F1 audiences divided by four in France
The Australian Grand Prix was the first F1 Grand Prix of the Canal+ era in France. The ratings were highly anticipated. The result is clear: in one year, they went from 1.6 million to 400,000 viewers.
The choice made as part of the tender process set up by the FOM clearly focused not on the audience but on the revenues that different channels were willing to pay. Clearly, TF1 could not/would not continue to bear an expense of 31 million euros per season.
So it was ultimately Canal+ that won with an annual bid of “only” 29 million euros. Nonce Paolini, the CEO of TF1, acknowledged to the media journalists’ association that TF1’s offer was lower: « The amount we put forward was much lower than that of Canal+. Economically, we could no longer match it. »
If the CEO claims to have no regrets about losing F1, he likely consoled himself by looking at the viewership numbers announced by his rival for this first event of the championship: On Sunday on Canal+, F1 attracted 400,000 viewers, compared to 1.6 million on TF1 last year for the first Formula 1 Grand Prix. We are very happy that it’s on Canal+ because we knew it would be very well executed. But with 400,000 viewers, it’s not more profitable than on TF1. And it’s clear that the choice made was not based on audience numbers.
Nevertheless, we cannot talk about a crushing failure for Vivendi group’s subsidiary. Indeed, the stakes and commercial strategies of the two channels are completely different. For TF1, monetizing the investment in F1 could only be achieved through advertisements aired during the event. However, for Canal+, the audience numbers have little impact since the channel does not sell any advertising during the event. Its revenue is solely generated by subscriptions (40 euros per month). Whether there are 0 viewers or ten million in front of the same event, the channel’s revenue is unaffected.
The challenge is therefore to be able to offer content that makes people want to subscribe or keep their subscription. That’s why the channel, challenged in its historical market by the arrival of BeIn Sport, had to counter-attack and make up for the loss of part of the French football championship. Hence the investment in F1… For Canal+, the profitability of the investment will be measured by the number of subscribers attracted by this new content rather than by the audiences of each Grand Prix.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
