NBC announces 2014 F1 broadcast schedule for U.S.

[BobHWS]

Looks to be about the same amount and type of coverage as last year. Times listed are for Eastern time zone.

Complete 2014 F1 on NBC Sports TV Times, Schedule
Tony DiZinno
Mar 11, 2014, 2:26 PM EDT
nbcsports.com

Australian Grand Prix

Thursday, March 13 - 9:30 p.m. -- Australian Grand Prix - Practice #1 (NBCSN)
Friday, March 14 - 1:30 a.m. -- Australian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, March 15 - 2:00 a.m. -- Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, March 16 - 1:30 a.m. -- Australian Game Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Malaysia Grand Prix

Friday, March 28 - 2:00 a.m. -- Malaysia Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, March 29 - 4:00 a.m. -- Malaysia Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, March 30 - 3:30 a.m. -- Malaysia Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Bahrain Grand Prix

Friday, April 4 - 11:00 a.m. -- Bahrain Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, April 5 - 11:00 a.m. -- Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, April 6 - 10:30 a.m. -- Bahrain Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Chinese Grand Prix

Friday, April 18 - 2:00 a.m. -- Chinese Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, April 19 - 2:00 a.m. -- Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, April 20 - 2:30 a.m. -- Chinese Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Spanish Grand Prix

Friday, May 9 - 8:00 a.m. -- Spanish Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, May 10 - 8:00 a.m. -- Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, May 11 - 7:30 a.m. -- Spanish Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Monaco Grand Prix

Thursday, May 22 - 8:00 a.m. -- Monaco Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, May 24 - 8:00 a.m. -- Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, May 25 - 7:30 a.m. -- Monaco Grand Prix - Race (NBC)

Canadian Grand Prix

Friday, June 6 - 2:00 p.m. -- Canadian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, June 7 - 1:00 p.m. -- Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, June 8 - 2:00 p.m. -- Canadian Grand Prix - Race (NBC)

Austrian Grand Prix

Friday, June 20 - 8:00 a.m. -- Austrian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, June 21 8:00 a.m. -- Austrian Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, June 22 - 7:30 a.m. -- Austrian Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

British Grand Prix

Friday, July 4 - 9:00 a.m. -- British Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, July 5 - 8:00 a.m. -- British Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, July 6 - 7:30 a.m. -- British Grand Prix - Race (CNBC)

German Grand Prix

Friday, July 18 - 2:30 p.m. -- German Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, July 19 - 8:00 a.m. -- German Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, July 20 - 7:30 a.m. -- German Grand Prix - Race (CNBC)

Hungarian Grand Prix

Friday, July 25 - 11:30 a.m. -- Hungarian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, July 26 - 8:00 a.m. -- Hungarian Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, July 27 - 7:30 a.m. -- Hungarian Grand Prix - Race (CNBC)

Belgian Grand Prix

Friday, August 22 - 8:00 a.m. -- Belgian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, August 23 - 8:00 a.m. -- Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, August 24 - 7:30 a.m. -- Belgian Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Italian Grand Prix

Friday, September 5 - 8:00 a.m. -- Italian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, September 6 - 8:00 a.m. -- Italian Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, September 7 - 7:30 a.m. -- Italian Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Singapore Grand Prix

Friday, September 19 - 9:30 a.m. -- Singapore Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, September 20 - 9:00 a.m. -- Singapore Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, September 21 - 7:30 a.m. -- Singapore Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Japanese Grand Prix

Friday, October 3 - 1:00 a.m. -- Japanese Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, October 4 - 1:00 a.m. -- Japanese Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, October 5 - 1:30 a.m. -- Japanese Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

Russian Grand Prix

Friday, October 10 - 6:00 a.m. -- Russian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, October 11 - 7:00 a.m. -- Russian Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, October 12 - 6:30 a.m. -- Russian Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

United States Grand Prix

Friday, October 31 - 1:00 p.m. -- United States Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, November 1 - 1:00 p.m. -- United States Grand Prix - Qualifying (NBCSN)
Sunday, November 2 - 2:00 p.m. -- United States Grand Prix - Race (NBC)

