Formula 1 TV audience slumps by 5% this season

Liberty Media has announced the TV audience for Formula 1 has crashed by 5% after customers in Italy were forced to watch on Pay TV.

Italy is the sports second biggest market. The news that F1 would move to Pay TV surfaced at the start of the season. The United Kingdom faced the same problem until a deal was struck for Channel 4 to have highlights for every race next season.

"Television viewing on race day year-on-year is down 5% however that is largely due to our move from free to Pay TV in Italy,” says F1’s chief executive Chase Carey in an interview on Forbes.

Since the turn of the decade, the total percentage decrease lies at 41.3%. Following today's news, it's obvious Liberty Media are yet to be able to stop and reverse this.

F1 TV has finally been launched after plenty of trouble in the early part of the season. This is also a subscription-based service.