Record Viewership for Vienna City Marathon and Japan Grand Prix on ORF

On April 6, 2025, ORF 1 experienced a remarkable sports broadcasting day, showcasing two major events that captured the attention of a large audience. The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Japan, held at the Suzuka Circuit, attracted up to 529,000 viewers, with an average of 445,000 tuning in, resulting in a 64% market share. Notably, this made it the most-watched Japanese Grand Prix since 2000. The event also recorded significant viewer engagement among younger demographics, achieving a 66% market share for those aged 49 and below, and an impressive 79% for those aged 29 and below.

Simultaneously, the Vienna City Marathon drew an enthusiastic crowd of 45,000 runners, with the live broadcast on ORF 1 reaching a peak of 376,000 viewers and averaging 338,000, yielding a 39% market share. This event marks a new record in viewership for the Vienna City Marathon, with particularly strong performance in the younger audience segments, which saw market shares of 43% and 59%, respectively.

In addition to traditional viewing figures, ORF's online platforms saw substantial engagement. The live streams and videos-on-demand for both the Formula 1 race and the Vienna City Marathon garnered a total of 228,000 net views (individual user sessions) and 808,000 gross views (total video starts), accumulating an impressive total watch time of 10.9 million minutes. The Formula 1 Grand Prix proved to be the strongest live stream, averaging 46,400 viewers from approximately 7:00 AM onwards.

These record-breaking numbers highlight the enduring popularity of both motorsport and running events in Austria, showcasing the capability of ORF to attract and engage a diverse audience across various platforms.