The BBC are set to drop Formula 1 coverage when their current contract expires at the end of 2013, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.
The article claims the decision is an almost done deal, with senior sources at the broadcaster quoted as saying the £60 million annual cost of covering the sport, including £40m to buy the rights’, will allow the corporation to avoid axing BBC4.
The article makes several bold claims, though according to information seen by The F1 Times, including performance reports from the BBC, these claims are debatable.
“F1 costs £1 per head for every viewer, compared with the average 7p an hour broadcast cost for BBC1 and BBC2,” is the first so called fact stated by the article.
It continues, suggesting “apart from the British Grand Prix, most races attract only between 2m and 4m viewers.” This claim is easily quashed with official BBC figures confirming each race this season has so far averaged around 5m, with peaks hitting over 8m, particularly during last weekend’s Canadian GP. This is double the Sunday Times highest estimate, which would also suggest their cost figures are well out, if based on their own viewing figures.
The broadcast has seen huge increases on its 2010 figures too. The below has been taken from an earlier article published on The F1 Times, with figures provided by the BBC.
“The Spanish GP saw an increase of 1.2m on the 15 minute peak audience compared to 2010, as well as recording its largest viewership in the past decade of 6.2m.
“The Monaco GP achieved a similar feat, reaching 6.1m viewers at its 15min peak on Sunday afternoon. This was also the races biggest audience in the past ten years, seeing an increase of 400,000 on last year.”
It is worth noting that the Sunday Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, which includes BSkyB, a subscription TV service which is desperate to acquire the rights’ to the sport, not only that, Murdoch’s News Corp recently announced their intention to takeover the sport.
