25 replies to this topic

[Galko877]

My question is if there's data available on when F1 in its history produced the biggest viewing figures and what were the viewing figures in certain seasons?

I remember I have read somewhere that F1 was the most popular at the end of the 1990s that's when the figures were the highest but I would like to know a little more about it.

I also would like to know more about how F1's media coverage developed. When was the first live coverage of a race? How did it develope into a "mainstream" sport taken up by more and more TV channels. When did this transition happened? Is there anything available on this?

[MegaManson]

Your best bet is to try and get copies of BusinessF1 magazine, every fact and stat about tv and F1 money and audience figures ever

Sadly the mag has closed down but you should keep trying eBay

[cheapracer]

My question is if there's data available on when F1 in its history produced the biggest viewing figures and what were the viewing figures in certain seasons?

I remember I have read somewhere that F1 was the most popular at the end of the 1990s that's when the figures were the highest but I would like to know a little more about it.

I also would like to know more about how F1's media coverage developed. When was the first live coverage of a race? How did it develope into a "mainstream" sport taken up by more and more TV channels. When did this transition happened? Is there anything available on this?

In Australia it started when someone noticed Alan Jones had won his first GP in the Shadow in '77 but at least we got some news reports - my dad and i would watch the news on Monday and/or Tuesday nights flicking through the 3 main channels trying to catch a news report of that weekends GP however if a football player stubbed his toe, no report and other Australians will tell you I am not exaggerating that.

When Jones starting having success in the Williams we started to get some telecasts in '78 I think and got coverage in 79 usually at 2 am in the morning if there wasn't tennis on

Channel 9 was quite taken back by the viewer support and ratings but the owner of the station was not a big F1 fan so we suffered for years as nightowls until the Australian GP came to us in 1985 and 9 did a live telecast and the ratings were massive for the whole weekend so they had no choice but to up their game after that.

Edited by cheapracer, 01 May 2009 - 18:17.

[COUGAR508]

Regular live TV coverage of F1 here in the UK started in 1978, in the wake of interest generated by James Hunt's World Championship in 1976.

I suppose that F1 became more of a "mainstream" TV sport in the 1980s with the battles involving Prost, Senna, Piquet and Mansell, and this continued into the Hill/Hakkinen/Schumacher era.

There will be more information in books dealing with the business side of F1.

[D.M.N.]

I recently posted the following in the BBC F1 Coverage Thread. Its the UK ratings for BBC and ITV. BBC for 1996 and 2009, ITV for 1997 to 2008:

Looking at the ratings, some of the European races in '05 and '06 rated badly, some under 2m.

2002 had a decent fanbase but 2000 and 2001...... I'll go back to 1996 in fact (thanks to EmilioLargo for this - note; not 100% accurate as we do not have every single figure; but is a good estimation) :

1996: 5.28m
1997: 4.51m (down 15% on previous year)
1998: 4.81m (up 7% on previous year)
1999: 4.43m (down 8%)
2000: 3.93m (down 11%)
2001: 3.83m (down 3%)
2002: 3.50m (down 9%)
2003: 3.44m (down 2%)
2004: 3.00m (down 13%)
2005: 2.83m (down 6%)
2006: 2.51m (down 11%)
2007: 3.47m (up 38%)
2008: 3.86m (up 11%)
2009: 4.66m (up 21% so far; likely to go down if a few European races only get 3m)

So figures, from 1998 onwards went down and down. This isn't due to the length of ITV1's programme, its always been ~3 hours on race day since 1997. The only reason ratings went down is because fans were dissatisfied with the product and Schumacher's dominance in 2002 and 2004. Alonso winning also appeared to change nothing regarding ratings, it was only when Hamilton came in that ratings picked up.

[Galko877]

I recently posted the following in the BBC F1 Coverage Thread. Its the UK ratings for BBC and ITV. BBC for 1996 and 2009, ITV for 1997 to 2008:

Thanks, but I'm more interested in the overall international ratings than just national ones. The national ratings are usually in correlation with how successful that nations' drivers are. Here you can see that pattern as well: best ratings in 1996 - Hill's championship year. Then it goes down and picks up again when Hamilton appears. Least popular were 2005 and 2006, but I'm sure we would get a totally different picture about that in Spain.

[D.M.N.]

Thanks, but I'm more interested in the overall international ratings than just national ones. The national ratings are usually in correlation with how successful that nations' drivers are. Here you can see that pattern as well: best ratings in 1996 - Hill's championship year. Then it goes down and picks up again when Hamilton appears. Least popular were 2005 and 2006, but I'm sure we would get a totally different picture about that in Spain.

Having looked round the FIA website, I've found the following, which is the Total Viewers from some of the years:

1999 - 57.75 billion
1998 - 55.24 billion
1997 - 50.73 billion
1996 - 40.99 billion
1995 - 45.05 billion
1994 - 45.22 billion

[Ross Stonefeld]

Which is the most total bullshit figure ever. If they show a 15 second F1 clip on BBC evening news and BBC1 is beamed to 50million UK homes, they tag that into the audience. Regardless of how many people watched the news show and how many were actually watching that particular bit of the broadcast.

