Formula 1 lost a cumulative total of almost nine million TV viewers in the UK following the commencement of a new rights deal with Sky.
While the sport has shown every race live and exclusive on the pay-TV service since 2012, in recent years it has been supplemented by a deal with Channel 4, which saw 10 races broadcast live and highlights for the rest.
In 2019, however, only the British Grand Prix was free-to-air with highlights of the remaining 20 shown at prime-time in a bid to maintain interest.
Instead, according to The Independent, C4 saw a reduction of 10.8m in its audience to 34.7m with only a 2.2m surge of Sky Sports subscriptions to 20.1m throughout the year, making for a combined viewership of 54.8m.
Only two races saw an increase in the free-to-air highlights program versus 2018 but the US Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton won his sixth F1 title, saw a two million drop compared to the previous year.
While financially the Sky deal, secured by Bernie Ecclestone, is incredibly lucrative for F1 at a reported £120m per year, the sharp fall in viewers is likely to worry Liberty Media who have prided themselves on trying to create a product that caters both to hardcore and casual fans.
