F1 viewership collapsed in France - Prost http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/707247/F1_viewership_collapsed_in_France__Prost/ Friday 17 January at 07:35 : Jan.17 (GMM) Television viewership has collapsed in France, according to F1 legend Alain Prost. In the country, all the races are only shown live on Canal Plus, a pay broadcaster. The sport's free-to-air coverage, on TF1, only involves three races. "We used to have 8 million fans in France watching TF1, but now that it is on Canal Plus it is 750,000," the quadruple world champion and Renault team advisor told Speed Week. "But that's how it works when you move everything to pay TV."
I guess there's no Sport Bars? I don't even own tv equipment, so 'going to the bar" is part of any sports event, pay for view, or not!!!
...and furthermore, the introduction of PayTV has more or less coincided with the introduction of the "vacuum cleaners" instead of real engines. I stopped watching F1; I would have thought this would be impossible for me, but I don't miss it, even if I had been a die-hard follower since 1972, when only the french and monaco G.P were covered. I follow the live stream (text...) on "Autosport", and the silly season. (To answer your question from another thread: I would be more than happy to meet you at Retromobile, if we can arrange it) Rgds
I suppose Liberty sold the TV rights to the French channel that paid the most. You can't blame them for that. But at the same time, the advertisers and sponsors cannot be too happy seeing their audience shrinking.
This predates Liberty, already in the eighties canal +, scrambled pay per view had F1, then it came back on public TV Tf1 and then back to Canal + again four, five years ago...
That maybe true, but it's Liberty that has to deal with the situation now; a take-over means accepting responsability.
No surprise there. I bet they can have F! TV either!!! I wonder if this was a Bernie special, same as he did in the UK. Be interesting to see what the figures in the UK are now he sold his sole, or part of it to Sky!
8.6 million UK viewers lost in 2019 - see this thread https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/8-6m-tv-viewers-lost-due-to-bernies-deal-with-sky-how-will-liberty-respond.614656/ Marco
Paul Ricard is a snoozefest on track but it's a splendid day with good cuisine and vino. They would benefit from improving the circuit layout. Who wants to watch parade laps ?
I may be in a minority, but I'd actually like to see F1 implode, lose another couple of teams, lose even more viewers etc. Not that I wish ill on the sport, but I think it seriously needs a reset. Too many self interested parties who will fight to keep their share of a shrinking pie, I'm looking at you Ferrari with your outsize legacy payments, as well as many others. If the whole house of cards all but collapses then maybe all sides will agree a total re-set is needed. At the same time with the loss of major sponsorship and possibly one or more OEM's then the money supply will dry p to the point that a spending cap may not be necessary as it's simply impossible for even Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren to squeeze such massive sums of money out of the shareholders of their respective companies. While I am not calling for spec chassis, I think Indy car is now putting on an amazing spectacle as a series where a top team Like Penske spends less than $20m for a three car team. I"d also like to see a hard stop at 20 races per year, maybe even 18, down from this stupid travel schedule of 22-25 that's being called for. Sorry for the fans in France and else where who've had their viewing possibilities pulled out from beneath them, but it maybe a necessary step to putting F1 back on a sound financial foundation for future teams, fans and sponsors. I am not expecting this post to be popular!
Maybe if they had a product worth paying for they wouldn't lose so many viewers. I'm no football fan but they moved behind a pay wall (correct?) and it hasn't affected them much,.
And I remember Ross Brawn saying F1 is all about entertainment, meaning its not sport, not competition, but attempting to keep people entertained, and it doesn't that very well.
Well, two questions here: - it's not that, passing to pay TV, the viewing possibilities having been pulled out from beneath us; for me, trouble is that, to continue watching F1, you have to subscribe to channel for a bundle of services that I have zero interest into; I'm a very "remote" person, I don't like to buy things that I don't need, I don't like being bothered by people who want to sell me things that I don't need, etc... So, when F1 went to "pay TV" here, I might have been convinced to pay the watching fees for F1, IF, and only IF, I didn't have to buy access by the same move to things that I don't need by the same occasion ( I don't watch TV at all: no news, no shows, no series, no nothing, just movies...). I don't want to be affilated to other things than F1. If they can't offer me F1 and just F1 alone, sorry guys, I'm not interested in a bundle of services that I have zero interest into. Besides, my interest was waning after the disparition of the "true" engines. - I agree with you: I think it is time for a reset; the F1 seasons are now ridiculously long, in countries that have zero automobile traditions, etc...the writing is on the wall, if you ask me, if Liberty does not react in time. Rgds
You are alright with me, and I share some of your views. I cannot understand why F1 has become so expensive to attend or to view. I think F1 has become too elitist as a sport, and forcibly suffers from a reduced audience. If things carry on the way they are, a specs series is inevitable; I think Indycar and F2 are good series for a fraction of the cost.
We are on the same wavelengths here; I hardly watch any TV, and spend my spare time on the internet, looking at old movies. The biggest sporting event on earth, that attracts millions of spectators and viewers, that lasts 3 weeks is completely free . I am talking about Le Tour de France, held every year. Advertisers are competing to sponsor it, provide logistic support and get their names plastered in the scenery to be caught by the cameras. I am sure that the companies that invest in Le Tour must find a good return for their money, in view of the huge audience they get. Of course cycling caters for a different public, but I think F1 should learn some lessons from it.
Before the fall of Rome few saw it coming... I have love Indycar and watched every possible race (whatever the name of the series) since the early 1990's: give me Elkhart or Mid Ohio on a sunny -or wet!- day and some great battles and you can keep the Ecclestone/Liberty show and to answer the usual negative comment about Indycars here in the old world I could not care less about technology but want to see fast single seaters having great battles.
It may be too late by then, and Magny Cours was always better than Ricard. It's always a political and £££ decision with F1 track selection.
One of the biggest challenge of Paul Ricard is the access - only small roads to get there, and no way it can be improved. On the other hand a highway drives you basically to the door of Magny-Cours...
That's right. Last year in preparation for the worst traffic we took motorcycles. But they were not needed on the way in as traffic was not an issue. After the race / concert our two wheels certainly saved us some time but at least the car traffic was moving, albeit slowly. It's a nice part of France but the circuit layout makes for boring laps.
you could well be right here! as to the comments in another post from Brawn about F1 being entertainment; I went to practise day at Silverstone last year; first time to an F1 race since sometime in the 80s in Montreal where mansall was pushed into the pits if memory serves. Anyway I won’t be going back; I found the whole experience rather boring other than saying hi to a few friends! I think liberty should be doing some sole searching! I’ve been a fan since a boy, now....I can just as easily leave it! Whilst a lot of our issues we are discussing come from that short billionaire, it’s liberties now and nothing they can’t unpick if they actually want to; but then I guess the likes of you and I don’t count for squat when you have leaders of countries lining up to be your new best friend! (Was it any different back “in the day”?)