Finding worldwide totals is incredibly difficult because the figures arent always released and everyone uses a different measurement system, and it's a relatively new industry. You'll be lucky to find consistent data that is 10 years old. 20 years ago, no way.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Having looked round the FIA website, I've found the following, which is the Total Viewers from some of the years:

1999 - 57.75 billion
1998 - 55.24 billion
1997 - 50.73 billion
1996 - 40.99 billion
1995 - 45.05 billion
1994 - 45.22 billion

We beaming it to the rest of the universe then?

[BootLace]

We beaming it to the rest of the universe then?

Technically, yes . I assume the figures need to be divided by the number of races to get an average per race, but even then 3billion seems a little high at over 30% of the worlds population.

I wonder how you go about polling aliens.

[Ali_G]

DMN, in regards to your British viewing figures.

I'm amazed at how the move from BBC to ITV in 1997 affected viewing figures so much. I'm guessing this was the primary reason (although Hill in an Arrow mightn't have helped).

The stats are much like what I would have expected for British audience anyways (long term fans). However, global audiences have prob risen year on year due to F1's move into the likes of China, the Middle East and more of Asia.

[D.M.N.]

DMN, in regards to your British viewing figures.

I'm amazed at how the move from BBC to ITV in 1997 affected viewing figures so much. I'm guessing this was the primary reason (although Hill in an Arrow mightn't have helped).

ITV dedicated more time on race day to Formula One. I'd say BBC went on air about 25 minutes before the race began and came off air straight after the press conference, whereas ITV had a full hour buildup and post-race analysis, which could explain why the viewership average went down as the figures above are for the whole programme, not the race itself.

They had approx. an hour buildup right up until the coverage ended, so it does not in my view explain the continuous downfall between 1999 and 2006, had Hamilton not come in to F1, well I dread to think how much further the figures could have gone down. Even a "non-Schumacher" champion in 2005 and '06 did nothing to help ratings.

[DOF_power]

>
^ On the british figures, perfect explanation for what I've called the poser fickle driver/personality fanboys.

With Ferrari out of F1, just imagine the impact on ratings when Alonso (Spain), Hamilton (Britain), Kubica (Poland) and Vettel (Germany) will retire.

Without manufacturer fans like the tifosi, F1 has no backbone whatsoever. It could very well be called Formula Poser.

[BigWicks]

Point needs to be made that ALL sports have experienced a decline in ratings in recent years in the UK thanks to the growth in multichannel television.

[engel]

FOM publishes a "Global Broadcast Report" at the end of each season, they put F1 viewership at around 600 million unique viewers per season and top live views for an individual race at around 100m

[F1 Engineer]

The FOM numbers are hugely exaggerated, or at least thats what my marketing friends tell me. Most of the teams have commissioned private companies to find this data, as its a useful tool to woo sponsors with.

So the numbers are available somewhere, but it'd probably cost you a significant amount to get them.

[Galko877]

Having looked round the FIA website, I've found the following, which is the Total Viewers from some of the years:

1999 - 57.75 billion
1998 - 55.24 billion
1997 - 50.73 billion
1996 - 40.99 billion
1995 - 45.05 billion
1994 - 45.22 billion

Thanks for the effort.

Now, what was the start of F1's "media age" when it became a mainstream media event? I guess somewhere in the 80s.

[BigWicks]

those total viewer numbers are totally meaningless

[Spunout]

it was only when Hamilton came in that ratings picked up.

How can you know if it was Hamilton who caused the ratings to go up

[BigWicks]

well two things, firstly the ratings going up massively in 2007, the year hamilton started f1. and secondly, every country sees its f1 ratings increase if a driver from that country starts doing well, its a reasonable conclusion to make

[Galko877]

How can you know if it was Hamilton who caused the ratings to go up

In Britain it is pretty likely that it was he who caused the ratings go up.

[ForeverF1]

How can you know if it was Hamilton who caused the ratings to go up

2006: 2.51m (down 11%)
2007: 3.47m (up 38%) The year that Hamilton joined the F1 circus
2008: 3.86m (up a further 11%) The year that Hamilton won the WDC

I think it is plainly obvious.

[Saint Devote]

Its too popular these days, with too many "sports fans".

[mursuka80]

Having looked round the FIA website, I've found the following, which is the Total Viewers from some of the years:

1999 - 57.75 billion
1998 - 55.24 billion
1997 - 50.73 billion
1996 - 40.99 billion
1995 - 45.05 billion
1994 - 45.22 billion

Mika was a great draw

[MWM]

In Britain it is pretty likely that it was he who caused the ratings go up.

I'd like to think we weren;t so blindly nationalist that we'd tune in to watch a violent lying thug like Hamilton simply because he's British. but you never know. Certainly the ITV presenters assumed it was down to that judging by their concentration on the once-expelled driver.

[ForeverF1]

I'd like to think we weren;t so blindly nationalist that we'd tune in to watch a violent lying thug like Hamilton simply because he's British. but you never know. Certainly the ITV presenters assumed it was down to that judging by their concentration on the once-expelled driver.

Put the bottle away.