***** Russian Grand Prix 2014 ***** (contains spoilers)
Discussion
Interesting report from the US: http://www.racer.com/f1/item/109906-nbc-reports-ru...
Small numbers, yes but many races are in the middle of the night for them and historically not a popular sport. If you look at the formula 1 section of reddit there are an increasing number of new viewers.
Just to counter all the doom and gloom
Small numbers, yes but many races are in the middle of the night for them and historically not a popular sport. If you look at the formula 1 section of reddit there are an increasing number of new viewers.
Just to counter all the doom and gloom
zebra said:
Evidence?
Making the outcome artificially uncertain until the last race devalues the sport. You don't believe it that; you are in a minority in not believing that. Anything I say will not change your opinion on this but you are wrong. People will drop away from a sport that artificially affects outcomes because it fails to acknowledge skill, consistency and talent.
As long as the racing is not artificial I am happy. The points however awarded or stacked up are a distant second in my interest. Making the outcome artificially uncertain until the last race devalues the sport. You don't believe it that; you are in a minority in not believing that. Anything I say will not change your opinion on this but you are wrong. People will drop away from a sport that artificially affects outcomes because it fails to acknowledge skill, consistency and talent.
Enthusiasts are hugely outnumbered by the casual and occasional viewer. My evidence is that over the years, whilst I try never to miss any TV or radio F1 coverage, speaking to friends, relatives, work colleagues etc., casual and occasional viewers with just a mild fleeting interest when they've nothing better to do, are far more numerous than the likes of me and possibly you.
Take my own immediate family of four. My wife and two twenty something sons. All are daily driver car owners and users. My eldest son is a car enthusiast with a range of cars as different as his Elise is to his Rover 600ti, old Porsche, MG Maestro Turbo and VVC engined Rover Metro. He's more car mad than me but would rather work on one of his car projects even when there's F1 live on Freeview. I would never pay for Sky unlike my F1 obsessed younger brother. They occasionally dip min and watch sonme of the TV coverage but it's rare for any of the three to sit and watch a whole race. They are then all exposed to the advertising which is a main driver in F1... hey nearly a pun ..;) I on the other hand have the ability to not see TV adverts or the advertising on the cars. I am far too focused on other stuff. It's something that just happened in the same way that my wife thinks I'm ignoring her when all I'm doing is being totally focused... Thus all advertising is now largely wasted on me. I don't see it... I have no idea what BOSS is or some of the other brand names on the cars. My sons and wife would know though.
That was not the case when I was much younger and readily influenced. I used Castrol Oils in my new Hondas. If it was good enough for Mike Hailwood's Grand Prix Honda six, good enough for me ... I saw and more enjoyably heard that bike ridden in anger by Mike ... magic stuff! ...
Just the way I see things... that's all.
MGJohn said:
......They are then all exposed to the advertising which is a main driver in F1... hey nearly a pun ..;) I on the other hand have the ability to not see TV adverts or the advertising on the cars. I am far too focused on other stuff. It's something that just happened in the same way that my wife thinks I'm ignoring her when all I'm doing is being totally focused... Thus all advertising is now largely wasted on me. I don't see it... I have no idea what BOSS is or some of the other brand names on the cars. My sons and wife would know though.
That was not the case when I was much younger and readily influenced. I used Castrol Oils in my new Hondas. If it was good enough for Mike Hailwood's Grand Prix Honda six, good enough for me ... I saw and more enjoyably heard that bike ridden in anger by Mike ... magic stuff! ...
Just the way I see things... that's all.
I wonder if we'd notice naked women being advertised on the cars?That was not the case when I was much younger and readily influenced. I used Castrol Oils in my new Hondas. If it was good enough for Mike Hailwood's Grand Prix Honda six, good enough for me ... I saw and more enjoyably heard that bike ridden in anger by Mike ... magic stuff! ...
Just the way I see things... that's all.
