Formula One

Pay-television operator Sky Italia believes its acquisition of exclusive rights to motor racing’s Formula One world championship can expand its subscriber base, which has been stuck at 4.7m to 4.8m for more than five years.

The value of Formula One media rights in Germany will fall from 2018 onward following a flat renewal with RTL and the decision to not sell pay-television rights.

Increased exclusivity encouraged telco Telefónica to maintain its fee to renew Formula One media rights in Spain this month despite a dearth of competition.

Fox Sports Latin America’s deal for Formula One rights in the region is less valuable than Mediapro’s recently broken agreement, but much more expensive than the pay-television broadcaster’s previous deals

US Masters media rights in Australia will remain at a similar value in new free-to-air and pay-television deals with Nine and Fox Sports respectively.

The desire for flexibility around its yet-to-launch OTT service drove Formula One Management to agree a new deal with sports broadcaster ESPN in the US last month.

Financial problems at its free-to-air partner Ten led Formula One Management to strike a new deal in Australia, handing much more exclusivity to pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports.

The Sports Channel has renewed a host of rights in recent weeks as it seeks to solidify its position in the Israeli broadcast market.

The Pitch International agency this month acquired Formula One and LaLiga rights as part of a move to create a new in-flight offering, TV Sports Markets understands.

The price of Formula One media rights has fallen and stayed flat in recent deals for Austria and Russia respectively, reflecting the lack of competition for the property in both markets.

Start-up pay-television operator Kwese TV is the latest company set to challenge SuperSport in the sub-Saharan market, and its Kwese Sports channel is already battling the dominant sports broadcaster head-on for rights outside South Africa.

The value of Formula One media rights increased strongly in Portugal last week, thanks mainly to the aggressive intent of sports broadcaster Eurosport.

Formula One’s broadcast rights value in Germany will fall by about seven per cent when the latest renewals, agreed last week, kick in from 2016.

Formula One Management earned a significant increase in the value of its rights in Australia last month by allowing a pay-television broadcaster to acquire rights to the championship for the first time in the country.

Spanish agency Mediapro will dilute the exclusivity of its new Formula One channel in Latin America with a sublicensing deal because it felt the offer from Fox Sports was too good to refuse.

Formula One has earned a significant increase in its rights value in Canada thanks to intense competition between pay-television broadcasters.