The Brazilian Grand Prix recorded a rating that was higher than last year, however, the BBC’s highlights show underperformed when you consider its position in the schedule.

Race
Live coverage of the race show, screened exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, averaged 1.01m (6.4%) from 15:00 to 18:30. The number is marginally higher than the Swansea vs Arsenal Premier League game over on Sky Sports 1. That game averaged 1.00m (6.2%) from 15:30 to 19:00, the difference was approximately three thousand viewers between the two programmes. Thanks to airing the race exclusively live, Sky’s number is double last year’s 499k and up on the 734k recorded in 2012 for the equivalent slot.

BBC’s schedulers made the unusual decision of airing the Grand Prix highlights bang in the middle of primetime, after their juggernaut Strictly Come Dancing. Had yesterday been a title decider for Lewis Hamilton, the decision may well have a paid off. Sadly for them the highlights, airing from 20:30 to 22:00 on BBC One, averaged only 3.26m (13.2%) despite having a lead-in of ten million viewers from Strictly. Had the rating been a BBC Two number, it would have been really good. But considering Antiques Roadshow normally averages five million viewers, I think that number, and in particular the share, has to be considered a disappointment.

In hindsight, that slot probably was not the best for Formula 1. I applaud them for putting Formula 1 in the middle of primetime, but on this occasion, it did not work out. The number is down on all previous years for BBC’s Brazilian Grand Prix coverage, so it is fair to say that the highlights programme failed to bring in casual viewers. The combined figure of 4.27 million is up on 2013, but is the second lowest since at least 2006.

Qualifying
Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of qualifying averaged 382k (2.8%) from 15:00 to 17:45, with BBC Two’s highlights programme bringing in 1.47m (6.7%). The combined average of 1.85 million viewers makes it the lowest number since 2007 for a Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session. Whether the relatively low numbers are because this was a ‘dud’ race or not, I don’t know.

So, as perhaps expected with double points, the championship race between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. In 2010, the season finale between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at Abu Dhabi averaged a whopping 5.78m (41.4%), peaking with 7.36m (50.5%). It remains one of the most watched European based races over the two decades. Can Hamilton versus Rosberg beat that? It will be tough beating that, but time will tell.

The 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

The United States Grand Prix performed better than 2012 and 2013 in the UK viewing figures, unofficial overnight numbers show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, simulcast across Sky Sports 1 and F1 averaged 1.34m (5.4%) from 19:00 to 22:30. The Sky Sports 1 airing brought 309k (1.2%) to the channel, with Sky Sports F1 averaging 1.03m (4.2%) in the same timeslot. Sky’s coverage peaked at 20:05, just as the race was starting, with 1.93m (7.5%) watching. At the time of the peak, the split was 1.45m versus 479k in Sky Sports F1’s favour. The numbers are up on both 2012 and 2013. In 2012, the race peaked with 1.63m (6.4%). Technically, it is not Sky Sports F1’s highest ever peak, but if you combine the two figures, then it is.

The fact that I’m left to combine them to get a higher number than 2012 means that this years figure is not great. In fact, given the Sky Sports 1 simulcast, you could argue that the race really should have peaked with over two million viewers. Maybe this is a case of me expecting too much, but clearly the ‘Hamilton factor’ is not that big to draw viewers to watch the races live on pay TV, otherwise Sky Sports F1 would have had a bigger audience. If the pay TV model is really going to work, then the viewing figures really need to show a serious shift, which in my opinion they are failing to do so.

An interesting note in the breakdown is that the build-up spiked at 19:20, hitting 1.01m (4.2%) before dropping back down to under a million viewers. That’s interesting, because that five-minute segment featured the Mentality of Winning VT starring Gary Neville, Carl Froch et al, so that part clearly appeased to casual viewers who were flicking through the pre-show.

Over on BBC One, their highlights show from 22:30 to 00:00 averaged 2.51m (22.9%). That number is up on previous years, but previously the US highlights show has ran for two hours instead of 90 minutes, which should be factored in. The combined average of 3.84m is significantly up on last year’s 2.47m, and up on the 3.38m recorded in 2012. However, both numbers are a far cry on the 5.24m (31.9%) average from 2007 when the race was live on ITV.

Qualifying
The qualifying programme on Sky Sports F1 averaged 532k (2.8%) from 17:00 to 19:45, with BBC Two’s highlights averaging 1.23m (7.1%), bringing us to a combined figure of 1.76m. That’s a really poor number for BBC Two’s highlights programme, again when you consider that there is a championship battle involving a British driver ongoing. The number is up on 2013, but down on 2012.

Next weekend should be very interesting, as the BBC have scheduled highlights of the Brazilian Grand Prix in the middle of primetime on BBC One. The highlights rating should be in the region of 4.5m to 5m, but with it now a dead rubber, I’m not very hopeful.

The 2013 United States Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.