F1 suffers drop in popularity as expected (Update)

UPDATE German free-to-air TV channel RTL "has reduced its commercial prizes for the upcoming F1 season," according to Sidney Schering of QUOTENMETER. IP Deutschland, RTL's commercial partner, "has reduced the prizes for TV commercials during F1 broadcasts due to declining ratings." A 30-second split screen commercial at one of the season's top races – German Grand Prix, Grand Prix of Monaco and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, among others – will have a price tag of $68,400. In comparison, last season IP Deutschland charged $104,500 for such a commercial – more casualties of F1's sick sounding 'green' engines and the Mercedes 1-2 parade all season.

01/31/15 Shock new figures obtained show that Formula One suffered a global drop in TV viewing figures last year, including an alarming loss of more than five per cent in Britain – despite Britain's Lewis Hamilton securing the world title in a last-race showdown.

The revelation is the latest hard evidence that the loss of the famous 'screaming' engines coupled with the Mercedes 1-2 parade every race led to TV viewers switching off the borefest as predicted by AR1.com. Expect a further drop in 2015.