A cumulative global reach of 79 million people watched coverage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2010, series promoter Eurosport Events is delighted to confirm.
The figures published by the independent German sports research consultancy IFM Sports Group at the recent SpoBis, Europe’s largest sports business conference, in Dusseldorf, Germany, represent a 48 per cent increase over the figure recorded in 2009 when a cumulative audience of 53 million was achieved.
IFM’s annual broadcast report shows that the IRC received 432 hours of transmission time in 2010, which was made up of the IRC’s 12 qualifying rounds and the Golden Stage Rally, an innovative standalone event taking place on a single special stage at the end of the season. The figure represents a nearly three-time increase over 2009 when 158 hours of IRC coverage was broadcast.
Eurosport Events, the IRC’s promoter, has distributed footage of the series to 80 television channels around the world. Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, is the host broadcaster of the series and its comprehensive umbrella coverage throughout Europe and Asia Pacific was up by 36 per cent, but represented 60 per cent of the global audience figures (vs. 74 per cent in 2009). This change marks a major achievement as it demonstrates the increased distribution of IRC footage to other TV networks worldwide.
Geraldine Filiol, Managing Director of Eurosport Events, said: “We are delighted with the excellent figures published by IFM, which proves the IRC’s popularity is growing steadily. We have also achieved a significant result by embarking on new partnerships with a number of other television networks around the world, which is in addition to our extensive core coverage on Eurosport.”
IFM’s report comes on the back of viewing figures released following the centenary edition of the world famous Rallye Monte-Carlo last month. The opening round of the 2011 IRC season enjoyed a new record cumulative reach of 14 million (*) different viewers, an increase of two million from 2010, who watched Eurosport and Eurosport 2’s live coverage of the event.
IFM is the world’s leading sports research consultancy specialising in media and sponsorship research and analysis, television viewing data collection and measurement of sponsorship ROI (return on investment).
The IRC resumes on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria with Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles from 14-16 April.
*Source: TNS Gallup, AGF/GfK Fernsehforschung, Stichting KijkOnderzoek, AGB Nielsen Media Research Sp. z o.o, ARMADATA S.R.L-GfK Romania, KANTAR Media, MMS, BARB – All Individuals – AdvantEdge – All rights reserved.
– Credit: IRC Series.