German free-to-air channel RTL "recorded satisfying ratings for its broadcast of the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix on Sunday," according to Alexander Krei of DWDL. A total of 5.44 million viewers tuned in to watch the race from the Sepang Int'l Circuit, which started at 9am German time. The number translated into a strong market share of 44.8%. In the target demographic 14-49, the victory of Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel received a 40.9% share. In addition, German pay-TV channel Sky attracted 370,000 viewers to its broadcast of Sunday's race. In the target demographic, Sky's broadcast recorded a 4% share (DWDL, 3/25).
F1 IN ENGLAND: In London, John Plunkett reported "BBC1's highlights of the Malaysian Grand Prix had 4 million viewers, a 27.2% share," between 2:30pm-4:30pm. Sky's live coverage -- it now has all the live rights, with the BBC showing around half of the races live -- "had 773,000 viewers (11.6%) from 6:30am with a five-minute peak of 1.35 million" (GUARDIAN, 3/25).
F1 IN FRANCE: Pay-TV channel Canal+'s broadcast of the race between 8:55am and 10:45am local time pulled in 776,000 subscribers and a 36% market share (TELE, 3/25
F1 IN SPAIN: Free-to-air channel Antena 3's broadcast of the Grand Prix was watched by 2.559 million viewers and a 41.3% market share (VERTELE, 3/25).
WINTER SPORTS: DWDL's Krei also reported German public broadcaster ARD "has received only average ratings for its winter sports broadcast." A total of 1.31 million viewers tuned in to watch ski flying on Sunday morning. The number translated into a 9.7% market share. The Speed Skating World Championships attracted only 1.5 million viewers in the afternoon, which equaled a 9% share (DWDL, 3/25). ISPORTCONNECT's Jay Stuart reported "sports programming pulled 10 of the top 25 audiences" on Dutch TV on Sunday, with speed skating, cycling, basketball and volleyball all drawing decent numbers on public channel Ned 1. The top event was the Essent ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Sochi, Russia, airing at 2:15pm. The men's 500m race did best with 1.34 million viewers and a share of 45% -- 10th biggest audience of any program (ISPORTCONNECT, 3/25).
