Last night Formula One confirmed what had long been rumoured by pundits and sought after by fans – live online streaming is coming to the sport this season.
For between $US8 and $US12 ($A10 and $A15) per month ‘pro’ subscribers to F1 TV, as it will be called, will have access to live coverage of every Formula One session and the sessions of Formula One’s support categories. They’ll also get live timing, archive footage and extensive highlights. A lower tier subscription at a cheaper price will feature the same less the live coverage.
It’s terrific news ahead of what is expected to be a particularly competitive season – so long as you live in an eligible territory, of course.
Deciphering where F1 TV will be launched this season requires some amount of guesswork, however. Formula One says “nearly two dozen markets” will have access, and Germany, France, the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Austria and Hungary are specifically named.
“Much of Latin America” will also have access which, according F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches, means “Latin America other than Brazil”. The sport’s current broadcast deal in Latin America comprises 19 countries including Mexico, which would take the total to 25, more than the not-quite 24 number provided.
In short, it’s not clear.
What you’ve probably already guessed, however, is that Australia, unnamed and certainly not part of Latin America, is unlikely to make the cut.
It’s an especially underwhelming realisation ahead of the first season Australian coverage will be locked almost exclusively behind the Foxtel paywall. Only the Australian Grand Prix, as per anti-siphoning requirements, is obliged to be broadcast on Network Ten, which will otherwise make do with race highlights throughout the season.
(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
The countries set to miss out are those in which pre-existing broadcast agreements would prevent Formula One from competing with its own television partners. The United Kingdom is one particularly high-profile example, with British viewers seemingly locked out of the F1 TV service until the expiry of Sky Sports F1’s impending 2019–24 exclusive broadcast deal.
“With the media rights agreements we had this year, previously none of them would have permitted us to do that,” Bratches told Autosport.
“But we have managed to come to terms in many of the territories, and we think we have done so in a win-win way.”
Australians have a right to feel aggrieved that Down Under hasn’t made the cut, however.
Fox Sports Australia’s broadcast deal, which expires at the end of 2022, was agreed on only last September, albeit somewhat hurriedly considering Ten falling into administration, as this column noted at the time. Just days later the United States broadcast rights changed hands from NBC to ESPN, with NBC noting that, “In this case we chose not to enter into a new agreement in which the rights holder itself competes with us and our distribution partners”.
In other words over-the-top (OTT) coverage was on the table for the United States bidders, as it would have or at least should have been when Australia’s deal was struck. Either it wasn’t- and why that would be the case? – or the idea was point-blank refused by the incumbent broadcaster.
Fox Sports turned down the opportunity to comment, saying that it doesn’t discuss negotiations or the contents of its contracts.
Regardless of the reason, it’s a frustrating omission, particularly given Formula One has shifted many of its start times by more than an hour later into the evening. Australia is by no means a key market and would therefore have hardly figured in the decision-making for a move primarily targeted to benefit American audiences, but the effect of moving most European race start times to beyond 11pm, putting their finishing times close to 1am on a Monday morning for east-coast viewers, will be dire for local audiences.
(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
It is in overseas markets like Australia that OTT coverage can have the greatest benefits. Whether because of time zone dislocation, barriers to access, paucity of content or a combination of all three, sports already adept at providing OTT services ensure they cater to those fans in overseas or non-traditional territories who would otherwise become disenfranchised and, ultimately, detached from the sport altogether.
Australia is ripe for OTT coverage. Aside from our rapidly growing online streaming service uptake rates, we have a sizeable core of fans willing to engage in Formula One, but they may not prove so enthusiastic that they will pay Foxtel’s exorbitant monthly fees for a set fare of coverage at increasingly unsociable hours.
Offer a customisable on-demand model at a competitive price, however, and Australian F1 audiences may yet have a chance to thrive in what ought to be the optimistic dawn of a new Formula One era.
Saul
Guest
Its not at all fair for people like myself who can't afford the luxury of fancy paytv ever. All I wanted was to watch the rugby and the f1 LIVE, the little guy loses again!
Sean
Guest
Foxtel! Your time is up.... go away! You have had ownership over Australia too long.
Kev Barry
Guest
I have followed formula one since the early seventies on three continents and now that I am retired in Australia, and not earning, I feel like I'm being punished for not having enough money to buy Foxtel for one sport so I can continue to follow my sport. I set the recording for Monday nights terrestrial TV's abbreviated coverage and pray that I can avoid the radio and TV spoilers for a couple of days. More times than not I overhear the result before I can block it out. I am quickly becoming the grumpy old man as a result. Disgusted at the way things are going......progress? Give me a break!
Charlie Crocker
Guest
Was just looking up why I couldn't watch F1 catch up on 10. I missed the highlight package last night and it's nowhere to be seen on Channel 10's catch up programmes. Like many people here, I am more than happy to pay for content - but Foxtel is such a shit service with high costs and ads (I have a Sky Package in the UK, a fraction of Fox's costs)... and ads? Got to love a monopoly. I know many that have simply moved away from F1. Too hard to get, and too expensive in Australia. Thanks god for VPN's.
