BBC and Sky will share Formula 1 from 2012 to 2018

If we look in more detail at the agreement in question, Sky gets to broadcast all practice sessions and races, while the BBC will have to settle for only half of the races. To avoid shooting itself further in the foot, the public broadcaster is retaining the races with the highest viewership, such as Monaco, Silverstone, and the championship finale.

Such an agreement could only provoke reactions from the teams, who might see this new deal as a violation of the Concorde Agreements, which guarantee that F1 will be broadcast on free channels, which is not the case with Sky. Martin Whitmarsh, the team manager of McLaren, stated to Autosport: “What we need to understand is whether the large audience we currently enjoy in F1 will be maintained. I think we also need to understand how this will be done. We have a series of protections within the Concorde Agreements, and the right thing to do is to explore how Formula 1 will be covered in the future and make a decision on it. I don’t know how many households Sky has in the UK, but it’s a fairly large proportion.”

One explanation for the moderate response from the FOTA director is that the drop in viewership due to the switch to pay TV can be largely offset by the additional revenue that teams will receive. Indeed, the new contract, which extends until 2018, stipulates that the total rights paid will reach 60 million pounds, with Sky paying the largest share due to the extent of its coverage. Previously, the Beeb was paying “only” 40 million pounds. It is therefore able to significantly reduce its expenses while maintaining a minimum service since it will still provide summaries of the races it does not cover.

This increase in revenue is highlighted by Adam Parr, the president of Williams: « For us to design and build the two cars you see on the grid on Sunday, without putting an engine in them, without putting a driver in them, not counting the 70 employees we bring to each race, without all of that, these cars cost us two million pounds. You multiply that by all the cars on the grid and you have at least 24 million pounds in spare parts for a race. It’s part of the show. It’s not one or two guys with a tennis racket at zero cost. It’s a very, very expensive sport. The best thing we can do for the fans, whether they want to come and see the race or watch it on television, is to reduce the costs without destroying the spectacle. »

But since Sky does not plan a pay-per-view program for each race, British fans will have to pay the full monthly package, which still amounts to £31.95/month. But for this price, they will benefit from races without commercial breaks, as a channel spokesperson assured Autosport: “We will not have advertisements during the races. We know they have been very unpopular in the past and we are not going down that path.” British viewers had erupted in anger in 1997 when yet another commercial break prevented them from seeing Damon Hill take the lead in the Hungarian Grand Prix live on a modest Arrows. To reassure them, French viewers still have the right to these great moments of editing thanks to the advertisements that TF1 does not hesitate to insert at every opportunity (after all, who is interested in seeing the leaders’ tire changes?).

In these conditions, it’s not surprising that many fans are turning to the Internet and streaming sites that broadcast races live. For Adam Parr, who is a strong advocate of social media, this is a reality that could happen sooner than expected: (e)It’s a matter of balance, but it must also be recognized that the media broadcasting mode is changing: it’s possible that next time, it won’t be Sky because Google will have won the bid, and we’ll all be watching F1 live on the Internet. »YouTube has already paid rights to broadcast cricket matches live in India…

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr