Quote Originally Posted by Iskald
Forget 2009 specifically. Rallying has always had its ups and down. Right now it is down, but give it a year or two.
I wasn't referring to 2009 specifically.

Quote Originally Posted by Iskald
I know one thing for sure, (regardless of how we rate the TV-broadcasts in quality, enterntainment value etc.), rallying and especially WRC is being shown on television all around the world both more often and in much larger quantities than it was some years ago. Note that I am now referring to the world, not just Great Britain (where I understand you are used to good coverage since many years ago). I am also fully aware that coverage and broadcasts should have the potential to be even better, but this is in my understanding of the matter first and foremost a question about costs and the fact that rallying is a very costly sport to produce properly (as a TV-producer myself I know one or two things about that...)

I don`t know the facts about general public interest, except for what I have observed myself during WRC-events from 1981 and up to today. Longer (in duration) and bigger (in geography) events 20 years ago could possibly have generated more spectators that the WRC-events of today, but I don`t think so. There were so many stages in each rally before, and spectators were scattered over a much bigger area during a day af rallying. My first WRC-rally was Sweden in 1981, and it was a delight to follow as we had many more stages to chose from. Each stage was much less crowded than it is today. For the dedicated followers of rallying, this situation was of course much better than it is today. But then we are talking the proper fans, not the general public.
My observation is that the British round of the championship today generates far less general interest, far less media coverage and doesn't attract as many spectators as it used to. In my opinion, this isn't solely down to there being no front-running British drivers any more. It has happened since the event stopped being a truly national affair in terms of its geographical coverage.