sports covering themselves from a BT Sport onslaught where Formula 1 is concerned. There is no other reason for tying up the rights this early in the game when we are a long way away from 2019.

Of course, this is extremely sad and disappointing news to say the very least and means that, for the first time since its inception, Formula 1 will not be covered live (in some capacity) on BBC, ITV or Channel 4. For the latter, it is a huge blow, given that they would have been hoping to cover Formula 1 in some capacity beyond 2018. They still might: as we have seen with MotoGP, a highlights package may well be created for BBC, ITV or Channel 4 to bid on come 2019. That needs to happen if Formula 1 is going to reach the masses come 2019. There’s also the unfortunate question about whether Channel 4 will be committed to see out their current contract…

> Sky’s average F1 race day audiences (overnight viewing figures)
> 2012 > 0.71 million
> 2013 > 0.64 million
> 2014 > 0.79 million
> 2015 > 0.64 million

The sad thing is, time and time again, the price of subscription television services go up and up, above the rate of inflation. Yet, if you look at the quality of Sky’s Formula 1 programming (in totality as opposed to their race day show), that is dropping. For 2016, the scale of The F1 Show has been cut due to ‘cost cutting’ (which looks odd in the context of today’s statement). The lack of reference to Sky Sports F1 as an explicit channel implies to me that the channel will quietly disappear at the end of 2018. We will see.

Inevitably, unless a highlights package is created for 2019, viewing figures will plummet. Lewis Hamilton’s championship victory last October peaked with 1.7 million on Sky Sports F1. His second championship victory, thanks to live free-to-air television exposure, peaked with nearly eight million viewers one year earlier. Sky’s viewing figures for the Australian Grand Prix dropped 30 percent year-on-year. There is no evidence to suggest that Sky’s viewing figures are growing, and bringing in new viewers. Unless Sky’s viewing figures see a surge in the next few years, this new deal is extremely detrimental to Formula 1, in the same way Sky’s cricket deal was ten years ago. What FOM and other stakeholders do not realise is that fans are only going to pay so much. Fans, such as myself, only have limited expenditure.

Sky may have ten million customers, but their customer base is not growing fast. You can argue that the likes of Now TV have an effect, but as a combined entity, the numbers simply do not equal the pull that free-to-air television has. On a day when the GPDA released a statement concerning the future of Formula 1, the words below now take on extra meaning:

Formula 1 is currently challenged by a difficult global economic environment, a swift change in fan and consumer behaviour, and a decisive shift in the TV and media landscape. This makes it fundamental that the sport’s leaders make smart and well considered adjustments.

Formula 1 has undoubtedly established itself as the pinnacle of motorsport and as such one of the most viewed and popular sports around the world. We drivers stand united, offer our help and support for F1 to keep it as such, and further to make it fit and exciting for many years and generations to come.

Overlooked in the statement is the news that every race will be broadcast in ultra HD from 2017. Considering FOM are usually behind the ball in these things, that is great news from that perspective. I assume other countries will be able to pick up the ultra HD feeds (and additional camera angles).

Tonight, FOM may be the winners. But the losers are the drivers, who will have less eye balls on them in the future. And most importantly, once again, the fans are the ones that will be picking up the pieces.

Update on March 24th at 17:00 – Yesterday, a report from The Telegraph claimed that the cost of Sky’s contract for 2019 to 2024 will be “in excess of £300 million”, a value that seemed far too low to me. In fact, the true value appears to be significantly higher. Robin Jellis, who is the editor of TV Sports Markets, says that he has spoken to a source close to the deal and that the value is “quite a lot more than [£600m] even”, noting that “Sky have paid big bucks for complete exclusivity.”

Although not explicitly stated, it is quite clear that Sky have splashed out close to £1 billion for six seasons of Formula 1. Assuming 20 races each season, that works out at around £150 million per season, and around £7.5 million per race. That is an astronomical increase on the current value. We should have probably seen it coming: the last big rights increase would have been 2009. Since then, we have seen sports rights rise massively, notably due to the emergence of BT Sport. I said in October 2014 that, on rights negotiation would “easily head skyward of £100 million per year, probably near £200 million.” And that is what has happened…

Update on March 25th at 10:00 – James Allen is reporting that, a bidding war has been taking place between BT Sport and Sky Sports in recent weeks, which is why the rights situation has been announced now. As noted above, the value is believed to close to, or around, £1 billion for the six seasons.

