Lucrative Pay TV deals mean that teams are still benefitting financially despite the loss of up to 25 million F1 viewers in 2014.

According to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, the sport lost 25 million viewers last year however, he is largely unconcerned because this "reflects the move FOM has made towards Pay TV in several markets over the last three seasons," according to Forbes.

Over the last three years TV audiences have dropped as the sport has moved increasingly towards Pay TV broadcasters as opposed to free-to-air. However, because the Pay TV broadcasters are willing to pay more for the privilege of hosting the sport, which increases subscriber numbers, this has in turn increased the sport's prize money fund of which the team's share a 63% slice. Considering the fact that this came to $797.5m in 2014, we are not talking peanuts.

Since 2012, race fans in Britain who want to watch all the races live have had to subscribe to Sky Sports, the {i]BBC only showing half the races live. This deal alone is understood to have boosted FOM's rights fees by 110% to an estimated $105m, thereby encouraging the broadcaster to dedicate an entire channel to the sport - even if the majority of content is endlessly repeated (like much of Sky's content).

The success of the shared broadcast module in Britain sparked similar deals in Germany and Italy, while Spain followed suit last year. Each country saw viewer numbers fall last season, a massive 22.4 million viewers (12.4%) in Germany alone. This is backed up by the swathes of empty seats (pictured) at circuits such as Hockenheim- where attendance was down by 52% in 2014 - even though a German team was leading the championship and a German driver in serious contention for the drivers' title. That said, some blame 'F1 fatigue', on Sebastian Vettel's domination in recent years, particularly the latter half of 2013.

On the other hand, the TV audience in Russia increased by 24.5% to 15.4 million last year, no doubt driven by the country hosting its first Grand Prix and the success of Daniil Kvyat, who this year moves up to Red Bull.

Nonetheless, despite losing 5.6% of its viewers last year, dropping to 425 million, F1 remains the world’s most-watched annual sports series.

"Formula One remained one of the most watched sports in the world throughout 2014," says Ecclestone, according to Forbes. "Coverage of the championship in the major markets is virtually unparalleled; the depth of programming offered by Sky and Movistar (Spain), for example, has undoubtedly pushed standards forwards and set new benchmarks. Dedicated subscription channels, greater online availability and extended rights to accommodate out-of-home viewing mean that for many people, Formula 1 is available whenever and wherever they are."

The rider to that, of course, being that; F1 is available whenever and wherever you are... providing you can afford it. However, in these times of austerity, for some, indeed, for many, Pay TV is a luxury and, in times of such financial difficulty, the first thing one opts to do without when having to tighten one's belt.

Therefore while some will continue to fork out for their live fix of F1, those without the money, and those for whom F1 is not their number one sport, will seek alternatives. And while the teams might enjoy their 63% slice of the cake for now, the drop in viewer numbers will eventually impact the interest from sponsors, existing and potential.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by NickK, 05/03/2015 14:56

"You don't have to subscribe to Sky Sports if you already have the SKY HD package.Full F1 channel access comes with Sky HD alone."

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2. Posted by NotRocketSurgery, 03/02/2015 20:57

"I would like to express a thought or two from the other side of the pond ...