Brazilian Grand Prix

Friday, November 7 - 11:00 a.m. -- Brazilian Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, November 8 - 11:00 a.m. -- Brazilian Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, November 9 - 1:00 p.m. -- Brazilian Grand Prix - Race (NBC)

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Friday, November 21 - 8:00 a.m. -- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Practice #2 (NBCSN)
Saturday, November 22 - 8:00 a.m. -- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Qualifying (CNBC)
Sunday, November 23 - 7:30 a.m. -- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Race (NBCSN)

[chillibowl]

thanks Bob i look forward to seeing the 4 races covered by NBC (which im assuming wont be blacked out in Canada).

was actually meaning to resurrect the old thread on this to ask if you had read anything about the viewing numbers for 2013? if i recall it started of with a big drop from Speed's numbers but seemed to pick up as the year went on.

[BobHWS]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

was actually meaning to resurrect the old thread on this to ask if you had read anything about the viewing numbers for 2013? if i recall it started of with a big drop from Speed's numbers but seemed to pick up as the year went on.

According to a September 25, 2013 article in the NY Times about the America's Cup being televised on the NBC Sports Network:

Put into context, the America’s Cup races attracted more viewers for NBC Sports Group than for Major League Soccer games (111,000) but fewer than it received for its live Tour de France coverage (287,000) or its Formula One races (203,000 to date).

I think that means that, as of the end of summer, F1 had attracted an average of 203K viewers for the races on NBCSN. I remember reading that the races broadcast live on the regular NBC network (e.g., Monaco and Canada) attracted a significantly larger number of viewers.

So the audience for F1 on NBCSN is miniscule when compared to major American sports, but it is comparable to other non-mainstream sports like cycling and sailing. That seems to be OK for NBCSN as they are not really trying to compete with ESPN. NBCSN has had the most success with it Premier League football (soccer) broadcasts.

NBC seems committed to motorsports, as they signed a 10-year deal with NASCAR in 2013 to broadcast the final 19 Nationwide Series race of the year starting in 2015. Some of those races will be on NBC and some on NBCSN, which indicates that NBC is trying to gradually build viewership of NBCSN by adding more popular events. In the long run, that could help increase viewership of F1 by having "Bubba" accidentally stumble on F1 coverage.

Also, according to articles in Autosport.com, overall U.S. viewership of F1 increased in 2013:

UNITED STATES - F1's biggest audience increase was in the USA, with an 18 per cent jump in viewership following the switch to NBC and NBC Sport. There were 11.4 million viewers in total (4 per cent market share)

The Wall Street Journal reported the same news:

Gains were also made in the U.S. following the return of its home Grand Prix in 2012 after a five-year hiatus. Coverage in the U.S. switched from Fox and the Speed Channel to NBC Sports in 2013 fueling a rise of 1.7 million viewers to 11.4 million.

[chillibowl]

well thank you again for the prompt response

[JeremySmith]

Thank's Bob that is a great help...

[supermario21]

I'd expect to see an increase. NBCSN really took off during the Olympics as they had all the live figure skating events and had higher ratings than ESPN I believe on those days. There was plenty of cross promotion for F1 so I think people are finally starting to discover the channel.

[NaBUru38]

F1 on NBC ratings in 2013:

o- Monaco: 1.0 rating, 1.5M viewers.
o- Canada: 0.7 rating, 950k viewers.
o- United States: 0.7 rating, 1.0M viewers.
o- Brazil: 0.7 rating, 1.1M viewers.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BobHWS

Also, according to articles in Autosport.com, overall U.S. viewership of F1 increased in 2013:

UNITED STATES - F1's biggest audience increase was in the USA, with an 18 per cent jump in viewership following the switch to NBC and NBC Sport. There were 11.4 million viewers in total (4 per cent market share)

The Wall Street Journal reported the same news:

Gains were also made in the U.S. following the return of its home Grand Prix in 2012 after a five-year hiatus. Coverage in the U.S. switched from Fox and the Speed Channel to NBC Sports in 2013 fueling a rise of 1.7 million viewers to 11.4 million.

Interesting as IndyCar is predominantly shown on NCSN and the TV audience for the series is in decline.