26 replies to this topic

[pRy]

Here are the ITV F1 Viewing Figures for the past three years. It's an interesting comparison of season to season. The most interesting Grand Prix to note is the British GP.

(All figures in Millions)

Here is a breif 6 race "sample average percentage" :

.........MON___GBR__BRA___ITA__SAM___Aus

2001__3.92__3.72__6.20__3.02__3.69__3.42____Av : 3.99
2000__4.98__4.75__7.37__3.77__4.00__3.24____Av : 4.68
1999__3.95__5.15__7.52__3.76__3.69__3.99____Av : 4.67

Interesting race :

== British Grand Prix

2001 :
2 BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 15 3.72m

2000 :
BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 23 4.75m

1999 :
1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 11 5.15m

Also note of interest, how many more viewers the Canadian and Brazilian GP seem to attract due to their prime time viewing in the UK.

The full figures :

== Australian Grand Prix =====================================================

2001 :
3 AUSTRALIAN GRANDPRIX Sun 4 1330 3.59m ITV 29.15% *Replay*
11 AUSTRALIAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 3 1431 1.92m ITV 18.88%
14 MURRAY/MARTIN F1 PRE Sat 3 1402 1.41m ITV 15.71%
20 AUSTRALIAN/PRIX/LIVE Sat 3 2604 0.83m ITV 51.16%

2000 :
5 AUSTRALIAN GRANDPRIX Sun 12 1401 2.94m ITV *Replay*
8 AUSTRLN/PRIX QUALFNG Sat 11 1421 1.86m ITV
19 AUSTRALIAN/PRIX/LIVE Sat 11 2615 1.08m ITV

1999 :
5 AUSTRALIAN GRANDPRIX Sun 7 1106 3.88m ITV
9 MURRAY/MARTIN F1 SPL Fri 5 2242 2.65m ITV
12 AUSTRLN/PRIX QUALFNG Sat 6 1415 2.07m ITV
16 AUSTRLN/PRIX/HGHLGTS Sun 7 2353 1.23m ITV


== Malaysian Grand Prix ======================================================

2001 :
10 MALAYSIAN/PRIX REPLA Sun 18 1330 2.36m ITV 20.07% *Replay*
13 MALAYSIAN/PRIX/QUALI Sat 17 1430 1.83m ITV 16.67%
16 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 18 645 1.64m ITV 38.4%

2000 :
20 MALAYSIAN/PRIX/QUALI Sat 21 1201 1.75m ITV 22.53% *Replay*

1999 :
4 MALAYSIAN/PRIX REPLA Sun 17 1403 2.68m ITV *Replay*
15 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 17 615 1.63m ITV
18 MALAYSIAN/PRIX/QUALI Sat 16 1045 1.49m ITV


== Brazilian Grand Prix ======================================================

2001 :
1 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 1 1719 6.20m ITV 31.77%
5 BRAZILIAN/QUALIFYING Sat 31 1630 2.83m ITV 21.44%

2000:
2 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 26 1721 7.37m ITV
8 BRAZILIAN/QUALIFYING Sat 25 1533 2.75m ITV

1999:
3 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 11 1745 7.52m ITV
13 BRAZILIAN/QUALIFYING Sat 10 1630 2.97m ITV