Imagine this, a Stringfellows sponsored McLaren
& my wife is always complaining that I ignore her on race day, I can't get it across that F1 is educational!
MGJohn said:
[
Enthusiasts are hugely outnumbered by the casual and occasional viewer. My evidence is that over the years, whilst I try never to miss any TV or radio F1 coverage, speaking to friends, relatives, work colleagues etc., casual and occasional viewers with just a mild fleeting interest when they've nothing better to do, are far more numerous than the likes of me and possibly you.
Anecdotal evidence, methinks.Enthusiasts are hugely outnumbered by the casual and occasional viewer. My evidence is that over the years, whilst I try never to miss any TV or radio F1 coverage, speaking to friends, relatives, work colleagues etc., casual and occasional viewers with just a mild fleeting interest when they've nothing better to do, are far more numerous than the likes of me and possibly you.
In my experience, it's just the opposite: I can't think of a single friend who watches any F1 race unless they are enthusiasts. As an example, my younger brother and I watch all the time (enthusiasts) whilst my elder brother (who drives a Ferrari and a Porsche so is clearly a car nut) would rather have teeth extracted than sit and watch F1 cars…
Cannot imagine any conversation with non-enthusiast friends that would include them saying "I was casually watching a GP"...
Eric Mc said:
I actually wonder is there any such thing as a "casual F1 watcher"?
One of my friends watches sometimes and said the other week "I lost interest when I heard about this double points b
ks". Note he had only heard of it in the last few weeks rather than at the start of the season which sounds casual to me.MGJohn said:
Not unpredictable if the DNF is self-inflicted. Had this situation involved the "old" Hamilton of a few years ago, I would have bet on a self-inflicted DNF under such pressure. Now I would bet that if there is to be a DNF by one of the Merc Jockeys, Hamilton's team mate is the more likely candidate.
That's how I see things.
that'll teach me not to qualify every word used in a post... my intention, clearly not clear, was referring to a mechanical DNF (or being Maldonadoed). DNF due to a driver's error is, while not exactly random, still reasonable to be annoyed about if it's double points that change positions.That's how I see things.
Your memory is clearly failing you John - when double points was announced it was widely condemned on here, I'd dig through the forum to find it to refresh your memory but I've more interesting things to do!
MGJohn said:
It's something that just happened in the same way that my wife thinks I'm ignoring her when all I'm doing is being totally focused...
That's the burden F1 widows have to carry. My wife's almost perfect (so she tells me) but she just doesn't get motor sport although she does seem to find the politicking in F1 interesting and the soap opera of team survival and driver moves.Maybe that'd be the next revenue stream for F1 - a 'reality' soap...
Gaz. said:
Catatafish said:
I think the loss in viewers could well be that TV is simply quite old hat these days.
On the money. The viewing figures from SkyGo & I-Player and BBC Sport streaming do not count towards audience figures, and obviously nor do the pirate streaming sites.Also not sure how TV is old hat, what is the alternative? In terms of live sport consumption TV is the preferred means for the vast majority, be it on your 4k 100 inch behemoth or on your 3" smartphone. The biggest decline in UK audience numbers for F1 and even moreso MotoGP has been going to a subscription based service.
Why F1 is still experiencing a viewer decline – even with VOD included
monamimate said:
MGJohn said:
[
Enthusiasts are hugely outnumbered by the casual and occasional viewer. My evidence is that over the years, whilst I try never to miss any TV or radio F1 coverage, speaking to friends, relatives, work colleagues etc., casual and occasional viewers with just a mild fleeting interest when they've nothing better to do, are far more numerous than the likes of me and possibly you.
Anecdotal evidence, methinks.Enthusiasts are hugely outnumbered by the casual and occasional viewer. My evidence is that over the years, whilst I try never to miss any TV or radio F1 coverage, speaking to friends, relatives, work colleagues etc., casual and occasional viewers with just a mild fleeting interest when they've nothing better to do, are far more numerous than the likes of me and possibly you.
