F1 races predictable? Sky Sports reports more TV viewers after all

Formula 1's popularity is growing in many countries, including the UK. Pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports, which has held the broadcasting rights for live Formula 1 broadcasts since 2012, told Business F1 that the number of viewers has increased by 49 per cent compared to the first year the broadcaster held the F1 rights.

The growth is mainly due to two things. First, Channel 4 no longer broadcasts F1 races live on an open channel. Fans are forced to subscribe to Sky if they want to continue watching Formula 1. Moreover, Sky has benefited from the popularity of the Netflix programme Drive to Survive in recent years.

Meanwhile, Sky commentators are even allowed to talk about Drive to Survive, something that was thus prohibited until recently. Sky reports that an increased proportion of viewers are under 35 years old. That percentage has increased from 20 per cent to 28 per cent. Again, this new growth is probably due to the success of Drive to Survive.

However, it is important to stress that Sky Sports reported an increase compared to 2012. As such, the channel has not made any statements about the figures of, say, the exciting 2021 F1 year compared to the current number of viewers.