== San Marino Grand Prix =====================================================

2001 :
2 SAN MARINO G.PRIX Sun 15 1216 4.18m ITV 37.01%
5 SAN MARINO/PRX QLFNG Sat 14 1130 2.22m ITV 27.26%

2000 :
6 SAN MARINO G.PRIX Sun 9 1216 4.06m ITV
19 SAN MARINO/PRX QLFNG Sat 8 1130 1.82m ITV

1999 :
6 SAN MARINO G.PRIX Sun 2 1215 3.59m ITV


== Spanish Grand Prix ========================================================

2001 :
2 SPANISH GRAND PRIX Sun 29 1212 3.69m ITV 33.93%

2000 :
3 SPANISH GRAND PRIX Sun 7 1216 4.00m ITV
9 SPANISH/PRIX QUALIFG Sat 6 1130 1.56m ITV

1999 :
2 SPANISH GRAND PRIX Sun 30 1214 3.69m ITV
8 SPANISH/PRIX QUALIFG Sat 29 1132 1.62m ITV


== Austrian Grand Prix =======================================================

2001 :
4 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 13 1235 3.42m ITV 41.55%
8 AUSTRIAN/PRIX QUALFG Sat 12 1154 1.84m ITV 35.3%
14 AUSTRIAN/PRIX HGHLTS Sun 13 2353 0.87m ITV 21.87%

2000 :
2 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 16 1216 3.24m ITV 35.73%
6 AUSTRIAN/PRIX QUALFG Sat 15 1131 1.91m ITV 28.61%
19 AUSTRIAN/PRIX HGHLTS Sun 16 2320 1.31m ITV 18.3%

1999 :
1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 25 1216 3.99m ITV
3 AUSTRIAN/PRIX QUALFG Sat 24 1515 1.91m ITV


== Monaco Grand Prix =========================================================

2001 :
2 MONACO GRAND PRIX Sun 27 1235 3.92m ITV 39.93%
4 MONACO/PRX QLFYNG Sat 26 1130 1.76m ITV 33.39%

2000 :
1 MONACO/PRIX LIVE Sun 4 1216 4.98m ITV 0%
4 MONACO/PRX QLFYNG Sat 3 1131 2.17m ITV

1999 :
3 MONACO/PRIX LIVE Sun 16 1221 3.95m ITV
MONACO/PRX QLFYNG Sat 15 1132 1.81m ITV


== Canadian Grand Prix =======================================================

2001 :
2 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 10 1716 6.17m ITV 36.54%
5 CANDADIAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 9 2400 1.42m ITV 25.9%

2000 :
14 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 18 1715 4.37m

*Clash with Euro 2000 Football*
7 EURO 2000 GERM/ROMAN Mon 12 1700 6.04m BBC1 40.1%

1999 :
No Data


== European Grand Prix =======================================================

2001 :
1 EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX Sun 24 1206 3.14m ITV 41.13%
6 EUROPEAN PRIX/QUALFG Sat 23 1132 1.70m ITV 30.52%

2000 :
5 EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX Sun 21 1216 4.85m ITV
7 EUROPEAN PRIX/QUALFG Sat 20 1154 1.97m ITV

1999 :
No Data


== French Grand Prix =========================================================

2001 :
2 FRENCH GRAND PRIX Sun 1 1206 3.13m ITV 36.68%
16 FRENCH/PRIX QUALFYNG Sat 30 1130 1.52m ITV 24.75%

2000 :
6 FRENCH GRAND PRIX Sun 2 1217 3.70m ITV 35.65%
20 FRENCH/PRIX QUALFYNG Sat 1 1132 1.91m ITV 25.4%

1999 :
1 FRENCH GRAND PRIX Sun 27 1216 4.80m ITV


== British Grand Prix ========================================================

2001 :
2 BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 15 1201 3.72m ITV 38.64%
3 BRITISH/PRIX QUALIFG Sat 14 1233 2.47m ITV 32.58%

2000 :
BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 23 1201 4.75m ITV
7 BRITISH/PRIX QUALIFG Sat 22 1231 3.12m ITV

1999 :
1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX Sun 11 1201 5.15m ITV
2 BRITISH/PRIX QUALIFG Sat 10 1218 2.22m ITV


== German Grand Prix =========================================================

2001 :
1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX Sun 29 1206 3.03m ITV 38.19%
2 GERMAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 28 1130 1.53m ITV 31.58%

2000 :
1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX Sun 30 1216 3.85m ITV 43.74%
2 GERMAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 29 1131 1.93m ITV 33.6%

