F1 global audiences decline in 2012

At the moment when the French territory switches to paid broadcasting of the F1, The Guardian published the global audience report for the 2012 season. Despite a suspenseful season where the duel between Sebastian Vettel et Fernando Alonso was maintained until the Brazilian Grand Prix, audiences were declining. For the first time, no official figures have been published, the report simply announcing a result of more than 500 million viewers compared to 515 million in 2011.

The British newspaper points out the clear decline of F1 on the Chinese market with a drop of 34% or 25 million viewers, the discipline being in competition with other sporting events. Bernie Ecclestone's desire to offer more and more Grands Prix in Asia may also have had an impact on global audiences with a significant time difference with Europe and America. Russia sees its audience drop by 12,8% while the first Russian Grand Prix will be contested next year and Vitaly Petrov finds himself without a steering wheel this season. The figures in the USA also fell by 3%, going from 10 to 9,7 million viewers despite the return of the discipline with the Austin event. The British market has suffered from F1's move to pay channels. Conversely, audiences are increasing in Brazil, Spain and Italy.

Global audiences have a major impact on the discipline since F1 teams will receive 63% of the profits collected from broadcast rights from this year. However, the European market is being privatized since France joins Italy and the Netherlands among the countries where F1 will be broadcast on private channels.