As the 2013 MotoGP World Championship kicked off Sunday in Qatar, audiences in numerous key markets reached some noteworthy numbers, according to MotoGP. Spanish TV saw its Tele5 broadcast "increase by a whopping 44.6% over last year’s audience for the race with 4.5 million viewers, with a peak of 5.2 million, taking a 25.2% of the country’s audience share." Meanwhile, Italian TV, bolstered by the highly anticipated return of Valentino Rossi, "saw audiences go up to 5.28 million – peaking up to 6.63 million -- for the race under the floodlights with a 17.5% broadcast share." Viewership also saw "a humungous increase in British audiences, as nearly 75% more people tuned in over the previous year, with 1.7 million viewers witnessing the action, during which figures peaked at 2 million." Germany "turned up in force once again," with 410,000 MotoGP fans. In addition to the regular TV broadcast, the MotoGP season-opener "was also available on over 40 planes featuring Sport24, the 24/7 live sports channel produced and distributed by IMG Media exclusively for the in-flight and in-ship markets" (MOTOGP, 4/9).
