Austria, global Formula 1 stronghold: while elsewhere the racing series can hardly be seen on free-to-air television, the TV country of the mountains has two channels that show Formula 1 on free TV. The comparison between ORF and Servus TV, which alternately broadcast the 23 races – both showed the Austrian Grand Prix – was won by ORF.
The public broadcaster recorded an average of 702,000 TV viewers in the twelve races it broadcast, with a market share of 39 percent. Servus TV achieved an average of 610,000 viewers in eleven races (market share 32 percent). The exciting World Cup final on Sunday in Abu Dhabi also had an impact on the odds. 1.116 million people watched the final showdown between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on ORF.
Qualitative differences could hardly be made out: Servus TV delivers just as highly competent content as the ORF. The Salzburg private broadcaster relied on the personal experience of ex-Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg as co-commentator alongside Andreas Gröbl. At ORF, the commentator team Ernst Hausleitner / Alex Wurz acts in the spicy style of a married couple with an affinity for motorsport. (Wurz zu Hausleitner in the last bend in Abu Dhabi: “Sit down, otherwise you get heart pounding.”) The balance sheet of ORF sports director Hans-Peter Trost: “The cooperation with Servus TV has given us wings.”
The ORF clearly won the quota duel at the Austrian Grand Prix on July 4th, which was awaited with interest. 709,000 people watched the race via ORF, only 112,000 tuned in to Servus TV. The affinity of the Austrians for Formula 1 is also underpinned by the most curious number of quotas of the year: the Belgian Grand Prix was followed by an average of 533,000 viewers on ORF for more than five hours. And that although the race never actually started because of rain.
Source: Nachrichten
