The BBC could stop broadcasting F1

While it has formed a renowned commentator duo (Martin Brundle and David Coulthard) and is heavily invested in the sport, the BBC might sacrifice F1 on the altar of cost reductions imposed by the British government.

The government of David Cameron has indeed imposed a cost reduction of 600 million pounds by 2014 and has frozen the license fee collected by public television until 2017. Under these conditions, the Beeb is forced to find programs to cut.

David Holdsworth, the head of English regional radio, sent an internal email to the employees concerned: « The BBC is conducting a fundamental review on what needs to be done to maintain quality, listener trust, and fulfill our missions with much less money.»

Formula 1 could therefore be one of the programs sacrificed since the annual bill reaches 40 million pounds for a broadcast duration of 250 hours over the entire season. By comparison, TF1, with its new organization, will devote only 60 hours to it (plus 120 hours via Eurosport). But since the races do not take place during prime time, despite the great popularity of this sport across the Channel (notably with the titles of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button), this expenditure could be perceived as superfluous while the sports editorial team must find 60 million pounds to save every year (compared to a current average budget of 300 million).

Another monument at risk could be Wimbledon. If the BBC had to do without it, it could cause a significant shockwave in the country since the Grand Slam tournament has been broadcast since 1937 and is a monument in Her Majesty’s land. An employee thus stated to the Guardian: “Wimbledon costs tens of millions. It’s a very expensive contract and difficult to amortize. No one is saying that withdrawal is necessary but it’s a solution being considered. Alternatively, it may be considered that it’s a broadcast that can be shared with another broadcaster.”

Conversely, British television would not challenge the broadcast of football since it is an extremely popular program aired during peak viewing hours. This is why it spends fortunes to attract celebrities to its set (more than a million pounds sterling for Gary Lineker alone).

Nevertheless, the ongoing contracts with Bernie Ecclestone and Wimbledon are valid until 2014, which makes any short-term termination difficult.

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr