Beer Brand Krombacher Tops List Of Advertisers For RTL's F1 Broadcasts In '16

German beer brand Krombacher "was the highest-paying advertiser during the '16 F1 season on German free-to-air TV channel RTL," according to Kathrin Hartmann of SPONSORs. The sports business magazine and media and marketing consulting company Ebiquity Germany analyzed the past season. In comparison to the previous season, this year's analysis also included pre- and post-race coverage in addition to the race itself. Despite the change in methodology, the top three spenders remained the same. U.S. car brand Ford follows Krombacher at No. 2. The top three is rounded out by internet service provider 1&1. Overall, however, ad spending for RTL's F1 coverage has been on the decline since '13. While the top 10 ad spenders paid a combined €19.57M in '13, it fell to €14.19M ($15.3M) this year. The decrease is particularly noteworthy as this year's schedule featured a record 21 races. Looking at all of RTL's F1 advertisers, the figure fell from €61.67M in '13 to €49.31M ($53M) this season. Ebiquity Media Practice Global Head Dietmar Kruse: "RTL has long-standing and loyal advertising partners that continue to provide the channel with a positive result. However, it seems the interest of the advertisers is cooling down" (SPONSORs, 12/7).