Greg
Guest
I give up on Formula 1. Foxtel is a terrible greedy company that make you pay for these ridiculous packages just to watch the one or two things you need. The cost of these packages is crazy considering the so called cable tv still has billions of ads.
Lou
Guest
Losing interest in F1. Too late, too expensive, too controlled. If fox sports want to monopolise all sports I’ll go do something else. I refuse to subscribe whilst they broadcast advertising.
lift_off
Guest
I'd be happy to pay for the OTT service, yet refuse to pay Foxtel $40 for only watching F1. Coping with Streams and VPN until the day it will be available or if Foxtel cost is cut in half.
Michael Hartley
Guest
The formula 1 broadcasting arrangements in Australia are abysmal ! Channel 10’s shortened coverage is unwatchable ( a 30 lap jump in one of the previous f1 broadcasts ) I can see myself watching the delayed broadcast on a friends foxtel the next morning , but not live with a now later finishing time of 1pm on my tv and having to pay a pricey Foxtel charge compared with other countries I would be interested to know how the Foxtel f1 new subscriptions for 2018 are going for them ?
frank watson
Guest
Formula 1 should be free to air in Australia.Greed said no to all those battler mechanics who love it.
Ben Ratcliffe
Guest
I for one will NOT pay the outrageous Foxtel price to watch Formula 1. As much as a huge fan I am I would rather get what I can get for free from You Tube (including the sore eyes from squinting). The garbage on many Foxtel channels (very very old garbage), coupled with the horrendous ad content , well, on principle nobody in their right mind should pay for it !!!
Liam
Guest
Amen, brother.
Andrew Litson
Guest
We have an Aussie on pole for the monarco GP, and the only way we can watch it live here is subscribe to Foxtel! What a fucking joke! I can't even get Foxtel where I live but am able to get the internet but no, Live F1 tv isnt available here. First you introduce the hibrid engine so now the sound of F1 is shit! (Which is why I won't go the the Aussie GP, Not paying for shit) And then you axe grid girls! No wonder our younger generation isnt interested in watching sport anymore. It gets hijacked by pay TV, who expect you to pay for packages of shit you'll never watch when your only interested in 1 off 2 things. You can take your F1 and stick it right up your arses now! ??
Mik
Guest
Alas, this could be the final year where free to air will broadcast F1 outside of Australia in any manifestation. I cannot see Ch10 broadcasting even the highlights next year, given their managerial and financial fiascos. And I cannot see Ch7 and Ch9 go to F1 considering their big investments in OzRules and League, respectively. Looking forward, to 2023, the only hope I could see is SBS. Their recent broadcast acquisition of the French Open is encouraging.
Liam
Guest
I don't mind paying for F1. I do mind paying for the rest of the crap on Foxtel's Sports Pack in addition to the basic package. It is rent seeking and I won't participate. I would like to pay honestly for F1 but there is no reasonable option even using region shifting thru my VPN.
Liam
Guest
I don't mind paying for F1. I do mind paying for the rest of the crap on Foxtel's Sports Pack in addition to the basic package. It is rent seeking and I won't participate. I would like to pay honestly for F1 but there is no reasonable option even using region shifting thru my VPN.
Disappointed SA
Guest
I speak for many Australians I am sure that are fans of Formula 1 in saying that I am disgusted that once again Foxtel has market control over something that should be free to air for everybody. I have been a fan of Formula 1 and MotoGP for 40 years and cannot believe that this has been allowed to happen. Why the hell should we have to pay for privilege of watching our sport when it has always been freely available, another example of big business saying a big Get Stuffed to all the fans out there in the world that are struggling to make ends meet paying normal bills like electricity etc. Now we cannot even watch what we enjoy on the damn tv. Rupert Murdoch - don't you and your cronies have enough cash already.
Jaz
Guest
Nope, we don't even get live streaming.
Terry
Guest
F1 TV appears to have launched in Australia but for some reason we miss out on the replay option so I assume it is only live streaming? Due to my work and family schedule I generally cannot watch live for most races so the current offering is useless. Why can't we get the replays so I can watch Quali on Sunday afternoon and races Monday evening? Guess it is another year of illegal streams. Is the Foxtel deal blocking them from offering replays?
Liam
Guest
F1 TV has just been announced. Not for Australia. I tried the VPN route (The Bahamas!) but could not get the payment authorised as the billing address of my credit card did not match the territory. No option to pay via Paypal. Not sure how to get a Bahamanian credit card so I guess I'm out of ideas. What a shame. On demand would have been brilliant.
Marius
Guest
The idiocracy of regioning the world for online content just shows how out of touch most policy makers are. Anyone with the ability to click a mouse button can circumvent these restrictions, most would have no problem paying for F1 content if it was available for the reasonable sum that has been suggested ($10-15 p/m) but I sure as hell will not pay $50 for foxtel with all its forced upon you channels as part of the sports package and will not put up with ch10 and its half arsed highlights show. F1 is taking a step in the right direction but needs to take one more to get this online streaming to everyone.