Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has started his season of bizarre quotes and ideas by first suggesting that Super GP2 cars be used to bolster grids, now he has declared that falling TV viewership is no concern to him.
Formula 1 shed no fewer than 25 million viewers last year, but Ecclestone insists he is not worried and explains that it "reflects the move FOM has made towards pay TV in several markets over the last three seasons".
A prime example is the situation in Britain, where only a select number of grands prix are now shown free-to-air on the BBC, with only pay-channel Sky having the exclusive live rights.
That model has now been adopted in other key markets, and it has "boosted F1's bottom line as pay TV networks are prepared to pay a premium for rights to sports events since they drive subscriber numbers", Forbes' F1 business journalist Christian Sylt explained.
The Daily Mail reported earlier this month that in Formula 1's annual broadcast report showed that worldwide audiences fell by 5.6 per cent to 425 million different fans tuning in across the season from 450 million previously.
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