A source very close to the situation told me that Sky’s team believed a few weeks ago that BT Sport would be grabbing the rights exclusively from 2019 – which I think shows that things have moved very, very fast in the past few weeks. I’m not convinced that free-to-air highlights will be sublicensed to BBC, ITV or Channel 4, and in my opinion is where their new Sky Sports Mix channel will come into play.

Also, Allen is saying that any form of online streaming will now happen in collaboration with Sky Sports as opposed to against Sky Sports.

Formula 1 smashes Channel 4’s slot averages, but large drops across the board

Channel 4 may have delivered a solid package over the weekend, but Formula 1 felt the brunt of no presence on BBC TV or ITV, the two largest networks in the United Kingdom, meaning that overnight viewing figures tumbled.

Race
As always at the start of a new Grand Prix season, context is needed as to what the numbers represent. For Channel 4, it is the same as the previous BBC contract: their full highlights programme. Two new things though to note. Firstly, the numbers include advertisements, these are only stripped out in the final consolidated numbers. Secondly, the numbers include Channel 4’s +1 service. Over on Sky Sports F1, it is their three-and-a-half-hour slot which covers Pit Lane Live and the Race itself, so for example from 12:00 to 15:30. Note that due to the red flag period, Australia’s slot is longer as Paddock Live started later than usual.

It was a weekend of contrasting fortunes. After Saturday’s qualifying fiasco, Sunday delivered when it needed to on the circuit. Channel 4’s highlights programme averaged 2.11m (19.0%) from 13:30. The audience peaked in the five-minutes from 15:20 with 2.67m (21.9%) watching. The average is down 30.4 percent on BBC One’s average from last year of 3.03m (27.6%), with the peak measure down 21.0 percent – the difference between the two drops due to Channel 4’s longer programme. Despite the drop, the programme comfortably won its slot and thrashed Channel 4’s slot average.

Live coverage of the race on Sky Sports F1, which aired from 04:00 to 07:45, averaged 271k (18.7%), with Sky Sports 1 adding a further 89k (6.1%), bringing the total audience to 360k (24.8%). The combined peak of 558k (37.4%) came at 06:00 as the race restarted following Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez’s crash. The average is down 30.4 percent on Sky’s average last year of 517k (29.5%). Despite this year’s race being more exciting than last year’s, the peak was down 29.2 percent on the peak figure from last year of 789k (50.3%). All the figures presented include anyone who watched the live airing later in the day.

The combined audience of 2.47 million is the lowest audience for the Australian Grand Prix since records began (i.e. since at least 2005). The previous lowest was an average audience of 3.18 million in 2006. It is the lowest audience for a Formula 1 race since the 2013 United States Grand Prix.

Qualifying
When Channel 4 signed up to cover Formula 1, they probably did not anticipate that their first qualifying session would be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Their highlights programme from 12:30 to 14:10 on Saturday (19th March) averaged 1.38m (15.4%). The programme recorded a five-minute peak audience of 1.74m (17.9%) at 13:50.

In comparison, last year’s BBC One highlights programme averaged 2.29m (24.5%) over a shorter 75-minute slot. The drop year-on-year is between 30 and 40 percent depending on whether you’re comparing the peak or average figure. Channel 4’s qualifying highlights programme was in line with BBC Two’s Australian qualifying highlights in 2012 and 2014. It should be said that, despite the reduced audience, Channel 4’s programme won the timeslot and was significantly above their own slot average. To give an idea of how well the F1 did on Channel 4 compared to their usual Saturday numbers Channel 4 Racing, which followed the F1, averaged 511k (4.6%).

Live coverage of qualifying over on Sky Sports F1 from 05:00 to 07:45 averaged 184k (11.5%), with Sky Sports 1 adding a further 51k (3.2%). Their coverage recorded a combined peak audience of 423k (17.7%) at 06:50. Sky’s combined audience is down 30.4 percent on last year’s audience across Sky Sports F1, Sky Sports 1 and Sky 1 of 339k (16.4%).

