F1 viewership has plunged since move from ESPN to Apple TV
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/formula1/2026/08/22/formula-1-viewership-apple-tv-espn/91379790007/Open linkView original on lemmy.todaySyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.todayhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/motor/formula1/2026/08/22/formula-1-viewership-apple-tv-espn/91379790007/Open linkView original on lemmy.today
18 replies
F1 had a huge bump in TV after Netflix Drive to Survive, but most of those fans are getting bored with the poor racing where drivers are penalized for everything.
Plus the cars are trash this year. Too much battery management. It will take a few years to make the formula work. But then in 2030 the V8s are back. Poor product and people don’t want to pay for another subscription. I am not shedding a tear for F1. They knew what they were doing when they left traditional tv to go to streaming.
That doesn’t really surprise me. Plenty of people already have ESPN, and would watch F1, but do not have Apple TV and won’t pay for it just for F1.
good. it’s greenwashing and sportwashing anyway. let the petrochem oligarchs and dictators have their fun on their own.
Greenwashing?? How?
The hybrid drive formula is green washing bullshit, as is the synthetic gas. In any F1 weekend, the fuel used on track is a fraction of a percent of the fuel used to fly tonnes of teams and equipment around, plus thousands of spectators.
The sport was much greener when most races were in Europe. The other lie is F1 technology trickles down to better road cars. Not a single example of this.
Not a single example? F1 drove massive advancement in carbon fiber construction for cars, light-weight mono-body frames, turbo development which is how basically every ICE car meets emission standards, regenerative braking tech, composite material development - it's a pretty long list and F1 ends up being the development and proving grounds before manufacturers invest.
Hell, my car literally uses an aluminum monotub chassis directly inspired by F1.
There are a lot of faults with the FIA and the decision to spread races out all over the world including some very questionable countries and sponsors but that speaks to the business side and not the technology and engineering which has been quite impactful
I thought wrc played more of a role in advancing regular cars
Everything you describe was adapted from common use in aviation decades before F1. Carbon fiber, turbos, aluminum monocoque, all of it.
Toyota Prius, 1997. 12 years before F1, original patent: Detroit 1965.
Enjoy the Koolaid. Stop being educated by Netflix.
So... those examples were not used in ground vehicles before F1? I genuinely don't know but it doesn't sound like you're really disagreeing.
It also doesn't matter where it "started", F1 invested heavily in advancing these technologies before they became available in commuter cars and the tech either would have been delayed or never brought to the consumer market without that investment by F1. I'm hoping we see the same thing with FormulaE and electric vehicle technology though I think they need to scale back the regs and give producers more leeway to experiment there
What bothers me most about F1 (and other motorsports to a lesser extent) isn't even the direct carbon footprint.
Even if they get to truly net-zero carbon as a business (doubtful), F1 is primarily funded to be marketing for the petrochemical industry. Every week they go out and talk about the hybrids and synthetic fuel you mentioned as if they haven't been downplaying climate change and blocking actual clean energy all over the planet.
OK... I think this is a bit of a non-sequitur for this thread.
Not really. Liberty Media is a US bullshit factory that builds sports up on new audiences. All those new F1 fans are cluing into the fact that the sport is massive bullshit.
Proof:
This guy is hilarious and F1 fans get so butthurt from him.
Wut.
Calling F1 as a whole "greenwashing" (as the person above did) is just nuts. Thanks for explaining what bits are greenwashing, but I don't think you're telling me anything that shows how that comment really made sense.
Initial response: Well no duh?
ESPN, yeah I can see there's a cross section of sports fans who might be interested in F1, and vice versa F1 fans who wouldn't mind watching other sports.
But Apple TV? What kind of people subscribe to that? Probably not F1 fans.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️🏁🏁🏁