FEBRUARY 22, 2002

TV figures edge up after poor 2000

FORMULA 1's television viewing figures for 2001 have now been made public and the total for the year is 54,477,361,661. This vast figure is calculated on the basis of the number of times that anyone in the world sees anything about Formula 1, whether by tuning into the races or simply catching a story on the TV news. These "viewings" are the accepted way of assessing the performance of sports even if the figure is almost 10 times the population of the world.

The figures are very impressive although they were higher in 1999 when FOM calculated a total of 57.75bn viewers.

The statistics tend to be affected by the number of countries which have deals with FOM (which fluctuates depending on the number of contracts agreed) but the fact remains that despite general weakening of TV audiences around the world because of the increased choice available Formula 1 is holding its audience, or in other words is growing.

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