Oliver WhiteA report on PitPass today has suggested that only 0.016% of Formula One fans around the world actually took part the recent survey conducted jointly between the FIA and AMD. PitPass have suggested that recent Global Broadcast reports put worldwide viewers of Formula One at 580 million. That is a lot of people! In fact (and correct me if I am wrong) isn’t that about 10% of the global population!?
The article goes on to say that the Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds did a recent survey that required people to give up one hour of their weekend to monitor birdlife in their gardens, and they managed a participation count of 470,000. This number puts the FIA’s survey in the shade with only 91,000 fans taking part.
Whilst I believe the survey (having now completed its second year) is definitely a step in the right direction, I am now wondering if the FIA could do more to work with the sports fanbase. Is 91,000 people enough to make an accurate judgement of what the average F1 fan wants?
Take a read of the article by clicking here, then comeback and tell me if you think the FIA are doing enough to consider what everybody wants from Formula One.
The viewer figures are highly misleading because every time somebody watches F1, it counts as a viewer, even if it’s the same person. So if you’ve watched each qualifying session and race from this year you will count as 36 viewers! If you watch highlights it will notch up again, and so on every time you see F1 footage on the television.
Good point doctorvee, but I still believe the FIA could do more to reach out to millions of invidual fans across the globe to get a better idea of what people want. As far as I am aware, the survey was only available online, so people with no access to the internet were not included. I also feel that the survey was and is far too long. I’m guessing that quite a few people started it and then gave up half way through because it was taking up too much of their time.
Personally, I wouldn’t think of it as a joke, but would question the validity of the results. Could they be altered to portray an image of F1 that would be more in line with what Bernie Ecclestone wants it to look like as opposed to what the reality is, just so he can spread and market ‘his brand’ further around the world at ever increasing prices. Statistically, the 3 newest grand prix on the calendar are the most expensive with Ecclestone demanding the most from the Chinese GP.