F1's pay TV drive can only shrink its audience
It's hard to see how Formula 1's television policy will do anything over than reduce its fanbase, reckons BEN ANDERSON, even accepting the challenges of a changing media landscape
It's probably fair to say Formula 1 has not enjoyed the easiest start to 2016. Every new season offers fresh hope, but the cars had barely begun to turn wheels in pre-season testing before the knives were out again - commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone telling the British press that the current state of F1 was "the worst he'd ever known" and that he wouldn't pay to take his family to watch a race.
Not even a grand prix on the board and already F1's audience appeal was coming under fire. 'F1 is not worth watching' says the man whose job it is to sell it to TV companies and their audiences, as he has done this week by inking a new six-year deal with Sky Sports.
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