China needs to pick up the pace
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China Daily, August 4, 2011
Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix was the most watched show in Great Britain on any channel, at any time - with a peak viewership of six million. F1 fans in China who tuned in to CCTV5 might have been disappointed to find themselves watching the 14th FINA World Championships. Or, to be precise, its closing ceremony.
On the face of it, therefore, complaints from China's growing F1 audience would be justified. Some of the four million who watched the German Grand Prix live two weeks ago might have spent Sunday evening wondering whether CCTV might have sufficient channels to use for conflicting tournaments.
Certainly it is a significant national event when Shanghai hosts a World Swimming Championship. But the race at the Hungaroring is no less valuable than any other Grand Prix - that's one of the key elements of Formula 1 - and staying up until 2 am to watch a recorded race would not have been an attractive option for those working on Monday morning.
The promoter of the UBS Chinese Grand Prix, Juss Events, understands these conflicting issues. Furthermore it has convinced F1's commercial rights holder that China needs and will reward unusual solutions. The website www.racing-china.com shows live coverage of every race and about 350,000 people have already registered.
The Internet also brings with it the advantage of interactivity. In today's social media-obsessed world this makes total sense - but it also works well for a sport as complex of F1.
Every broadcaster uses the same 'world feed' pictures. The BBC show stands out because they top-and-tail it with live interviews and expert opinion - and brilliant race commentary from former F1 drivers Martin Brundle and David Coulthard. This combination makes F1 accessible and addictive. Viewership continues to grow in the UK - up eight percent this year.
More telling is that leading English-language motor sport journalists, in the media center at any Grand Prix, can be seen watching the BBC coverage on their laptop computers.
This raises another question: how much more quickly would F1's popularity grow in China if the show was comparable with that produced by the BBC? It would not be easy given that F1's default language is English and there are no Chinese participants. Then there's the cost of sending a production team, including skilled presenters and race-experienced commentators to every Grand Prix. But in the context of the television rights fees - and the potential growth in the market - it seems worth exploring.
In the end, then, it's not necessary to choose between swimming and F1. Indeed Sunday's winner, Jenson Button, is heading to Hawaii during F1's summer break to swim with the dolphins before the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.
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