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Bernie Ecclestone suggests free-to-air Formula One could end on BBC.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...a-one-free-bbc

Bernie Ecclestone has signalled that Formula One could drop its free‑to‑air television coverage on the BBC since the exposure it gets through the pay‑per‑view broadcaster Sky is sufficient on its own. It follows the announcement on Thursday that the rights to broadcast live F1 races in Italy have been sold to Sky Italia in a deal which further reduces the sport's free-to-air coverage.


This year, for the first time in the modern history of F1, not all races are being broadcast in full on free-to-air TV in the UK. At an estimated cost of £25m annually Sky is broadcasting all races, qualifying and practice sessions live while the BBC is paying around £15m to show half of the races live with delayed highlights of the others. "We will never move all countries to pay‑per‑view only though it wouldn't make any difference here in the UK," said Ecclestone.

He explained that of the 25m households in the UK, "Sky reaches over 10m. We don't get 10m on the BBC, normally about 6m or 7m."

Fans were incensed by the new deal since it costs around £480 every year to subscribe to Sky's sports package. Splitting the coverage has already dented the BBC's viewing figures and this could push the F1 rights exclusively into Sky's hands when the current joint contract expires in 2018.