UK F1 TV figures up by half a million
6th October 2008, 15:00 by Keith Collantine 10 Comments »
Sebastian Vettel's first F1 win in Monza was seen by 3.55m in Britain
The latest television audience figures for F1 broadcasts in Britain show recent live Formula 1 broadcasts are attracting half a million more viewers on like-for-like events compared to last year.
While last year’s Italian Grand Prix attracted fewer than 2.91m viewers and did not rank among ITV’s top 30 programmes for that week, this year 3.55m viewers tuned in to see Sebastian Vettel score his first F1 win.
Similarly the Belgian Grand Prix pulled in 3.87m viewers in 2008 – last year fewer than 3.31m were watching.
However the European Grand Prix at the new Circuito Urbano Valencia did not rank in the top 30 programmes on ITV in the week it aired, meaning fewer than 3m were watching.
The general trend for F1 audiences in Britain is very positive, however. In 2007 nine of the 18 F1 rounds failed to attract large enough audiences to feature in the top 30 programmes in the week they were broadcast. So far this year only three of the first 14 rounds did not make the top 30 (Singapore Grand Prix data not available yet).
This may partly be down to the strength of rival programming on ITV being better in 2007. But there is a clear upward trend when comparing like-for-like Grands Prix. Here are the viewing figures for 2008 so far:
| Date | Race | Viewers |
| 16 March 2008 | Australian Grand Prix** | 3,900,000 |
| 23 March 2008 | Malaysian Grand Prix* | (<2.81m) |
| 06 April 2008 | Bahrain Grand Prix | 3,580,000 |
| 27 April 2008 | Spanish Grand Prix | 3,510,000 |
| 11 May 2008 | Turkish Grand Prix* | (<2.9m) |
| 25 May 2008 | Monaco Grand Prix | 3,980,000 |
| 08 June 2008 | Canadian Grand Prix | 3,990,000 |
| 22 June 2008 | French Grand Prix | 3,350,000 |
| 4 July 2008 | British Grand Prix | 4,530,000 |
| 20 July 2008 | German Grand Prix | 3,190,000 |
| 3 August 2008 | Hungarian Grand Prix | 3,880,000 |
| 24 August 2008 | European Grand Prix | (<3m) |
| 7 September 2008 | Belgian Grand Prix | 3,870,000 |
| 14 September 2008 | Italian Grand Prix | 3,550,000 |
*Did not rank among the top 30 programmes on ITV that week.
**’As live’ replay
Source: BARB
Why are F1′s TV figures going up in Britain? The Lewis Hamilton effect? A wet summer? More entertaining Grands Prix? Share your explanation below.
SamS said on 6th October 2008, 15:05
I think that it is a mixture of better grand prix, better timings and the Hamilton effect, especially with Hamilton being on the brink of a championship win.
Perssonally the one thing i have found is the ITV seem to be craming in more and more ads into the shows especially during the race, that is the one thing i will not miss when it moves over to the Beeb
Dorian said on 6th October 2008, 15:30
I agree with SamS especially regarding the Hamilton effect.
Keith, do you know what the viewing numbers were like pre-Hamilton??
El Gordo said on 6th October 2008, 15:32
How does this compare to other sporting events?
I think we have had two excellent years back-to-back of F1. I can do without the FIA soap-opera, but since Schumacher retired, his utter dominance of the sport has opened up the competition to all comers, which makes for exciting racing.
We still get dull, processional races, but these now seem to be a 50-50 split with exciting races. The Schumacher years (it seems) had a far higher ratio of processional events.
doctorvee said on 6th October 2008, 15:38
The Hamilton effect would have happened last year (the hype certainly felt bigger last year), so that wouldn’t explain why the figures have gone up this year. I maintain that we have had a great season of racing, a trend which will be stopped by KERS.
S Hughes said on 6th October 2008, 17:30
All down to Lewey reviving interest in F1 in the UK a la Silverstone’s record 3-day sell out this year.
sven duva said on 6th October 2008, 18:30
Just learned that F1 broadcasting in Sweden will go from a free-for-all channel to a small pay-channel very soon. Great. Not everyone that even want to pay the idiot price will be able to see F1 in Sweden anymore. Way to go, Formula One Management. You really do care about the world wide audience.
BBC Director General said on 6th October 2008, 19:32
@sven duva – check the BBC, they might be showing it on one of their digital/world service channels.
Probably best to check nearer the time.
Keith Collantine said on 6th October 2008, 20:01
Sven Duva – Very sorry for that, terrible news for F1 fans in Sweden. Do send me any further details, either post on here or via the contact form: Contact F1 Fanatic
Kester said on 7th October 2008, 12:03
So it seems Hamilton’s penalty in Spa didn’t really effect the viewing figures…
Steven Roy said on 7th October 2008, 15:16
Normally FOM insist on free to air broacasting because the sponsors insist on it. I can only assume that none of the free to air channels wanted to show the races. There are plenty of sites that stream the races live on the internet including a South African site that streams ITV without the ads.