Channel 4 has secured the broadcasting rights to Formula One, after the BBC let its contract with the sport expire.
Starting next season Channel 4 will begin broadcasting the sport, pledging to air 10 races a year with advert-free coverage along with highlights of all 21 Grand Prix events. The BBC stated that it has been forced to drop the sport due to “financial difficulties”, though the broadcaster will now have to pay a sizable fee in order to terminate its contract early.
Channel 4, which managed to see off competition from ITV after stating it would not air adverts during its coverage of the sport, will pay around £25 million annually to continue its coverage, with chief executive of Formula One Bernie Ecclestone saying that the station will have a “new approach” to the sport.
“I am sorry that the BBC could not comply with their contract,” Ecclestone said, “but I am happy that we now have a broadcaster that can broadcast Formula One events without commercial intervals during the race,” said Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of Formula One.
“I am confident that Channel 4 will achieve not only how the BBC carried out the broadcast in the past, but also with a new approach as the world and Formula One have moved on.”
Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater spoke of the broadcaster’s difficult decision to stop covering the sport, saying: “The BBC is announcing that a significant chunk of BBC Sport’s remaining savings target will be delivered through the immediate termination of our TV rights agreement for Formula One.
“Any decision to have to stop broadcasting a particular sport or sporting event is hugely disappointing and taken reluctantly.”
The BBC was forced to drop Formula One as it looks to make £700 million in savings across its output, with the broadcaster putting the majority of its focus upon reducing its previously expensive sports coverage.
