Support for Formula One in Australia is currently riding a wave popularity, thanks largely to the exploits of local lad Mark Webber. The Australian, of course, is currently leading the drivers title race and is in with a real chance of being crowned this country’s first F1 World Champion since Alan Jones in 1980.
Despite this, many F1 fans might be surprised to learn that the television ratings for the sport have knocked the V8 Supercars off its perch as the most watched motorsport category in Australia.
Based on figures published in The Age numbers for the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, won by Webber, peaked at 345,000. Keep in mind the live broadcast was available on the digital only channel One HD. In contrast, viewing audiences for recent rounds of V8 Supercars have reportedly fallen below the 300,000 mark.
This figure represents a drop of more than 25% from V8 Supercar audiences from a couple of years back. Meanwhile, the introduction of the One HD channel in 2009 has given Australian audiences access to live telecasts for the majority of Grands Prix and qualifying sessions for the first time ever.
We shall have to wait and see how sustainable the popularity of F1 remains in future years when we’re unlikely to see an Australian leading the charge. For now, though, One HD, while far from perfect, must be quite content with the way things sit.
[Source: The Age via motorcentral | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
6 replies on “Formula One: Now more popular in Australia than V8 Supercars”
This is interesting considering the time the two are being aired. I think Ch7 have really killed the TV audience for V8’s. When 10 had, they did an awesome job, bring it back to 10.
When Bathurst roles round, lets compare the numbers with the Melbourne GP.
Nice to see people voting with their feet/remotes against dumbed down spec series. Time to bring proper manufacturer competition back to the V8s!
I agree with Floody, and also Dave. Channel 7 have done a terrible job broadcasting the V8 Supercars, and V8 Supercars is stale. Triple 8 switching from Ford to Holden really demonstrated how dull the series is, in my opinion.
I agree with Floody. Channel 10 made the V8’s good and then 7 took it back and screwed it again.
This is really astonishing. When I was first watching F1, I remember that it was bumped behind events like Tennis and Golf… Good to see its popularity is gaining. Ultimately I think Aussie Motorsport is struggling, we do need categories like the V8’s to be popular or we won’t be able to see more Aussie F1 drivers… This has to be a wake up call to the V8 governing body CAMS…
Agree with Floody et al.
Ch. 10 use to do a bang up job of broadcasting the V8s