Fox Sports has completed the motorsport set with the acquisition of Formula One rights from this season, leaving Network Ten with the scraps and Australian motorsport fans in search for a spare $50 to sign up for pay TV.
Those with Foxtel are the big winners of the deal. Like with V8 Supercars and MotoGP, every session of the Formula One season will be live and in high-definition, while Ten simulcasts just 10 races live and the rest on big delays in a highlights package form, a similar arrangement to the United Kingdom rights model.
Meanwhile, those without Foxtel need to accept that the current Australian media landscape necessitates such a move, as motorsport simply follows the path of the AFL, NRL and most other sporting codes
Ten could not continue to afford Formula One on its own at a time when it’s in such financial strife, Nine has not shown an interest in motorsport since letting go of Formula One in 2002, and Seven is backing out of motorsport after handing over the V8 Supercars rights following 2014.
When Network Ten gave up on the all-sports ONE HD platform, it was only a matter of time before free-to-air networks lost the battle with Fox Sports for high-end sports television rights.
While motorsport received a stay of execution as Ten persisted with Formula One, including live qualifying, Fox Sports was bound to move in. It was determined to fill its motorsport content when it had a dedicated motorsport channel in SpeedTV Australia, which fell victim to the parent channel’s closure in the USA but left a motorsport legacy at the pay-television network.
The timing of the Formula One move is interesting. While on the one hand the sport’s competitiveness has suffered from the manufacturer arm’s race of the new engine formula and financial crisis among the teams, Aussies have a rising star in Daniel Ricciardo, who will be a feature in the series for years to come.
Given the latter, Australian motorsport’s penetration into the mainstream will suffer as a result of the pay-television move, especially Formula One in contrast to V8 Supercars.
V8 Supercars’ free-to-air component includes live coverage of the six major events, which makes of 70 per cent of the television viewership for the series, and same-day delays in regular afternoon and evening timeslots for the rest of the championship. This means consistent timeslots on the same channel, as opposed to the irregular start times and regular channel shifts of the previous deal with Channel Seven.
Formula One’s free-to-air component, aside from the 10 live events, includes one-hour highlights packages on ONE HD the following Monday at an undisclosed time; a far bigger delay than what V8 Supercars fans will have to put with.
In an age when it’s so easy to follow live sporting events away from television it will be interesting to see how these delayed telecasts rate.
But while V8 Supercars retains a bigger free-to-air presence than the likes of the AFL and NRL, where most matches can only be seen on Fox Sports, Formula One could struggle to retain mainstream interest.
In the end though, this deal merely shadows what other sports have done. Free-to-air has channelled its sporting interests into just a few events and codes, just as Fox Sports has filled up its channels.
Australia has now well and truly moved to a pay-television dominated model for sports. On the surface, free-to-air viewers are the big losers. But without Fox Sports, most international sports, including Formula One, could be lost to viewers entirely.
pete
Guest
Like I said I cant afford it. Its a luxury that comes far down the list when feeding and educating my kids as do my Friday couple of beers which if I cant afford it I don't have. Not something you can do with a subscription that comes out even if there are difficult times. You sir would without a doubt be the most sad individual it has ever been my misfortune to hear about and I pity you when your life's enjoyment is abusing people who don't agree with you. I am glad you are rich enough to enjoy life to its fullest and don't care about the important things in life and I hope that your life when you are older wont be so lonely as you must have no friends and just enjoy getting off abusing others. Ah well have a good day Mr Melbourneterrace but always remember what goes around comes around.
Two Putt Shakur
Guest
Do Fox Sports have any plans to show highlights from this years Chilli Bowl from Tulsa? That was an amazing week of racing the very best Midget drivers, plus Larson, the Swindells, and Tom Harris from the UK who impressed first time out
Garry Edwards
Guest
Ahemmm it's actually quite more expensive than that Adrian, one must look at the full picture here consider, setup (one off), then basic package, then add Fox Sports and the resultant amount is ???? And do tell Mr Melbourne Teararse your claim, to fame, wealth and power is.... but of course you're one of the x/y gen who think it's a disposable world and consequently live by the maxed out Credfit Card- I've no doubt Listen up kid: $1000.00 on credit card, paying only the minimum monthly amount and not increasing the principle how long to pay it off, at current interest rate?.................... Times up, Try 20.3 yrs, now you were saying about money and it's value.
melbourneterrace
Guest
Yeah those couple of Friday drinks each week would cost you more than a Foxtel subscription. You're exactly the type i was describing. "Have you seen the whole family hunched around a PC watching a stream of sport?" Again, it's the 21st century. A child could tell you how to get a HD stream on your computer and play it through your TV. Unless you're a serious oldie or are completely braindead when it comes to using your computer, it just as easy as turning on your TV.
pete
Guest
Wow it must be great to have money. I don't smoke restrict myself to a couple of drinks on a Friday. My money goes to the family, school fees books learn to swim sports for the kids to be part of. I don't have spare money. You are lucky you earn enough to be bale to afford it but I don't so therefore I miss out and according to you must be grateful for it. It the same for a lot of people out there. Have you seen the whole family hunched around a PC watching a stream of sport? .Anti siphoning laws are letting me watch sport so thanks to the government for at least that and I wish they would put more sport under the anti siphoning
melbourneterrace
Guest
AFL and NRL would have switched over to Fox Sports 10 years ago if the FTA networks didn't have Anti Siphoning Laws protecting them.
GD66
Guest
True enough, it's only around $1.50 a day. For some reason, people who grump loudest about the indignity of being asked to fork out money to watch sport are often standing in a supermarket queue with a trolley chock full of white bread, chips and Coke, and they buy cigs on the way through. If fta stations are serious about sport they will have paid up, but I suspect there is a massive sigh of relief if Fox picks up the slack. Starting with EPA soccer, the outrageous fortunes paid to sportsmen have to be funded somehow, and pay tv is their lifeline. AFL and NRL are dinkum sports marketers, so they will make sure their sports are on fta...most others will eventually swing over to pay tv. I don't have Fox now, but I had it for eight years previously, and if you love sport they certainly do look after you.
melbourneterrace
Guest
Can't believe people are still complaining about this. FTA is going the way of print media and their monopoly on live sports events has been protected for far too long. If you like sport you have Foxtel. It's 10-15 Dollars a week max, people will spend more than that on a pack of smokes or their lunch. Motorsport was never going to sustain long term FTA interest and Ten were butchering the F1 coverage inexcusably by playing ads during the race and the lack of the full lead up coverage. Foxtel will do both justice, if you're seriously doing it so tough that you can't find the money for it then get on your computer and find a stream. It's the 21st century, you don't need to rely on FTA TV anymore.