F1 household reach has declined since Apple TV move, per report

F1 household reach has declined since Apple TV move, per report.

Key points

• Television households, ESPN reaches over 60 million households, per 2025 data from Nielsen.
• F1's household reach is down since leaving ESPN for Apple TV after the 2025 season, according to the data provided to USA TODAY Sports.
• The ESPN broadcasts for grand prix like Japan and Austria in 2025, by contrast, picked up around one million viewers or less apiece.
• Plus, the Miami, Monaco and Canadian Grand Prix last year were broadcast on ESPN's sister network ABC.
• Its accord with F1 runs through the 2030 season.

Correction: This story was updated to clarify that Samba's data reflects U.S. Household TV reach and to add new information provided by Liberty Media, F1's parent firm.

Although Formula 1 continues to report solid U.S. Viewer engagement in 2026, the motorsport giant is experiencing a decline in household TV reach, according to data analytics firm Samba.

F1's household reach is down since leaving ESPN for Apple TV after the 2025 season, according to the data provided to USA TODAY Sports. Samba gathers its data using content recognition software installed throughout 14.4 million smart TVs nationwide.

But the TV numbers don't paint the full viewership picture. Liberty Media, F1's parent firm, stated it saw expansion in total hours watched throughout Apple TV's various platforms.

"Our partnership with Apple continues yielding positive engagement, " F1's President & CEO Stefano Domenicali remarked in an official note provided to USA TODAY Sports, "with viewership up year-over-year, season-to-date and total hours watched up 13%."

While F1's report suggests a loyal fanbase, Samba contends there may be fewer total eyeballs on the product. While the Monaco Grand Prix was down 66%, most notably, the Miami Grand Prix's household reach was down 68% this year compared to last year.

Eight of the nine races analyzed this season have experienced household reach declines, according to Samba's data. The lone outlier was the Japanese Grand Prix. It did not change.

For context, the first three races were comparatively stable – Australia was down 4%, China was down 1% and Japan was unchanged – while every race since Miami suffered double-digit drops, the data notes.

"One hypothesis our team has for this finding is that F1 fans may have activated an Apple TV free trial to be able to access the F1 race, " Samba's vice president of measurement science Alyson Sprague remarked in an official note to USA TODAY. "But that they didn't find enough value in the trial to continue on as a paid customer."

Apple TV at present offers a one-week trial for new subscribers. After that, the streaming service costs $12.99 a month. Apple additionally states all practice sessions and select race weekends are available without an Apple TV subscription.

ESPN, meanwhile, operates on the traditional broadcasting format and is included in cable packages. It's additionally available on digital services like Fubo and YouTube TV.

Plus, the Miami, Monaco and Canadian Grand Prix last year were broadcast on ESPN's sister network ABC. That enabled those races to rack up an average viewership total of roughly two million or more each, per data from Nielsen.

Notably, the ESPN broadcasts for grand prix like Japan and Austria in 2025, by contrast, picked up around one million viewers or less apiece.

Nielsen's average audience figures are not directly comparable to Samba's household-reach metric, but the Nielsen data provides significant distribution context.

While ABC reaches almost all U.S. Television households, ESPN reaches over 60 million households, per 2025 data from Nielsen. Apple TV numbers are harder to pin down, but they were at around 45 million subscriptions in 2024, per a report by The Information.

F1's documented uptick in total hours watched is backed up by Samba's data. While Monaco was up 113%, samba remarked the average number of minutes watched per household was up 127% for the Australian Grand Prix. This suggests that while fewer households may be watching, those who are remain engaged.

Samba additionally noted 30% of 2026 F1 viewers hadn't applied Apple TV at all during the second half of 2025 – representing an influx of new viewers for the streamer that may matter more than putting up sizeable numbers for specific events.

Notably, the streamer is additionally using F1 to broaden its stable of sports offerings: as of 2026, Apple TV at present carries every Major League Soccer game, and it streams an MLB doubleheader weekly on Friday nights. Its accord with F1 runs through the 2030 season.

Methodology: USA TODAY compiled this data from Samba. It remarked it gathers viewership data from "its proprietary Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology from tens of millions of opted-in Smart TVs resolved to nationally-representative panels. Samba's ACR is integrated at the chipset level throughout 24 of the top Smart TVs sold in more than 100 countries globally." Share your feedback to assist improve our site!

For now, F1 household reach has declined since Apple TV move, per report remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.