Canal+ has submitted an offer for the broadcast of F1
The broadcast contract for Formula 1 in France is ending at the end of the year, and a tender process by the FOM is underway for the allocation of rights for upcoming seasons. Canal+, the pay channel, has subscribed to this tender and submitted a bid to the organization managing the championship's commercial rights.
Free broadcaster of the entire Formula 1 World Championship since 1992, following the bankruptcy of La Cinq, which held the broadcasting rights at the time, TF1 may very well lose the exclusivity it has had for 20 years. Indeed, according to the daily newspaper *Les Échos* dated September 10, the leading European channel has responded to the FOM’s call for tenders for the broadcasting rights for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. It was revealed in the *Journal du Dimanche* dated yesterday that Canal+ has done the same.
For the pay-TV channel, broadcasting Formula 1 would not be a first since it covered the championship for a short period in the 80s, and then from 1997 to 2002, via Kiosque, a set of channels available on Canal Satellite. A coverage, monetized through pay-per-view, that was very comprehensive but was abandoned by Bernie Ecclestone himself, considering that the audience was not large enough.
TF1, whose offer is probably less than the 40 million euros annually that it would currently pay, would nevertheless be reluctant to let the rights slip away so easily. According to one of its competitors quoted anonymously by the JDD, simply maintaining at a lower cost the audiences of the slot that would be left vacant by Formula 1 would be bad in terms of image for the leading channel: « Instead of F1, a major channel can broadcast a much less expensive American series that will attract as many viewers. But if that’s all it has to offer on its network, it will end up looking like a low-cost channel. »
In any case, this information comes at a particular time for the broadcasting of sporting events on television. Indeed, the arrival of beIN Sport last June has shifted the landscape, notably with its control over the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League. Moreover, the Canal+ group has recently been authorized by the CSA to acquire Direct 8 and Direct Star. In two weeks, the pay-TV channel will thus have a free-to-air generalist channel, D8, and a thematic channel, D17, in addition to its information channel iTélé.
While awaiting potential proposals from beIN Sport or M6, the latter having already participated in the last call for tenders for the 2008-2012 seasons, many scenarios are possible. If it seems complicated for FOM to accept only a revised-down offer from TF1, Canal+’s offer must be sufficient on its own to satisfy the company led by Bernie Ecclestone. If that were the case, the unknown would remain as to which channel would broadcast the Grand Prix, between the pay channel itself and D8.
Otherwise, it seems probable that the sharing between the BBC and Sky in force since this year in England, and which will be the standard next year in Italy with RAI and Sky, will also become the case in France. In this case, TF1 would only broadcast some of the races live, according to its own choices, and would let Canal+ broadcast the entire season on a pay channel, whether on its main channel or on Canal+ Sport.
Last option, the FOM can choose to send everyone back to their corners. If it is not satisfied with the initial offers, it could then organize a second round of bidding, with the aim, for example, of driving up the prices. In any case, the French broadcast of the Formula 1 World Championship is not done making headlines.
