It appears that last year’s dominance from Sebastian Vettel in Formula One has taken a toll on the TV viewership, with more fans switching channels or turning off their TV sets during F1 race weekends. It was reported from the Wall Street Journal claims that F1’s annual global media report highlights a fall in television figures of 50 million down to 450 million viewers. That means there a 10 percent drop on TV viewership due that fans were sick of watching Vettel pointing his “fingers” after victory, more so during the second half of the 2013 F1 season.
More amusingly, his dominance in F1 has also irked fans from his home country, Germany, where a drop of 8.7% was reported. The biggest drop goes to China at almost 30 million due to a change in the distribution of rights. Countries from Brazil and France also recorded significant droppings on the viewership as well.
However, there are some light at the end of the tunnel as there are gains in the UK and US, with the latter has 10 million viewership grow, which is significant as NASCAR or IndyCar racing was preferred by Americans than F1.
F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, commented that “The less-than-competitive nature of the final few rounds, culminating in the championship being decided ahead of the races in the USA and Brazil, events which often bring substantial audiences, had a predictable impact on reach”.
However with the 2014’s regulation changes which includes the all-new turbocharged engines, Ecclestone has commented that “One thing I am sure of is that this coming season will not only offer a heightened level of unpredictability, but renewed excitement and fierce competition”.
[Image Source: Red Bull, Source: GPUpdate]
