F1 | Liberty Media: “We are aware of the decline in ratings in Italy”

The passage of Formula 1 on the various Pay-TVs in recent years has certainly not been welcomed with pleasure by fans, who are often forced to be tied to onerous contracts in order to follow their favorite sport. In Europe, pay TVs now have the predominance with regards to the broadcasting rights of Formula 1, but also on a global level the situation is worrying: all this has led to a decrease in spectators over the past seasons, something which has for now also been confirmed in 2018.

The numbers are clear and even Liberty Media had to admit, through the words of Chase Carey, a drop in ratings in the first four races of this season, quantifiable at around 5/6% and mainly due to the decline in two key markets for this sport , i.e. Italy and Brazil: “There was a drop in ratings in these first four games. This decline is mainly due to two factors, to two nations in reality” – the CEO of Formula 1 told the Independent -. “In Italy, we have taken Formula 1 from being more free-TV to having a predominance of Pay-TV, and this is probably what has had the greatest impact on ratings. Moving on to Brazil, Felipe Massa was our Brazilian driver and his retirement definitely had an effect on the listeners." Numbers that will probably have an even more important impact in the coming years, when other key states will see the passage of Formula 1 as an absolute exclusive on Pay-TV: this is the case of the United Kingdom where, starting from 2019, Sky will hold the rights in absolute exclusivity with a five-year contract.

As far as our country is concerned, after the arrival of Sky in 2013, the number of spectators has drastically dropped and the abandonment of RAI starting this year has further favored this phenomenon: despite this being one of the most hotly contested seasons of the In recent years, in the first events of the year there has been a clear decline in ratings, with the last Grand Prix, that of Spain, which saw a loss of over 50% of spectators in the free broadcast compared to 2017. According to the latest revelations , to broadcast Formula 1 exclusively, Sky Italia would pay a figure close to 110 million euros per year, with an increase of 33% compared to when it shared the rights with RAI.

Let us remember that towards the end of last season, Liberty Media itself had clarified its position regarding the distribution of television rights, hoping for a rapid transition of sport towards pay channels, leaving only 25% of the races (therefore 4/5 races all year) live on free networks.