A Formula 1 report showed that the sport "saw a rise in worldwide audience figures across television and digital platforms" in '18, according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. It said that Brazil, China and the U.S. represented the top three markets in terms of TV reach -- "largely a consequence of new or revised broadcast deals in those countries." The global cumulative TV audience was put at 1.758 billion, of which 1.59 billion were in the top 20 markets -- a rise of 3% compared to '17 and the second consecutive year of growth. The number of "unique viewers," now defined by the industry standard of those who watched at least three consecutive minutes across the season, rose 10% to 490.2 million. F1 Global Research Dir Matt Roberts said, "In today's world, just having a flat TV number is a strong performance. We're really pleased that we've seen growth for the second year in a row after many years of decline for the longer term trend." The Monaco Grand Prix in May returned the highest cumulative audience of the season, showing a rise of 10% year-on-year with 110 million viewers. F1's audience growth in China, a "key strategic target," reflected the sport returning to state network CCTV. F1 Managing Dir Commercial Sean Bratches said, "China is now the second largest market and the United States the third largest. They weren't even in the top five before" (REUTERS, 1/18).