The combined qualifying audience of 1.61m is down 38.6 percent on last year’s figure of 2.63m. Unofficially, it is the lowest number for the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session since 2006. As an aside, Sky’s nine repeats of qualifying averaged a combined audience of 314k, compared to four repeats last year which averaged 202k. Whether viewers made a conscious decision to watch one of the many qualifying repeats on Sky Sports F1 instead of recording the live airing, I don’t know. I don’t include the repeat numbers in the combined audience because you just have no idea how many of those viewers are new viewers.

Analysis – Good for Channel 4, bad for Formula 1
I wrote the following in December when reviewing 2015’s viewing figures:

From a media perspective, Lewis Hamilton versus Sebastian Vettel writes itself. We never quite got it when Vettel was at Red Bull, plus other drivers were involved in the championship battle too. Hamilton versus Vettel, Mercedes vs Ferrari. It is something the casual audience would watch and become invested in. One of the reasons why 2011 was the most watched season in the modern era was not only because of Vettel, but because of Hamilton’s on-track duels with Felipe Massa. We need to see Hamilton versus Vettel, and I hope we see that in 2016. It would draw audiences, not only in the UK but in Germany too. In my opinion, Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg is not something the general public are interested in and the viewing figures reflect that.

Lastly, Formula 1 needs the BBC more than the BBC needs Formula 1. The BBC could replace Formula 1 with repeats on a Sunday afternoon and claim one million viewers, whereas Formula 1 would need to find a new home on ITV or Channel 4, to a significantly reduced audience, more so on the latter.

Channel 4 will be pleased that Formula 1 smashed their slot average, by around 360 percent on Sunday. It should not be overlooked that the numbers Formula 1 delivered over the weekend for them are fantastic numbers in off-peak slots.

For Formula 1 as a whole, however, the moment the switch to Channel 4 was announced, 2016 was always going to be an uphill struggle. The idea that Channel 4 were going to match the BBC’s figures was inconceivable given the reach that the latter has on TV, online and radio. On Saturday, Channel 4 was down 39.7 percent and 33.7 percent (average/peak) year-on-year, compared with 30.4 percent and 21.0 percent on Sunday. Already in the course of 24 hours, both of those metrics were better than before, although Saturday may be influenced by the farcical qualifying session.

It could be argued, from a reach perspective, that this deal will be worse than the previous BBC and Sky deal simply because Formula 1 is not on BBC or ITV. I think it is too early to say that, but the above quoted text (paragraph one) has never been more true. If Bahrain is a Mercedes walkover, I fear for the viewing figures for the remainder of the season. It is easy to say that more people may be watching via other methods, but that will not offset the drops that we could see as the season progresses.

Whilst the drop in numbers year-on-year is somewhat due to the change in the broadcasting rights, Sky Sports dropped by a similar percentage. On both Saturday and Sunday, Sky was down around 30 percent across average and peak. That suggests a much wider problem than simply a change of broadcasting rights that needs to be addressed. Despite having a British world champion, it is clear that viewers were being turned off in the latter half of 2015 and a substantial proportion of the hard-core audience have not returned. Sky’s drop also implies that, if the BBC had retained F1, there would have been a drop for the free-to-air highlights regardless – not by 30 percent but a drop of some proportion, except the change to Channel 4 has exaggerated the drop.

Bahrain will be fascinating with it being Channel 4’s first live race. A battle between Hamilton and Vettel, or a close contest, will help viewing figures. Let’s hope Bahrain delivers on the promise displayed at the Australian Grand Prix.

Speed with Guy Martin impresses
Ahead of the new Formula 1 season, Channel 4 aired a one-hour special edition of Speed with Guy Martin last Thursday (17th March). The show, which featured him going head-to-head with David Coulthard, averaged a strong 2.80m (14.2%) from 21:00 to 22:00. It was second in the slot, only behind BBC One. Impressively, the show had the highest share of adults aged between 16 to 34, 14.9% across the hour. It ended up being the most watched F1 related programme, which shows how vital it is to crossover where possible.

It was Guy Martin’s biggest ever rating on Channel 4, and will probably consolidate to around 3.5 million viewers. At Channel 4’s press launch, Coulthard suggested that there may be more specials with himself and Martin down the road. Given the number for last week’s special, I think the chances of something happening in the future has increased fourfold.

The 2015 Australian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Sky to launch free Sports channel to subscribers

Sky are to launch a new Sports channel, free at no extra cost to all Sky TV customers. The channel, called Sky Sports Mix, brings with it “a range of great moments from some of the world’s biggest sporting events”.

