German free-to-air TV channel RTL "attracted more than 4 million viewers on Sunday for the broadcast of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix," according to Alexander Krei of DWDL. The race, which was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, was watched by a total of 4.35 million viewers. The number translated into a market share of 28%. It "was the first time in almost three months that an F1 race obtained less than a 30% market share on RTL." In the target demographic 14-49, the race had a market share of 25.3%. Last year's Singapore GP was watched by 5 million viewers. German pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland, which also aired the race, reported "a drastic ratings drop." Sunday's race had a 2.2% share in the target demographic. The Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago obtained a 5% share. A total of 320,000 tuned in to watch the night race, which is Sky's lowest F1 viewership since the beginning of June.
ON-TRACK FLOP: German free-to-air TV channel kabel eins "recorded unsuccessful ratings for its broadcast of the ADAC GT Masters on Sunday." A total of 370,000 viewers tuned in around noon to watch the race. The broadcast had a market share of 4% in the target demographic. German sports channel Sport1 attracted 320,000 viewers to its broadcast of the handball friendly between Germany and Switzerland. The game, which started at 5pm, obtained a market share of 1.9% in the target demo (DWDL, 9/22).
MADRID DERBY: MULTICHANNEL's Mike Reynolds reported beIN Sports coverage of La Liga's Madrid Derby "scored big with futbol fans."
The Sept. 13 telecast of the matchup between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid "averaged 824,000 viewers across beIN's English- and Spanish-language networks, according to Nielsen data." The game ranked as the No. 2 football telecast of the day among English-language networks, "outperforming 11 of 14 MLB contests that day and all Major League Soccer matches, according to network officials" (MULTICHANNEL, 9/20).
AFL ON SEVEN: THE AUSTRALIAN's Michael Bodey reported Hawthorn’s "thrilling last-gasp win" over the Port Adelaide Power on Saturday was "the highest rating" Australian Football League "match of the year on Seven and the second best AFL match for Foxtel ever." Seven’s 1.083 million viewers "was the highest five city metro average for the year for the network." The match peaked with 1.93 million viewers nationally for Seven and "helped the network to a national win" on Saturday with a 23.4% share ahead of Nine’s 22.7%. Melbourne’s average audience was 517,000, although it lifted to 590,000 for the "post-game" segment, which included the final minutes of the match.
The game also averaged 478,000 viewers nationally on the Fox Footy channel "to become the highest-rating program on the subscription TV platform this year." The match "also attracted the second biggest AFL audience ever on Foxtel" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/22).
