BBC reveals F1 deal in front of the MP’s of Culture Media and Sport Committee – Formula 1
The BBC has come out in defence of their decision to split Formula 1’s UK broadcasting rights with Sky in 2012.
Sky Sports has opened up a new channel called Sky Sports F1 HD, a fully dedicated channel for Formula 1 and will feature all 20 races of the season including practice sessions and qualifiers. There has been some serious speculation over the way the deal
was made between the two media giants.
“The idea of sharing the rights under the remainder of the current contract and of potentially extending that contract was our idea,” Thompson explained.
BBC revealed that the move will be very beneficial as they will save around £150 million over a span of seven years. The announcement that was made during the Hungarian Grand Prix received a very negative sentiment from the UK fans and fingers were being
raised over the deal.
BBC director General Mark Thompson appeared in front of MPs from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and the question was raised over the process of the deal between BBC and Sky.
He said, “There was a negotiation that led to all the parties involved in the conversation being happy with the idea. The effect will be to save the BBC well over £150 million between now and the end of the contract-money that obviously means that only half
of grand prix will be live on the BBC, but it has enabled us to keep a very good position in Formula One, and to make savings that otherwise might have meant deeper cuts in other services.”
When Thompson was asked why BBC did not bother to approach another free to air channel in UK or Channel 4 for that matter, the response was that BBC were trying to achieve a licence fee payer and had savings in mind which other channels were not able to
offer them. Sky Sports were the only viable option for BBC future plans.
The 2012 season action gets underway from the month of February but Sky Sports has also revealed that the channel may not be ready by that time, and may have to wait until after the Austrian Grand Prix to get the channel online.
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