1999 :
1 GERMAN GRAND PRIX Sun 1 1216 3.88m ITV
6 GERMAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 31 1130 1.52m ITV

== Hungarian Grand Prix ======================================================

2001 :
3 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 19 1207 3.38m ITV 33.02%
8 HUNGARIAN/PRIX QLFNG Sat 18 1130 1.64m ITV 23.64%

2000 :
1 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 13 1216 3.68m ITV 38.6%
6 HUNGARIAN/PRIX QLFNG Sat 12 1131 1.83m ITV 31.7%

1999 :
3 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 15 1216 4.38m ITV
8 HUNGARIAN/PRIX QLFNG Sat 14 1131 2.00m ITV


== Belgium Grand Prix ========================================================

2001 :
2 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 2 1206 3.64m ITV 34.42%
7 BELGIAN/PRIX QUALFYG Sat 1 1131 1.51m ITV 23.8%

2000 :
2 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 27 1216 3.72m ITV 37.96%
5 BELGIAN/PRIX QUALFYG Sat 26 1131 2.34m ITV 30.91%

1999 :
11 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 29 1216 3.55m ITV
19 BELGIAN/PRIX QUALFYG Sat 28 1132 1.95m ITV


== Italian Grand Prix ========================================================

2001 :
2 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 16 1205 3.02m ITV 30.83%
7 ITALIAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 15 1131 1.75m ITV 24.66%

2000 :
3 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 10 1216 3.77m ITV 39.93%
6 ITALIAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 9 1131 1.89m ITV 31.18%

1999 :
3 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX Sun 12 1216 3.76m ITV
7 ITALIAN/PRIX QUAL Sat 11 1132 1.90m ITV


== USA Grand Prix ============================================================

2001 :
2 USA GRAND PRIX LIVE Sun 30 1830 5.66m ITV 24.64%
12 USA GRAND PRIX QUALI Sat 29 2322 1.62m ITV 17.56%

2000 :
18 USA GRAND PRIX LIVE Sun 24 2248 2.55m ITV 31.23% *As Live Repeat, no Live*

1999 :
No Race


== Japanise Grand Prix =======================================================

2000 :
3 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX Sun 8 1359 2.14m ITV 19.66%
4 JAPANESE/PRIX QUALFG Sat 7 1146 2.09m ITV

1999 :
9 JAPANESE/PRIX REPLAY Sun 31 925 2.72m ITV
13 JAPANESE/PRIX QUALFG Sat 30 1215 2.05m ITV
17 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX Sun 31 600 1.48m ITV

[philhitchings]

interesting stats but doesn't provide info on people like me who pre-record then avoid results all day until party time in the evening


I am sure that I am not alone in watching races in the evening

Drop off could be the pub crowd again I was invited to an awful lot of GBGP parties this year one TV forty or fifty people watching

Maybe I am overstating this (I hope so, cos a steady decline in viewing figures is a sad sight to see)

[RV_Canada]

I thought that, in general, tv viewing numbers were very general. No one can tell what program you are watching on your TV, and I think that these numbers are made by polling a small sample of people. But, I suppose, the numbers would still show trends, regardless of the actual values ....

[Gemini]

Originally posted by RV_Canada
No one can tell what program you are watching on your TV, and I think that these numbers are made by polling a small sample of people.

I am not sure what you mean by "polling". As far as I know TV viewing figures are measured electonically, people that form a representitive sample have a kind of electronic gizmo attached to their TV-sets that records and transmits in real time what channels are on. The key word in whole operation is, as always in statistics, word "representative sample"...

[RV_Canada]

Originally posted by Gemini


I am not sure what you mean by "polling".

Polling (in Canada at least) is questioning (via phone, door-to-door, in a mall, whatever) a random sample of people and analysing their answers. I have never heard of the TV watching gizmo's before, but it makes sense, I guess.

[NYR2119935]

F1 tv audience dropping?
that's it
F1 is over
stick a fork in it - it's done

[Ross Stonefeld]

Thats like saying because the economy has a 900% increase instead of the 1000% it had 6 months ago, its gonna crash and we're in a recession

[Mr Melvin]

It is disappointing to see the viewing figures go down. I don't think the real fans are switching off, its the casual viewer who isn't watching. The main reason for this must be down to the media. A few years ago, most F1 races got a mention on the back page of a Monday morning paper. Now its half way in, you get 1 picture and a crappy race report. Not good for attracting fans.

Nowadays its Football, Football, Football... During the race weekend, its all about the football over the weekend. Sometimes you have to trawl about 20 pages of football before you get to the half page (if that) of F1. People are simply not aware of F1.

If somebody doesn't know there is a race on, they won't watch it. If the media aren't talking about F1, people won't be bothered to watch it.

[KenC]

A couple things.

¥ I vaguely recall that when ITV took over from the Beeb, that they were sorely dissappointed by their first year viewership results, after they had paid Bernie something like $60 million to get them. So, as the ratings continue to drop, I imagine they are even more dissappointed.

¥ I believe that footie ratings are down as well, as the Premiership show in Saturday nite primetime's 7pm slot has been pushed back into the less important 10.30pm slot.

[sennadog93]

Gemini is correct about the viewing figures and how they are calculated in the UK - the set top boxes also measure VCR activity.

[George Bailey]

Are the UK ratings simply following the chances of a McLaren or Williams WDC? I guess it would help to see 96-98 as well.

[philhitchings]

Originally posted by sennadog93
Gemini is correct about the viewing figures and how they are calculated in the UK - the set top boxes also measure VCR activity.

how so? I was of the opinion that people couldn't tell what you were taping

[gerry nassar]

Originally posted by Mr Melvin
It is disappointing to see the viewing figures go down. I don't think the real fans are switching off, its the casual viewer who isn't watching. The main reason for this must be down to the media. A few years ago, most F1 races got a mention on the back page of a Monday morning paper. Now its half way in, you get 1 picture and a crappy race report. Not good for attracting fans.

Nowadays its Football, Football, Football... During the race weekend, its all about the football over the weekend. Sometimes you have to trawl about 20 pages of football before you get to the half page (if that) of F1. People are simply not aware of F1.

If somebody doesn't know there is a race on, they won't watch it. If the media aren't talking about F1, people won't be bothered to watch it.

Thats disapointing to here!! I was always under the impression that in the UK (and rest of Europe) - F1 would atleast have several newspaper pages devoted to it on each GP weekend.

Here in Australia we only get a half page report - one page at best - a quarter of a page at worst. However for the week leading up to the Australian GP - we get front and back covers plus many inside pages devouted to F1 right up to a couple of days after the GP (atleast here in Melbourne anyway).

[BARnone]

Just a quick question - is Bernie's digital feed cutting into these numbers or is it one and the same? (excuse my ignorance here)

BARnone.

[NYR2119935]

hmmm

[Gary C]

Bernie's digital feed isn't, and has never been, available in the UK.

[gerry nassar]

Id say the reason for decreased viewership levels in the UK is:

- Boring championship battle
- Button's underperformance
- DC and EI just dont pull in the viewers as Mansell or Hill (or even Jensons potential)
- Ferrari and MS won the WDC in 2000 - so the wait for Ferrari fans was over and need to watch wasnt as great anymore

[ray b]

rateing and share = % by neilson co in usa use a book to write down a weeks viewing for each tv mostly. i got it as gulf wars started and that f-it up. a buddy had the eltronic box and was rated for a month. but 100's of books are used to 1 box do to cost.
who does it in europe and how is each country diff???

[Gemini]

Originally posted by ray b
rateing and share = % by neilson co in usa use a book to write down a weeks viewing for each tv mostly. i got it as gulf wars started and that f-it up. a buddy had the eltronic box and was rated for a month. but 100's of books are used to 1 box do to cost.
who does it in europe and how is each country diff???

ray B,

Here is the info from my coutry, Poland. The service is provided by Taylor Nelson Sofres (http://www.tnagb.com/index.cfm)

here is how it's done:


"Method
The PeopleMeter study is a continuous electronic measurement of television audience. In households that have been selected at random (currently 1,100 households), peoplemeters plugged into television equipment record: turning on and turning off of a television set, name of station received and opinion on the programme watched. Information collected is transmitted through a modem to the central computer at OBOP. Every night the central computer connects with a measuring device installed in a household and collects data from the previous day. Next, the viewing data are combined with programme monitoring and converted. Therefore, PeopleMeter service provides audience data exact to a second with respect to the frequencies defined at one's own discretion for over 250 television stations. PeopleMeter database also includes information regarding broadcasting time and ratings with respect to programmes, breaks and commercials for more than a dozen major television stations.


Establishment Surveys
Establishment Survey is carried out quarterly on a sample of 10,000 households. It is designed to create a PeopleMeter panel and to correct it on a rotation basis. Despite its exact purpose, the database originating from Establishment Surveys constitutes a rich source of information on demographics and equipment of Polish households. Establishment Survey database is updated quarterly, which guarantees that certain trends taking place in Polish society are easy to detect."

[zonky]

Originally posted by Gary C
Bernie's digital feed isn't, and has never been, available in the UK.

Given that it is not expressly illegal to dishonestly view sateliite channels not-avaliable for legal subscription in the uk, then yes, it is both possible and perhaps even legal!

[Clatter]

Originally posted by George Bailey
Are the UK ratings simply following the chances of a McLaren or Williams WDC? I guess it would help to see 96-98 as well.

The casual viewer couldnt give a stuff about the teams, what they want is a British driver that they can relate to and cheer on ie Mansell, Hill. I'm sure the UK viewing figures for Cart soared when Mansell was there. At the moment there is no British driver generating that level of interest.

DC just does not generate that sort of support and I dont think he would even if he were winning the championship. Button may in the future, but he has to start winning first.

[condor]

I think that the increase in number of channels available to watch is probably the cause. Nowadays, most people in the UK have cable or Satellite (if they want it) whereas a couple of years ago, a lot of people only had terrestrial TV - with only 4 channels.

[The Swerve]

I'm not sure the UK had any coverage of CART back in 93.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by The Swerve
I'm not sure the UK had any coverage of CART back in 93.

Not sure when it started, but Eurosport certainly covered all races when Mansell was there.

[se7en_24]

Originally posted by The Swerve
I'm not sure the UK had any coverage of CART back in 93.

There used to be a late night show on ITV, obviously delayed, possibly not even on the same day, but I remember watching it!

[KenC]

Originally posted by condor
I think that the increase in number of channels available to watch is probably the cause. Nowadays, most people in the UK have cable or Satellite (if they want it) whereas a couple of years ago, a lot of people only had terrestrial TV - with only 4 channels.

Fragmentation, which is what you are referring to, is most likely the case, as you state.

If you look closely at the numbers posted, while the millions of people watching the races may have dropped, if you look at the where the individual race show placed in the rankings of all sports shows that week, it has increased slightly. The ranking of all sports shows that week, is the first number on the left. In other words, the F1 races have held pretty steady as the most watched or 2nd most watched sporting event that weekend, but the overall audience is lower, most likely due to fragmentation, as condor has noted.

[Dudley]

I don't know about Eurosport but terrestrial coverage of CART in the UK was

1993/4 - one hour highlights program of every race at around 1am, around 1 week after the fact. Program was shown on ITV.

1997 to now - Race, usually as live on the Monday or Tuesday night after the event, originally at 12:30am ish but now pushed back as far as 3 on motoGP weekends to make way for a re-run of those.