The press release states that the channel will launch this Summer, and will include live sport, including football (La Liga and MLS), golf and international cricket. But, will Sky Sports Mix contain any Formula 1 action?

The answer at this stage is that we simply don’t know, the press release does not explicitly confirm it one way or the other. It certainly seems that Sky Sports Mix will primarily feature lower-tier action, but will occasionally dip into middle and higher-tier events, the press release references “a select number of Premier League and Football League matches.”

Given that Sky are simulcasting Formula 1 on Sky Sports 1, you have to assume that F1 could feature on Sky Sports Mix in some form once the channel launches. Sky Sports Mix is presumably a response to BT Sport Showcase, although the latter has not been promoted a great deal by BT.

Update on March 18th at 16:50 – Thanks to Jess Numan in the comments for the heads up: Sky Sports News have confirmed that non-exclusive races will be simulcast on Sky Sports Mix. I really can’t see many people venturing away from Channel 4’s live programming later in the year to try F1 on Sky Sports Mix, no doubt the idea is to tempt viewers away from Channel 4.

It is worth noting that Sky Sports Mix has been mooted for a while. Last year, there was a survey surrounding a potential ‘Sky Sports Select’ channel, which has turned into Sky Sports Mix. By the looks of things, the F1 part is coming through to the final product. It would be a much more effective marketing strategy in my opinion to air one or two Sky exclusive races on Sky Sports Mix, but it appears Sky are not going to take that approach. In any event, I have e-mailed Sky for comment on this and will post when I get a response.

DHL and Sure become Sky F1 title sponsors

DHL and Sure are the new Sky Sports F1 title sponsors for the 2016 Formula One season. Viewers watching the Australian Grand Prix will have noticed the DHL and Sure sponsorship used leading in and out of commercial breaks at various stages. Sure’s new deal is an extension of their current partnership with Sky Sports News.

For 2012, Santander and blackcircles.com were the title sponsors. In 2013 and 2014, Sky’s coverage was sponsored by Rolex and Shell, whilst FairFX was their sponsor last season.

Unlike last year, both sponsors have been found before the season started which is good news for Sky, although admittedly both have some direct involvement in F1, so the amount of money Sky is gaining as a result is probably less than last season.

Paul di Resta increases commitment with Sky F1 for 2016

Paul di Resta will be part of Sky Sports F1’s line-up for the 2016 season, it has been confirmed.

Speaking as part of a short piece filmed in Stuttgart with Mercedes (currently available via Sky’s On Demand service), Simon Lazenby interviewed di Resta and noted that he would be joining Sky “for a large part of 2016.”

di Resta first appeared with Sky at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix and was seen frequently on screen as the year progressed, analysing incidents on the Sky Pad alongside commentating on practice. As I noted in my Channel 4 prediction pieces a few months ago:

To my surprise, I found myself warming to di Resta more than I expected and he was welcoming to hear a different voice in Sky’s coverage.

I’m happy to see that di Resta is returning for 2016, as always it is good to hear a variety of voices in the coverage. Anthony Davidson, Johnny Herbert, Damon Hill and Martin Brundle have all been providing analysis since the inception of Sky Sports F1 in 2012, a change to the status quo is overdue and hopefully di Resta can help in that respect.

It will be fascinating to see how Sky fare against Channel 4 this season, the latter choosing to go down a rotation route with a range of pundits appearing on screen during 2016.

Update on March 13th – BBC are reporting that di Resta will be reserve driver for Williams this year, so this news makes a lot of sense now as di Resta will be in the paddock for the majority of the year.

Update on March 14th – Official confirmation from Sky. di Resta said: “I’m very excited to be joining the Sky Sports F1 team, the coverage is excellent and I hope I can play my part to help excite and educate everyone watching at home. It’s a huge season, more races than ever and working with both Williams and Sky Sports I’m going to give it everything and enjoy being part of an amazing sport that provides drama and excitement at every turn.”

Martin Turner, Sky’s Head of Formula 1, said: “Paul brings huge experience to Sky Sports F1 and having someone embedded within a current F1 team is going to add a new level to our coverage this season. He has raced against most of the drivers on the grid this season, and that competitive knowledge will help take viewers closer to the action and provide a deeper level of insight.”