We probably drank one or two glasses of champagne in the service dedicated to Formula 1 at the Canal + premises on Monday.
On Sunday afternoon, the channel broke its historic audience record for a Grand Prix which it has broadcast exclusively since 2013. The Bahrain Grand Prix attracted an average of 1.89 million viewers in front of the TV.
During the last laps of the track which consecrated a new triumph for Lewis Hamilton, the peak audience even rose to 2.34 million.
Several elements explain this audience record: the Grand Prix was broadcast in clear.
It was useless for the occasion to be a subscriber and Canal + promises to repeat the operation for some of the 23 races of the year 2021. Nice winning move in any case for the encrypted channel which benefits from a product of first-rate appeal.
The second element that explains this success is the Bahrain Grand Prix broadcast schedule at 5 p.m.
In a France under curfew, there was not much else in the late afternoon than to take a look at the new victory of the seven-time British world champion.
Formula 1 and MotoGP are getting off to a flying start, in light on @canalplus 🚀🚀 # BahrainGP (F1) gathered 1.89M tlsp and #QatarGP (MotoGP) 1.46M tlsp
The season has started!
# AccelerateAccelerate 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bifOdSt3GZ
- CANAL + Group (@canalplusgroupe) March 29, 2021
Beyond this one-day phenomenon, this record confirms above all that F1 is once again popular.
In 2020, several Grands Prix on Canal + and broadcast in encrypted form had exceeded one million viewers.
F1 was then generally more audience than the matches of Ligue 1 broadcast for a large part still on Téléfoot.
It is possible that in the absence of real visibility of Ligue 1 for a few months, Formula 1 was able to benefit from a new exposure.
This is also carried by the series "Drive to Survive" ("Pilots of their destiny") which is a hit on Netflix and which allows the world of racing cars to catch a new audience, undoubtedly younger and female.
It is not only F1, moreover, that made its entry on Sunday.
Also offered in clear in the wake, the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix attracted an average of 1.46 million viewers, peaking at 1.61 million at the start of the race.