1. The F-1 audience is no longer an European audience. If the watercooler and breakroom conversations I hear where I live are any indication, there is a strong, although smaller, audience among many of us who just can't understand the point of NASCAR. How many folks like us there are in Brazil, the Middle East or any of the Asian countries, I don't know. I suspect that the potential for viewers is already enormous.
2.I know that the commentators we have had on the coverage from NBC in '11, '12 and '13 left me more bored than if Vettel was declared the winner while on the grid and excused from the rest of the race. It may be that it is the audience that is easy to see is shrinking. The audience that is crying out for more coverage in their country/area and more knowledge commentators, etc., is the hidden audience that has no outlet for their dissatisfaction, other than a place like Pitpass, and the existence of Pitpass is not general knowledge over here.
3. I no longer have a TV set. Broadcast TV died, as far as I am concerned, years ago. Cable TV should be able to see the handwriting on the walls. I get all the news, weather and sports info I need, and do a really good job of satisfying my curiosity by giving my time to activities on the Internet. All that says about me is that I don't find ignorance to be entertaining and I am comfortable with technology. I believe that the kind of individual who truly appreciates F-1 has a high interest in technology and a person who already expects that he should be able to find the races on the Internet. I am one of them. I think that the coverage performed by SKY on race weekends is awesome when compared to anything else I have been able to find. I know that SKY streams race coverage and blogs too, but I am prohibited from accessing that coverage "in my area". Somehow, that needs to change. I am actually surprised, given the wonderful job they do in creating content, that SKY has not already taken steps to fix that. Maybe they have and hit a dead end. Is the problem laying in the lap of the Holder of Broadcast Rights?
4. Do you suppose that SKY could find a market that would make it economically feasible for them to take all of the content that they provide during practice, qualifying and the race, and edit it down to a cohesive 60 minute or 90 minute package, accessible everywhere, for everyone who is in a situation which keeps him from watching the live broadcast for any reason? This "F-1 Digest" could be run on Monday, Thursday and Saturday of the week following a race. People who think that a real enthusiast watches racing in order to see who wins just doesn't understand the mentality of the enthusiast. The enthusiast watches racing to see the racing, even if he has watched that same race three times already. Watching a good race over and over is no different than watching the same ballet for the second or third time. A good performance is a good performance and a thing of beauty. It is pleasurable to see it again and it never disappoints.

Thank you for providing an opportunity for me to rant.

JW

PS: A shout-out to Peter Windsor: Is there anything you can do from your end to improve access to racing coverage over the Internet?

"

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3. Posted by Kiwikaze, 03/02/2015 18:49

"They still show F1 on TV? Hasn't been free-to-air in NZ for ten years, I stopped watching races then... I don't really miss missing them either! Funny how you can have a sport that you can stay interested in, despite not watching it."

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4. Posted by GT_Racer, 03/02/2015 17:43

"Just to correct something in the article. Nothing has changed in Germany with regards to the TV deal.

Its the same model thats been in place since the late 90s, Every qualifying & race is shown live on RTL (Which is free) with a Pay TV option for those who want it via what is now Sky Germany (Used to be known as Premiere world until 2009 & has shown F1 since Mid-1996)."

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5. Posted by nealio, 03/02/2015 15:15

"I think your long-term assessment is correct. Ecclestone is playing the broadcasters just like the circuit owners and short-term financial gains will be traded for long-term damage to viewer numbers which will impact TV sponsorship to an extent that the pay-per-view operators will drop F1. Of course, CVC and Bernie don't plan to be involved by that time."

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6. Posted by Joop deBruin, 03/02/2015 2:11

"Bernie=Sepp Blatter, corrupt and all about taking as much money as they can."

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7. Posted by stackvideo, 03/02/2015 2:02

"Fortunately in Australia we still enjoy Free to Air F1 however I believe it will go to pay TV come 2017. We have lost FtoA of our V8 supercar series to Foxtel (pay TV) bar 6 races which will be aired on TV but I feel in time these will be exclusive to Pay TV. I have watched motor racing for longer that I care to remember and like many can not afford the cost of pay tv. Australain motor racing will go the same way as F1, no eyes on the product, no sponsors interested. Follow the money. "

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8. Posted by Burton, 02/02/2015 22:01

"Like I said at the end of the 2013 season, I cancelled my pay-TV subscription. Austerity, as pointed out in the article, is one huge, big reason, but in my case it was just because I can't be ****d anymore.."

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9. Posted by TheBucketOfTruth, 02/02/2015 21:20

"It makes being a small independent team pretty tough these days. If you're slow enough that you're not getting a piece of the pie that is the TV money, you can only rely on sponsorship dollars. Then because many of the races are not on free TV, sponsorship is worth less because of smaller viewership. It really does mean under the current setup, it would be difficult to sustain more than ten teams."

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10. Posted by Ro, 02/02/2015 20:54

"Isnt that enough proof that people are switching off and that F1 has become a little bit boring ? Come on F1 teams, change those stupid engines that sound like bad wind after a curry...."

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Teams rake in the TV money as fans switch off

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