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Fox Sports Australia has confirmed it will broadcast every session of the 2015 Formula One season as the pay television channel further bolsters its motorsport portfolio.
Network Ten, which has had exclusive rights to the championship since 2006, will simulcast 10 races live, including the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The remainder will be shown as one-hour highlight packages on Monday nights.
Foxtel and Network Ten struck a similar agreement for coverage of the 2015 V8 Supercars coverage.
The deal, which had been rumoured for some time, has enabled Fox Sports to come to an affiliate agreement with Rupert Murdoch stablemate Sky Sports UK to simulcast its award-winning Formula One coverage and commentary.
Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany heralded the deal as a boon to Formula One viewers.
“The new partnership means Fox Sports will broadcast F1 how it is meant to be, with every race, every qualifying and every practice live and in high definition, making sure our subscribers won’t miss a second of the action.”
Delany’s opposite number at Network Ten, Hamish McLennan, said he was pleased that Ten will continue covering the world’s biggest motorsport category into a second decade.
“Formula One is one of the great global sports, and we are delighted to be able to extend network Ten’s long and successful relationship with Formula One Management.
The new deal is a great step forward for F1 in Australia and will ensure bigger and better coverage for motorsport fans.”
Australians wanting to watch the entire Formula One season live will be forced to pay at least $50 a month to subscribe to Foxtel’s sport package. Pay TV currently reaches between 25 and 30 per cent of Australian households.
The pay TV-free to air combined model brings Australian F1 coverage into line with an increasing number of European nations, particularly the United Kingdom, where coverage is shared in a similar fashion between Sky Sports and the BBC. France, Italy, and Germany have all negotiated similar deals.
Such arrangements, however, have been met with mixed reactions from F1 teams as reduced access to viewers on the pay television platform hinders their ability to earn money through sponsorship.
Moreover the United Kingdom, generally a leader in coverage in viewership for Formula One, has seen audiences shrink since coverage moved to a pay television-dominated model in 2012.
2015 Australian Broadcast Calendar for Formula One
| Rnd | Grand prix | Date | Broadcaster |
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | 13 – 15 March | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | 27– 29 March | Fox Sports |
| 3 | Chinese Grand Prix | 10 – 12 April | Fox Sports |
| 4 | Bahrain Grand Prix | 17 – 19 April | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 5 | Spanish Grand Prix | 8 – 10 May | Fox Sports |
| 6 | Monaco Grand Prix | 22 – 24 May | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 7 | Canadian Grand Prix | 5 – 7 June | Fox Sports |
| 8 | Austrian Grand Prix | 19 – 21 June | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 9 | British Grand Prix | 3 – 5 June | Fox Sports |
| 10 | German Grand Prix* | 17 – 19 June | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 11 | Hungarian Grand Prix | 24 – 26 June | Fox Sports |
| 12 | Belgian Grand Prix | 21 – 23 August | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 13 | Italian Grand Prix | 4 – 6 September | Fox Sports |
| 14 | Singapore Grand Prix | 18 – 20 September | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 15 | Japanese Grand Prix | 25 – 27 September | Fox Sports |
| 16 | Russian Grand Prix | 9 – 11 October | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 17 | United State Grand Prix | 23 – 25 October | Fox Sports |
| 18 | Mexican Grand Prix | 30 October – 1 November | Fox Sports and Network Ten |
| 19 | Brazilian Grand Prix | 13 – 15 November | Fox Sports |
| 20 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 27 – 29 November | Fox Sports and Network Ten |