In my experience, it's just the opposite: I can't think of a single friend who watches any F1 race unless they are enthusiasts. As an example, my younger brother and I watch all the time (enthusiasts) whilst my elder brother (who drives a Ferrari and a Porsche so is clearly a car nut) would rather have teeth extracted than sit and watch F1 cars…
Cannot imagine any conversation with non-enthusiast friends that would include them saying "I was casually watching a GP"...
IainT said:
Your memory is clearly failing you John - when double points was announced it was widely condemned on here, I'd dig through the forum to find it to refresh your memory but I've more interesting things to do!
Not failure here but, despite my memory being nowhere near as sharp as it once was .... However, I do occasionally line up a couple of memory cells. I do remember dismissing the topic as of little interest to me so did not bother reading or ever getting too involved. Above all else I enjoy the racing and technological aspects of the cars. ... the rest of the related F1 stuff comes a very distant second.
I have been very guilty of occasionally putting my money where my mouth is too. Indeed, got that right once or twice... ching-ching ...
Not so good this two horse race season though.The fact that despite Garlick giving his OK to discuss various betting opportunities and odds on these threads, the anti-Betting folks on here are a disappointment for me. Mutter, mutter ... spoil sports.
Talking of sports... I do not regard F1 as a pure sport. The biggest pile of money usually wins.
I have an idea... how about quadruple points for the final race ... sorted ..
TheInternet said:
Also not sure how TV is old hat, what is the alternative? In terms of live sport consumption TV is the preferred means for the vast majority, be it on your 4k 100 inch behemoth or on your 3" smartphone. The biggest decline in UK audience numbers for F1 and even moreso MotoGP has been going to a subscription based service.
I think you've hinted at the alternative outputs for the live sports media instead of watching it on TV. Its a media broadcast which is stubbornly old fashioned being stuck on TV, whereas FIA could embrace technology and let me wander around the hundreds of cameras and data feeds during the races on whatever device I have to hand.Catatafish said:
I think you've hinted at the alternative outputs for the live sports media instead of watching it on TV. Its a media broadcast which is stubbornly old fashioned being stuck on TV, whereas FIA could embrace technology and let me wander around the hundreds of cameras and data feeds during the races on whatever device I have to hand.
These sorts of things have been tried numerous times over the years and are never very popular. Same goes for 3D. It turns out that 'stubbornly old fashioned' is what most people quite like. I imagine the rights holders also like to have control over what the viewers see, especially so in F1.MGJohn said:
IainT said:
Your memory is clearly failing you John - when double points was announced it was widely condemned on here, I'd dig through the forum to find it to refresh your memory but I've more interesting things to do!
Not failure here but, despite my memory being nowhere near as sharp as it once was .... However, I do occasionally line up a couple of memory cells. I do remember dismissing the topic as of little interest to me so did not bother reading or ever getting too involved. Above all else I enjoy the racing and technological aspects of the cars. ... the rest of the related F1 stuff comes a very distant second.
I have been very guilty of occasionally putting my money where my mouth is too. Indeed, got that right once or twice... ching-ching ...
Not so good this two horse race season though.The fact that despite Garlick giving his OK to discuss various betting opportunities and odds on these threads, the anti-Betting folks on here are a disappointment for me. Mutter, mutter ... spoil sports.
Talking of sports... I do not regard F1 as a pure sport. The biggest pile of money usually wins.
I have an idea... how about quadruple points for the final race ... sorted ..
I shall be installing my own ignore button mentally and overlooking every post you make from now on.
Obvious troll is obvious.
jbudgie said:
Eric Mc said:
I actually wonder is there any such thing as a "casual F1 watcher"?
Very very unlikely imho.
I'd disagree on that, I think I fall into that camp, catch a few races, read some stuff & have an understanding, but not a hardcore fan, similar with other sports. I don't think I'm alone in that.Very very unlikely imho.
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