Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has suggested to the motor-racing series’ primary UK rights-holder BSkyB that the pay-television broadcaster could distribute set-top boxes that would allow viewers to access free coverage of the championship, according to the Daily Express newspaper.
“I said [to Sky that] you can guarantee that when you put a Sky box in the house, although it is only for F1, people are going to say ‘why can’t I watch the rest’ and they will sign up,” Ecclestone said. “Children will say ‘my friends at school watch this so why can’t we?’ Sky are very good with that kind of idea. It would use F1 to drive their subscriptions.”
In the current seven-year rights cycle, from 2012 to 2018, Sky broadcasts all races live in the UK via a dedicated Sky F1 pay-television channel while public-service broadcaster the BBC, which previously showed all races live, broadcasts half of the grands prix live and shows delayed highlights of the other races.