MAM
F1 attracts highest upscale audiences; new sponsors likely to come in: Initiative
MUMBAI: Formula One is by far the leading global annual television sports event for viewers and marketers. However, as countries put a ban on tobacco advertising, which until now rode on F1; a whole new set of advertisers are likely to come on the tracks. According to Initiative’s ViewerTrack 2005 report as tobacco sponsorship phases out, the sport may shift as a sponsorship property toward more family-friendly and health-conscious brands.
Initiative’s ViewerTrack 2005 Formula One audience figures shows that despite diminishing podium appearances from Michael Schumacher, and the legendary Ferrari, F1 has sustained its popularity and remains unrivalled as an annual global TV sports event.
What’s interesting is that with the ban on tobacco advertising, there will be a notable shift in the marketing of F1 as a sponsorship property. F1 has been associated with tobacco brands for the last 37 years with the first commercial sponsorship of Lotus by Gold Leaf at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1968.
ViewerTrack 2005 report said that this break with the past will open up possibilities for F1 as a ‘cleaner’ environment for more family-friendly and health-conscious brand sponsors. The risk of negative associations from the halo effect of advertising alongside a tobacco brand has long since excluded F1 as an attractive sports property for brands from such sectors. “If the tobacco industry and teams don’t find a way round the restrictions, we could start to see an interesting shift with some new brands in the future. Already, in a deal managed by Initiative in 2003, GlaxoSmithKline were the first to associate its NiQuitin CQ brand, a smoking cessation product, with the Williams F1 team,” the report added.
Additionally, the ViewerTrack 2005 report also revealed that F1 remains unparalleled, not only in its ability to deliver huge audiences annually, but what is truly unique is the upmarket viewing profile of that audience. “No other TV sport event has the power to reach the F1 upmarket audience who would otherwise be associated with more niche sports such as polo as yatching, and on such a large scale,” said the report..
Figures from this season’s report reveal that cumulative audiences increased by three per cent compared to last year. However, although the season’s viewing levels are up overall, viewing per race is down by three per cent. The global increase in number of viewers this year is due to the cumulative result of adding a 19th Grand Prix to the calendar, a new race which took place in Turkey, and served to boost the total number of events to watch.
The report also showed that only a few markets showed substantial viewing increases and the reason is unequivocally liked to national pride in a “local hero.” The fastest-growing markets this season included Spain (due to Alonso) and France (due to Renault). They saw 60 per cent and 23 per cent increases in average audiences per race, respectively. This translated to growth in average audiences per race of 1.9 million and 0.7 million individuals, as the chart below shows:
However, globally, without the addition of Turkey’s Grand Prix, the cumulative audience year on year would have been down by three per cent. Schumacher’s absence from the podium indicates that F1 not only benefits from Local Hero Syndrome but also from a new phenomenon – the Anti-Hero Syndrome, which is being seen with Schumacher. the report added that, after complaints that Schumacher’s domination of the sport has been killing viewer interest, it could well be that without him, audience defection might be worse.
Another issue at hand as far as F1 is concerned is television broadcast of football at the same time as F1. According to ViewerTrack 2005, the clashes in broadcasting of matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments and Grand Prix races will be a major influence on global TV viewing next year. Likely clashes identified so far are the British Grand Prix and the Montreal Grand Prix. The Montreal Grand Prix was the most watched Grand Prix this year although is obviously unlikely to be viewers’ favourite next year with such a tempting alternative.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
