Half of Formula One races to only be available live via pay TV following new Fox Sports deal
Motor racing fans will need a subscription to Fox Sports if they wish to watch all of this year’s Formula One races live. The surprise new five year deal – announced a year before Ten’s current contract was expected to expire – will see Fox Sports as the only places where F1 fans will be able to see all 20 of the races live.
Network Ten will still simulcast ten of the races, with the other ten being shown as highlights the following evening on its secondary channel Eleven. The previous deal saw Ten air all of the races live either on its main channel or on Eleven.
The deal is the latest sign of growing collaboration between Ten and the subscription TV sector. Ten and Foxtel’s Lifestyle Channel are both currently airing new show Gogglebox. Foxtel is also reported to currently be part of a bid to buy Ten. Last year Ten and Foxtel were widely understood to be in talks over a joint advertising sales operation.
The Australian grand prix, which is protected by the anti-siphoning rules, will remain as one of the races live on Ten. Retired Formula one champion, Mark Webber will commentate on the race in 2015 and 2016.
Might be a good business move, but a bit of a kick in the guts for fans who can’t/don’t want Foxtel.
Great news! Finally in HD. And Live. Fabulous stuff.
Torn on this one. Live and in HD is good, rather than Channel 10’s SD broadcast.
But I cancelled Foxtel because I wasn’t watching the 50 channels of crap… I wonder how many subscribers pay up for just one specific sport or TV show?
So this means qualifying will no longer be shown on ten? I agree with Disgruntled, very ordinary…
How can channel ten herald this as a good outcome when free to air viewers are getting less.
Hey disgruntled peeps.
You can get the Sports package on Fox Sports for $50 a month.
Surely as an F1 fan you can afford that… maybe cut down on a case of beer each month instead.
Oh damn.
I guess now I’ll have to use offside streams to watch F1.
Has been on oneHD in Adelaide for a while now because of the time difference, the eastern states got the SD broadcast.
$50 a month for every race LIVE and in HD – sold.
Just like the V8 move, this “share” content is between 10 and Fox is going to push viewers away from the sport. $50 a month just to get Fox Sports, just to watch 2-3 hrs of F1 broadcasting is ridiculous. I love F1 but I’m not going to pay $400+ a year just to watch it. Sadly F1 and V8 you just lost another supporter.
So ten thinks fox sports is good it not !!!
Woot woot. About time, so stoked! Well done, about time we didnt have a third world broadcast!
Agreed Dave M, I already have to pay $70 for internet, $80 for phone, not paying another $50pw just to watch a by weekly sport. See ya in 2020 F1
The pay TV industry is so devoid of new ideas and innovation that their model for growth is to steal from and destroy free to air TV.
Terry B: condescending much?
Great news been waiting for this for a long time. Channel 10 should have given up the rights years ago. Can fox please just give us the full coverage from Sky F1 channel back in th UK, they win awards for their coverage, I’ve been watching Sky F1 all last season and it was great. Fox should just let them do the broadcast!
all of you need to know that10 is broke so cant afford the coverage anymore
It’s ironic that TEN, the station who launched a FTA 24 hour sport channel as a direct, free, competitor to Fox Sports only a few years ago is now in bed with Fox Sports on two motor sport deals. I wonder if this is a case of TEN buttering up Fox Sports to increase their chances of snagging the joint AFL rights later this year.
Finally, I’ll be able to record all the F1 events on the IQ box, this will be great for the sport.
And they ( greedy as media ) wonder why they have a piracy problem. You people applauding this…imho you are blind.
Anyone wanting to buy the sports package be warned it will cost you $600 a year to watch Motorsport
So you want the sport live and on HD with good commentary…yet have the audacity to whinge when being asked to pay for it. What a bunch of Muppets..
I will not pay to watch F1
not every one these days can afford to pay.
So much for free to air.
Ten you have lost another viewer
Same thing happened to boxing. I remember watching Mike Tyson fight on Channel 9 on Sunday afternoons – now it’s Main Event PPV $50. What happens is that audiences decline, but revenue goes up. Seems that’s the way nowadays.
The good – we get all practice, quali and race and it’s SKY coverage – this is great
The bad – $50/mth. F1 becomes more of a fringe sport.
The option – HD illegal SKY streams abound if you know where to look
I’ve got Fox so I’ll be watching.
Finally!!! This is the best F1 news I’ve had in years! (Inc. Hammy winning!)
So tired of poor Australian coverage, little to no pre-race show and boring amaturish commentary, and don’t forget the constant adverts mid race… except the last break where we’ll “take you to the end of the race!” – wow, with 7 laps to go? You’re spoiling us!!
