culture

Max Knoblauch7/9/25

Apple, feeling itself on its “F1” hit, puts in a bid for US Formula 1 rights

Apple’s leaning in to the success of its Brad Pitt-led racing flick. “F1: The Movie” has become Apple’s top box office performer, and apparently has inspired Apple to throw in a bid for the US broadcasting rights to Formula 1.

Those rights are currently held by Disney’s ESPN, but the contract is set to expire next year.

ESPN currently pays $85 million annually for US rights to the races. Before Apple’s film took off in theaters, analysts forecast the new deal could rise to more than $120 million per year.

With the success of the film, along with Netflix’s popular “Drive to Survive” docuseries, the bidding war has a chance to take off further. ESPN Formula 1 viewership doubled from 2018 to last year, when races averaged 1.1 million viewers.

Apple bids for Formula 1 rights in US after success of Brad Pitt film

Apple bids for Formula 1 rights in US after success of Brad Pitt film

ESPN currently pays $85 million annually for US rights to the races. Before Apple’s film took off in theaters, analysts forecast the new deal could rise to more than $120 million per year.

With the success of the film, along with Netflix’s popular “Drive to Survive” docuseries, the bidding war has a chance to take off further. ESPN Formula 1 viewership doubled from 2018 to last year, when races averaged 1.1 million viewers.

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The BBC has become the world’s top news website... by collapsing a little less than its competition

Press Gazette just published its annual look at the biggest news sites in the world across all languages; for the most part, it doesn’t make for particularly pretty reading.

The journalism industry publication’s latest update, which is based on estimates provided by Similarweb for May, found that 37 of the world’s 50 most visited news sites saw their reach shrink. Press Gazette highlighted that American outlets have been hit particularly hard by declining Google traffic compared to European counterparts, owing to the platform’s AI features rolling out earlier in the US.

Even the BBC, having climbed the rankings from last year to top the 2026 chart — reportedly in part thanks to Similarweb’s decision to combine the “.co.uk” and “.com” versions of the URL, given that the sites redirect to each other depending on the user’s location — showed a 1.9% decline from last year.

Last night’s Tony Awards were a curtain call for a record-smashing season on Broadway

This year’s star-studded theater awards wrapped up the highest-grossing season Broadway’s ever seen.

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