Final weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix had the second-largest U.S. viewers ever for the occasion, ESPN introduced on Tuesday.
The race, which was moved to ESPN after initially being listed for ESPN2, attracted a median viewers of 1.5 million viewers – greater than a 3rd of these coming from the 18-49 demographic – with a peak of 1.7 million. It represented a rise from 920,000 that tuned in to final yr’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was held six weeks earlier within the yr and on a Saturday slightly than its common Sunday slot to accommodate Ramadan which started the day after the race.
The sturdy numbers for the race in Jeddah continues a development for grands prix on ESPN, with all 5 races thus far this season delivering a year-over-year viewership improve. The Australian and Chinese language Grands Prix additionally had document audiences, the latter up by 32 p.c from the earlier document set final yr, regardless of the 3AM ET begin time. The season opener in Australia attracted 541,000 extra viewers than the identical occasion final yr, whereas its 1.1 million common blew away that occasion’s earlier document of 659,000 set in 2019.
The following race, the Miami Grand Prix, takes place on Sunday Might 4. The race begins at 4PM ET, and might be proven on ABC and ESPN+.
Final yr’s race on the Onerous Rock stadium attracted the biggest reside tv viewers for an F1 grand prix, with and common of three.1 million tuning in, plus a Saturday document common of 946,000 for that weekend’s Dash race – this yr’s occasion can even have a Dash, beginning at 12PM native time on Saturday Might 3.
