F1 posts strong TV numbers
In Hungary, Formula One drew the highest average live audience of the 2009 sports competitions studied in the report, with an average of more than one million viewers (audience share of 41.2 per cent) and audiences in the Czech Republic gave the second-highest audience despite no local driver or grand prix.
“Formula One remains among the top audience-pulling sport competitions thanks to continuous innovations and a permanently renewed suspense that boost audiences," said Eurodata TV Worldwide sport sales manager Florent Simon.
In Spain and the United Kingdom, football competitions occupied the top two positions with Formula One in third. In Italy, Rai 1 and Rai 2 attracted an average season-long audience of 5.5 million, second-best only to Italian 2010 World Cup football qualifiers, with 8.3 million viewers. Around 61 per cent of the Formula One audience in Italy were men, compared to 78 per cent in the Netherlands and 67 per cent in France.
Eurodata TV Worldwide’s Yearly Sport Key Facts covers September 2008 to August 2009 with a special motorsport update in December. It reviews the television audiences of international competitions such as the UEFA Champions League, Six Nations rugby union, World Championships athletics, in addition to a number of major national competitions.