No F1 on Free-to-air TV in UK from 2019

[John S]

F*** & B****** Sky ain't letting go of their contract. 

 Formula 1's new commercial chief, Sean Bratches, has made clear that the sport will not be shown on free-to-air (FTA) TV in the United Kingdom from 2019 through at least 2025, given Sky's "immutable" deal.

Formula 1 was shown on FTA TV in the UK until 2011, when Sky Sports acquired live rights, with the BBC showing half of the Grands Prix live and the remaining half delayed, in highlights form.

Channel 4 took over the BBC's half of the contract in 2016, but last year Sky announced that it had secured exclusive rights from 2019 to 2024, with only the British Grand Prix set to be live on FTA.

Courtesy of GPupdate.net, Today.

[Scott]

Ch4 is my only option for an English broadcast. 

Well, 2018 is going to bring massive change in my life, why not have my F1 viewing added as a new challenge.   

[Ian]

Fingers crossed for live streams then.

[Robem64]

I hate this fact of Sky exclusivity but I guess it's to be expected in a hugely money dominated sport. I cannot justify the monthly costs of Sky sports as I watch zero football. I've had to content myself with a daily pass for NowTV for the Sunday racing. I figure £6.99 to indulge my hobby is ok - given my other half is also an F1 fan then it works for us.

[Jericoke]

We've had this discussion before

It costs about $70/month to get F1 in Canada.  That's about 42 pounds

And that includes commercial breaks where I never found out what happened to Max Verstappen

[Andy B]

In NZ I go the Sky Sports route the only other option for F1 is streaming and I don't know enough about that I also quite like the Sky team. I'm sure Sky would make more money if they reduced the cost and went for more customers. 

[cosworth151]

The cheapest package that I can get from Time Worthless that includes NBCsn (who carry both F1 and IndyCar here in the States) is $90/month. That's about £70.66/month.

[Jericoke]

The cheapest package that I can get from Time Worthless that includes NBCsn (who carry both F1 and IndyCar here in the States) is $90/month. That's about £70.66/month.

IndyCar is weird in Canada.  The rights are owned by Rogers (which is a mega 'telecommunications' company that started out as a cable company).  Rogers owns a lot of TV channels, and any given weekend, depending on what else is on TV, it's a game of cat and mouse to find which of about 8 channels will show IndyCar... and whether the coverage is live or tape delayed.  However, some of the channels are broadcast channels (i.e., free), and you can get all the channels for less than $50/month, so cheaper than F1.

(For contrast, F1 is on TSN which is owned by Bell, another 'telecommunications company' that started out as a phone company.  Since Bell and Rogers are in direct competition, Bell channels cost more when you're on Rogers and Vice Versa, so if I was a Bell customer, F1 would cost less, and IndyCar would cost more)

[Dare]

I've been watching F1 for years on streams. Once you know where
to look it's easy. Just come to chat and someone wil have one

[lkjohnson1950]

If you have internet access, streaming companies like Sling and Playstation Live offer NBCsn, though you may need a ROKU or ChromeCast or Firestick to watch on your TV. I know Playstation is cheaper than $70 Cos.

[Dare]

You don't need a Roku for Sling. I have it on my pc hooked
to my tv and on Roku on my other tv. Sling is $20 a month
and to add NBC would  probably be another 5 bucks a month

[Alianora La Canta]

I suspect that my parents won't be watching F1 in 2019, apart from the British Grand Prix (which the Sky contract is putting on a completely free-to-air channel). Their broadband might partner with Sky but it offers no discount, and it makes zero sense for them to pay so much money when they only want a few hours of programming most weeks, and already get confused by the two-remote, two-box setup without needing a third.

I may be watching in 2019... ...depending on my gym arrangements at that point. I may or may not be able to pay for one that is accessible to me by that point, and it seems every gym in town comes with free Sky service. I have fond memories of nearly falling off the treadmill that time Force India got a last-lap podium in Russia 2015...

[Irisado]

I'm very disappointed by this news.  It means that I'll listen to all the races on Radio 5 instead.  I'm certainly not willing to pay for Sky and I don't think that their coverage, from the clips I've seen on You Tube, is of such high quality to justify paying for it in any case.

[Andy B]

I'm very disappointed by this news.  It means that I'll listen to all the races on Radio 5 instead.  I'm certainly not willing to pay for Sky and I don't think that their coverage, from the clips I've seen on You Tube, is of such high quality to justify paying for it in any case.

The only difference on coverage is the commentary as the pictures are the same for all and I quite like having Martin Brundle, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert giving their thoughts and Ted Kravitz "Note Book" is informative and at time humorous. Is the Sky package worth the money? I use Sky all the time as the terrestrial channels here are few so Sky gives me greater options and using the "My Sky" recording means I can watch what I want when I want without adverts but a cheaper package would be appreciated. No doubt Sky will be reading all these comments?