Formula One more popular than ever

The weekend edition of the Financial Times has an article by John Griffiths which deals, inter alia, with the popularity of Formula One.

Formula one is apparently more popular now than it has ever been and 1994 in turn represented a major increase in viewership from 1993.

For example, a survey by Sports Marketing Surveys had these figures for cumulative audience for 1993 and 1994

Audience by country (millions) 1994 1993

Japan                 95.46                76.86
UK                152.72                100.71
Germany                201.80                68.82
France                328.93                310.51
Italy                548.39                406.37          

The article quotes Gerard Fiennes, managing director of the UK subsidiary of Red Bull, the Austrian company who are now the main sponsor of the Sauber Ford. "Did you see TV earlier this week? - three mentions of Grand Prix (sic) in one news bulletin. And stories on the front pages of all the nationals. Exposure of grand prix has never been higher."

Nibel Geach of Sports Marketing Surveys says that the sharp increase for the figures for 1994 over 1993 is continuing this year. "From the sponsors' viewpoint, they are reaching audiences they have not been able to before."

Peter