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The fans don’t follow F1… they follow the Brands and Atheletes

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:00:53 +0000

Formula One television audiences in Spain and Italy fell drastically this year, reflecting disappointing performances by Spanish driver Fernando Alonso and Italian car manufacturer Ferrari, which suffered its worst season in 16 years.

According to the latest sports viewing survey from TV Sports Markets and Eurodata TV Worldwide, the big falls in Spain and Italy were partly counterbalanced by a significant lift in UK audiences. Viewership in the other two top European markets, France and Germany, remained broadly stable.

Audiences in Spain dropped 29 per cent on 2008, with Alonso’s worst-ever season coinciding with coverage shifting from what was the country’s leading commercial broadcaster, Telecinco, to smaller rival La Sexta. La Sexta’s live coverage averaged just under three million viewers per race and drew an audience share of 31 per cent.

Audiences for Italian public-service broadcaster Rai fell 21 per cent against 2008, when Ferrari won the championship, averaging 5.6 million viewers per race. Further analysis shows, perhaps surprisingly, that almost 40 per cent of the audience was female. Just under 50 per cent of the audience was aged over 55.

In the UK, Jenson Button’s championship season provided a perfect start for public-service broadcaster the BBC, which took over the rights at the start of this year after commercial rival ITV opted to concentrate its limited resources on Champions League football. Audiences were 16 per cent on ITV’s audiences last year and the highest since the BBC last had the rights in 1996.

In France, audiences for commercial broadcaster TF1 rose less than one per cent to 3.1 million. Some 33 per cent of the audience were women, slightly lower than the gender split for Champions League football, where women accounted for 35 per cent of TF1’s average audience last season. Forty-nine per cent of the Formula One audience in France is over 50 years of age, the same proportion for the Champions League. In Germany, RTL averaged 5.2 million viewers per race, with the penultimate race of the season in Brazil attracting the season-high of 7.2 million viewers and a 28-per-cent audience share.

MotoGP latest…

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:17:43 +0000

>>>> The FIM MotoGP World Championship will arrive in Bulgaria as of 2012, following a preliminary agreement reached between the Bulgarian Motorcycle Federation and Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder for MotoGP. Meanwhile the Hungarian MotoGP race looks set to be axed due to problems with the construction of the new Balatonring circuit, says Istvan Gyenesei, the minister for local government – this is likely to be replaced by a second MotoGP in Portugal.>>>> The 2009 MotoGP field head to the Losail International Circuit in Qatar this weekend to commence their second test since the winter break, with three evening sessions awaiting them under the floodlights at the desert track from 1st-3rd March. The opening test of the year was considered a positive outing for Rizla Suzuki colleagues Loris Capirossi (fastest on the first day) and Chris Vermeulen, who now strive to confirm the apparent increased competitiveness of the GSV-R800 at a second track. The 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship will commence in Qatar with the first GP of the year on 10th-12th April.

>>>> Kawasaki have announced that after constructive talks between themselves, Dorna and additional third parties, a new one-rider team will participate in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The decision was made after negotiations which followed Kawasaki’s January 2009 announcement to suspend its factory supported MotoGP activities, due to the global economic downturn. The rider for the new MotoGP team will be the Italian 26 year-old Marco Melandri. Away from MotoGP; Melandri recently made his Speedcar Series debut at the Losail Circuit in Qatar and was leading the Saturday night contest before a mechanical problem ended his race. The Italian star qualified in a respectable fourth position under the Circuit’s floodlights on Friday and finished the first race of the weekend in eighth place. Melandri’s compatriot Gianni Morbidelli won the race ahead of second placed fellow Italian and ex-Formula 1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

>>>> MotoGP fans in the UK will be able to enjoy the most complete coverage ever of the sport, thanks to agreements for 2009 between the championship’s commercial rights-holders Dorna Sports and both the BBC and British Eurosport. More than 23 million UK viewers watched live coverage of MotoGP during 2008, and thanks to the combined efforts of the two networks to increase their broadcast hours in 2009, that figure is set to rise.

>>>> Track modifications at the Silverstone circuit look set to make it one of the fastest circuits on the MotoGP calendar, when the World Championship heads to the Northamptonshire venue from 2010 onwards. The new Silverstone circuit, which will feature a spectacular new section of track running from the approach at Abbey corner to a tightening ‘Arrowhead’ hairpin at the inside of Becketts, will measure 5.67km in length, 0.53km longer than the existing 5.14km Grand Prix circuit. Scientifically measured data calculates that the average lap time for MotoGP riders around the new track would be 1′51.456 – an average speed of 182km/h… 3 km/h faster than at Phillip Island, which is currently the fastest circuit in MotoGP. The data is based on simulations provided by HOK Sport. www.motogp.com

MotoGP on the BBC in UK

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:54:58 +0000

The BBC will provide UK coverage of the 2009 MotoGP season as valentino Rossi defends his title - Suzi Perry will present with commentary from Steve Parrish and Charlie Cox and pit lane reports from Matt Roberts. The BBC Red Button will allow viewers to watch qualifying and the 125cc and 250cc races plus all the post-race reaction and interviews on MotoGP Extra. Or, watch it again on iPlayer.
2009 MOTOGP SCHEDULE
Losail, Qatar; 11/12 April
Motegi, Japan; 25/26 April
Jerez, Spain; 2/3 May
Le Mans, France; 16/17 May
Mugello, Italy; 30/31 May
Catalunya, Spain; 13/14 June
Assen, Holland; 26/27 June
Laguna Seca, USA; 4/5 July
Sachsenring, Germany; 18/19 July
Donington, Great Britain; 25/26 July
Brno, Czech Republic; 15/16 August
Indianapolis, USA; 29/30 August
Misano, San Marino; 5/6 September
Balaton, Hungary; 19/20 September
Estoril, Portugal; 3/4 October
Phillip Island, Australia; 17/18 October
Sepang, Malaysia; 24/25 October
Valencia, Spain; 7/8 November

BBC announce later start times for three F1 races in 09

admin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:45:05 +0000

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, revealed later start times for the opening two rounds, with the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix both getting underway at 1700 hours local time. Near the end of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix will also commence at the later time of 1500 hours.

2009 Schedule

ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 27 – 29 Mar
PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 03 – 05 Apr
CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 17 – 19 Apr
GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Sakhir) 24 – 26 Apr
GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2009 (Catalunya) 08 – 10 May
GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2009 (Monte Carlo) 21 – 24 May
TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 05 – 07 Jun
SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 19 – 21 Jun
GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2009 (Nürburgring) 10 – 12 Jul
ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2009 (Budapest) 24 – 26 Jul
TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 21 – 23 Aug
ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 28 – 30 Aug
GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D’ITALIA 2009 (Monza) 11 – 13 Sep
SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 25 – 27 Sep
FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) 02 – 04 Oct
GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2009 (Sao Paulo) 16 – 18 Oct
ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit) 30 Oct – 01 Nov

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