This is a great move for F1 fans – every practise, quali and race, set on series link, set to record on IQ – love it. Don’t forget, they’re using the Sky Sports coverage which means that we get a REAL pre-race show – You Aussies have no idea what you’ve been missing – enjoy the show guys!
Such great news! In addition to it being live and in HD, it will also be ad-free! There were times during Ten’s coverage that it was like I was watching ads occasionally interrupted by the F1…
About time, Brillaint.
Foxtel do a much better job of sport coverage. 2015 looks awesome
WSBK
MotGP
V8s
F1
WRC
happy days for motorsport fans
With 1 race approximately every 2 weeks that’s about $25 a race. Even including quali that’s pretty steep. I think 10 just said goodbye to a significant amount if viewers it can ill afford to lose. Even with their crappy coverage, years of Darryl Beattie’s inane comments & too many ads viewers persisted with 10. I doubt that will be the case anymore with 10 live races & a ‘highlights’ package on Monday nights. One more nail.
Terry B, Ann Onimous, a few others. Surely they are all out of the Foxtel stable, saying how great it is????
Why would anyone say how great it is when it costs $50.
Sadly Murdoch, as he tries to hold onto power, is buying up live sport.
Could this potentially result in a cut to far right, neo-con news casts between overs in the cricket? Between pitt stops…? Between, tries?
I really hope not.
Extremely disappointing. I’ve been watching F1 since the Adelaide days, but Foxtel just isn’t a realistic option for me. I barely watch any TV, and I have no need to watch practice sessions, so $750 a year to watch 20 races and the occasional quali is just not worth it.
And to rub salt in the wound, looks like they’re going to have Australian commentators for the races Ten does screen rather than the Sky team. Ugh.
So many pro Foxtel trolls on this thread… Guys, it is obvious!
Admittedly, the only way Foxtel will survive is through live sport. Watch Google though. Live sport in HD on YouTube, no contracts: that will be too easy.
When One HD first started 6 years ago, we got F1 in HD for free. Something old is now new new again except… you get to pay for it. Wouldn’t be so bad, but I bet we will still have to watch painful Shannons and Supercheap auto ads, and the program director taking a commercial break just as something interesting happens. Might want to redefine the meaning of the work ‘progress”
Bring it on I say.
It’s not just HD, it’s every session of every race live, all practice and qualifying, plus expanded pre and post race coverage. I’m assuming it will be essentially the same as Sky Sports coverage in the UK which is FAR superior to anything we got, plus it should be ad free ‘flag-to-flag’.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys. It wasn’t that long ago when F1 was on Nine that we got no qualifying coverage and races regularly started after 11 (actual race start time of 10pm). Too many people expect business class service in economy.
And to the guy above saying he used to be able to watch Tyson fight on Nine, maybe if they were showing re-runs of old fights! World Championship boxing has been pay per view since well before Foxtel (or even ‘galaxy’), only you needed to go to a Pub or TAB to watch it as it was ordered through Sky satellite.
Jason,
“I’m assuming it will be essentially the same as Sky Sports coverage in the UK which is FAR superior to anything we got, plus it should be ad free ‘flag-to-flag’.”
If that is true… You got my vote. I’m happy to pay for ‘flag to flag” uninterrupted F1 race. However, Fox Sports in Australia don’t operate like the movie channels. I expect… like everything else they broadcast, will be loaded with Shannon and SuperCheap auto ads. Just as it is with free to air.
Dear WTF –
You ask, “Why would anyone say how great it is when it costs $50?” – the answer is simple: $50 is nothing to me. Watching live sport in HD without ads is everything to me.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t be John, Fox Sports doesn’t show any ads currently during play on any of their sports, other than during actual breaks in play, or if it an overseas feed and the host broadcaster takes an ad break.
EPL and A-League coverage is completely ad free during the game, as is their MotoGP and World Superbike coverage. American sports have lots of ad breaks but those are taken by the host broadcaster and stoppages are built into the game such as during an NFL timeout or after a score.
If you look at their MotoGP coverage, I think that is a pretty good indicator of what their F1 coverage will be like. Every session of every race (in the case of MotoGP, that’s 3 classes as well) live and ad free.
It’s not $50 for Sport in HD… they charge an extra $10 for that luxury!
All the people whining about “ten you lost another viewer”, ten were losing viewers anyway. More and more people were streaming races to avoid tens abysmal coverage and Greg Rust. Foxtel covering the F1 for at least the next 5 years is a dream come true. Finally Australia will get the coverage it deserves. Hopefully like the V8 coverage Foxtel will have a channel with multiple onboard car views.