The return of Formula 1 racing to Melbourne after a three-year hiatus has proven to be a ratings blockbuster for the Foxtel Group.
Data obtained by TV Blackbox reveals that the 2022 Australian Grand Prix broadcast has set a new record for Formula 1 viewership on subscription TV in Australia.
An average national audience of 611,000 watched the race across the platforms of Foxtel and Kayo. The strong result was up 66% compared with the last time the event was held in Melbourne in 2019.
The strong result for the Foxtel Group came at the same time as Channel 10 experienced a dip in viewership for its free-to-air coverage despite increased public interest in the sport. Sunday’s race was watched by an average metro audience of 567,000 (730k national). The result was down significantly from the 689k metro audience figure in 2019.
The rapid growth in ratings for Formula 1 by the Foxtel group has been credited to the new fans bought to the sport by the Netflix Drive to Survive series and a five-fold increase in streaming on Kayo.
The strong start to the winter sports season on Foxtel and Kayo has also been seen across Australia’s two key football codes.
During Sunday’s Melbourne Grand Prix, Foxtel and Kayo had more than 1.2m subscribers concurrently watching sports at 4.29 pm (all Fox Sports, ESPN, beIN and Sky Racing).
While Channel 9 free-to-air ratings for this year’s NRL season (Rounds 1-5) are down 15% compared with last year, the Foxtel Group appear to be going against the trend recording audience figures up 14% year on year, with an average audience of 425,000. This comes after a 17% growth across the platforms of Foxtel and Kayo in 2020.
It’s a similar story with the AFL where the first four rounds of football have seen Channel 7 audiences decline by 8% compared with last year while Foxtel/Kayo audiences are so far up 19% year on year, with an average audience of 313,000, following 29% growth in 2020.
Foxtel Group CEO, Patrick Delany celebrated the strong audience growth figures telling TV Blackbox;
“This is a great endorsement of what we are doing for our Foxtel customers with our investment in more 4K UHD, the quality of Fox Sports’ production and the popularity of streaming on Kayo.
For our sports partners, it highlights we have an unrivalled platform that can consistently grow and expand the popularity of their codes. For our advertising partners, we are delivering audience growth at scale with ad loads that underpin viewer engagement,”
