Add to that the fact that this weekend’s race is in Miami, traditionally one of the most-watched races of the season not only in the U.S. but around the world, and hopes are high that casual viewers of the sport can boost ratings.
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“I think it’s a relaunch in a way. We’re trying and we were trying in a huge way anyway, and we’ve probably even done a little bit more, but we’ve got a lot of racing ahead of us, so we’re very excited about it,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services.
Apple reached a five-year deal with the motorsports world series last fall, for an average of $150 million a year. ESPN, which had broadcast F1 races since 2018, paid almost $90 million during a three-year extension signed in 2022.
Miami is the first race since the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29. The Iran war forced F1 to cancel April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Apple shows the races in 4K Dolby Vision with immersive 5.1 surround sound. Spectators can watch up to four live streams at a time during practice, qualifying and races via multi-view screens. In addition to the cameras built into the car, there are timing and scoring channels.
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Viewers can also choose the F1 TV or Sky Sports commentary team. ESPN used the Sky Sports feed when broadcasting the races.
“I think the first response we’ve gotten in general is how good the video quality is because we use Dolby Atmos and 4K and we don’t really compress to the levels that everyone else does. The first time you watch a race, you think, ‘Wow, this looks amazing.’ The video and sound quality is really good,” Cue said. “We’ve had almost a third of the people watching the race take advantage of multi-view, because we’ve made it easy, where you can see the key feed and see your favorite cars.”
Apple TV will also add two shows before and after race weekends.
“Circuits in Focus” debuted on Thursday and features 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg and creator Emelia Hartford previewing the race circuit heading into the weekend, including strategy and key areas of the track that could define the race. Rosberg and Hartford will use the EA Sports F1 25 video game to take viewers into the driver’s seat and show them where there will be opportunities for drivers to overtake or defend their position.
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The “POV” will take place after the races. It features former Red Bull Racing senior technician Calum Nicholas, as well as content creator and engineer Christina Roki, as they react and analyze key points from the weekend from a technical point of view.
Apple is also adding an on-demand 10-minute leaderboard summary to join its race reviews.
In addition to content in its sports app, Apple also offers detailed course layouts in its Maps app, driver-curated playlists in Apple Music, and content in Apple News and podcasts.
In addition to Apple content, Sunday’s race will be broadcast nationwide from 50 IMAX locations. The race will also be broadcast in New York’s Times Square.
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Tubi’s altcast “The Fast Lane: Miami” features YouTube influencers Michelle Khare and Jeremiah Burton along with F1 expert Scott Mansell.
Apple is not part of the Nielsen ratings system and the company has not released ratings in the first three races. It is expected to release its first set of viewing figures in May.
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AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing