Sean Bratches defends F1 internet-pay TV plans
- Published on 23 Jan 2018 09:08
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Sean Bratches has defended Liberty Media's plans to ramp up internet coverage of F1 while moving the sport away from free-to-air television. Fans have noticed recently that the trend is for new television deals with pay-TV networks, with only a limited number of races shown free-to-air.
Bratches, the new F1 commercial chief, said Liberty is also focused on the digital future. "The relaunch of our digital platform is planned," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "Today it only costs us money. Fans cannot download exclusive content."
"That's going to change," Bratches explained. "We will introduce a direct streaming offer to the fans for both live content and non-live content. The fans will then get access to data directly from the cars. One will be freely available, while the other for serious fans is behind a payment barrier."
Previously, ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone did not develop the sport's internet presence, arguing that television rights must remain exclusive. But Bratches claims: "The market has proven that both can be done simultaneously. Other sports are already much further ahead. It's not like we're leaving our TV partners behind. This year, we will be offering a new TV graphics platform that presents content in a much more consumer friendly way," he said.
As for the highly controversial move away from free-to-air TV coverage, he explained: "Free TV means reach, but the money is on pay TV. "Ideally, 25 to 30 per cent of the races should be on free TV and the rest behind a pay wall. It works in France and other countries, but there are countries where we should not move to this model yet," Bratches said. (GMM)
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Replies (11)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Let me say this: if you move away from more accessible channels without enabling some sort of internet streaming, you are dooming F1. Not only are there more popular sports like F1 and Hockey around, if you make F1 less accessible there will be little reason for people to watch it in favour of other sports. And longterm, you are likely to forget about accessing kids and the likes, y'know, the future fans.
krommenaas
Posts: 155
These companies don't think long-term, unfortunately. What kid is going to start following F1 if he can only follow a quarter of the races? I sure as hell wouldn't have.
RacetoWin
Posts: 95
Give us 4k streaming for f1 races, selectable onboard cameras of every car with thermo option. full race weekend track coverage like SKY with race replay options and the vault showing upscaled old F1 races we can rewatch from F1's golden era and i'll gladly pay $100 for it.
RacetoWin
Posts: 95
F1 coverage in Canada is mostly terrible, we have to pay a premium just to watch parts of qualifying and a 2hr5min slot for the race, we miss the most of the race weekend and post race coverage. last season it improved but still no practice sessions
why force F1 fans to only have limited access due to cable companies when F1 itself is owned by a media company who can bring it to us direct and uncut.
fans should have access to watch the race from onboard cameras if they prefer, Le mans and the endurance racing series do online coverage right, some are even free.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I get the frustration with races not being on 'free tv', however I understand the reasoning behind going towards pay tv. The reality is that in most countries around the globe it's not free anyway. People complaining about this are almost exclusively in Europe. It's never been free in the Americas or Asia. I like the direction they are moving in. 25 to 30% free TV races is better than 0%. If they make more money, then maybe they'll make them more readily available. The comparisons to sports like Hockey, Soccer, or Basketball are not good, because you whereas in those sports you have hundreds of events every year, Formula 1 has 19 or 20.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
The problem for me isnt that its pay TV, the problem is that you cant just buy the channel you need for F1, you need to buy the whole deal or pack it. To lock of F1 in such a stupid thing to do. Fortunately, it looks like F1 will get an official €50/year stream on their website, so good on Liberty.
Barron
Posts: 625
Calle, where did that figure come from?
NSBiker
Posts: 18
RaceTown is frustrated and justifiably so. Canadian coverage is brutally crude and by our low-budget standards, still expensive.
What I can't fathom is that advertisers pay for the privilege of having viewers despise them for interrupting the racing action. Imagine cutting off the Cup Final or an NFL game to insert commercials while the game goes on. How long would that last.?
But for F1, that's the norm.
Bring on the digital so we can stream what and when. Then I can cut the cord.
kngrthr
Posts: 203
in Australia we will get one race.
The australian one because of local laws.
that dooms it for me.
F1 is no longer in my life.
i would be interested in paying to watch if the pay tv service was flexible.
Unfortunately i have to buy a basic package plus a sport package which is something like 80 to 100 $ a month.
they can stick that.
i would be interested in say 20$ a month for just F1 but they won't even discuss such s thing.
i don't suppose they care what i think but others will follow and as someone else on here stated young kids won't take it up.
speedsix
Posts: 1
We need to be able to access just the sports we want, rather than having to buy a channel package on Foxtel that costs $50 a month just to watch a couple of F1 Grands Prix. I am not interested in the other sports the package includes at all, and it's very expensive for how many hours I actually watch it.
I'd love to subscribe to a pay service that streams all F1 sessions in HD and charges per Grand Prix. I'd be straight onto it if they offered it.
Barron
Posts: 625
€50 a year for a digital stream (if correct) is a bargain! If they are good businessmen they will know that 10 million subscribers worldwide paying €50 each is a darn site better than 2 million paying €100 for paywall TV. “Bums on seats” the old theatre expression goes and this is no different.