THE EQUAL-BEST F1 audience of the year watched Max Verstappen take a stunning victory in the 70th anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday Night.

WORDS: Richard Craill IMAGE: Renault Sport Media

113,000 tuned in to watch the compelling race on Fox Sports 506, an identical audience to the British Grand Prix seven days earlier.

It made the race the fifth most-watched show on Subscription TV yesterday, behind the AFL and NRL.

Obviously there’s no direct year-for-year comparison given the completely different schedule we’re living with in 2020, however on the same weekend twelve months ago just 96,000 watched the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix on Fox.

While the race audience was the same as last week, the 90,000 who checked in for Qualifying on Saturday evening is the largest of the season, eclipsing the 83,000 who watched qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago.

MOTO GP

AS THE only International Motorsport with a full-season Free-to-Air deal in Australia, MotoGP continues to draw strong numbers that match its always compelling on-track product.

A total audience of 180,000 watched Brad Binder score the Czech GP and become the first South African to win a top-level MotoGP race, the numbers comprised of 123,000 on 10Bold and 57,000 on Fox Sports 507.

189,000 watched the first round of the delayed season on 10Bold and Fox three weeks ago, while the free-to-air audience slipped out of the top-20 last week for Round 2, meaning numbers were not available (65,000 watched on Fox Sports).

The Czech race drew the lowest Fox audience of the three Grands Prix held to date, though it probably suffered for its close proximity to the Formula 1 race.

KAYO NEWS

AS ALWAYS the numbers we report do not include those watching via streaming devices or applications, including Kayo Sports.

However, it’s worth noting that Kayo recently announced their highest ever subscription figures, with 542,000 active, paying customers drawn to the service as of early August; 590,000 if you include those currently subscribed for free.

Numbers plunged to 272,000 during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic and the absence of live Sport, but have rebounded quickly as Footy and Motorsport, in particular, have returned.

The numbers offset a 12% drop in overall Foxtel subscriber numbers with 1.9m now subscribed to the traditional linear broadcast service.

We crunched the numbers on projected Kayo Sports audiences earlier this year, with our numbers holding up when compared to the limited data released by the company surrounding key sporting events, and how many watched via the service.

NEXT WEEK

SUPERCARS are back with the delayed Darwin double header next weekend, the BetEasy Triple Crown to have the added bonus of being telecast on Channel 10 as well as Fox Sports.

Then there’s the potential, though yet to be confirmed, of mid-week races which will add a new element to the championship.

Formula Uno continues on it’s relentless streak as the series heads to Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix, while MotoGP continues at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the first of two races at the Styrian venue that has already held two F1 races this year.

Ratings Watch Archive – Click Here

SOURCES: TV Tonight, Mediaweek, TV Black Box.

(NOTE: Numbers are overnight metro (5 capital city) and Foxtel ratings supplied by ratings agency OzTam to media outlets. They do not include any additional reporting, including time shifted content, regional ratings or broader reach, unless released and freely available. They also do not include streaming numbers on Kayo or SuperView, etc).