Globo ‘informs advertisers’ of end to F1 coverage

Brazilian commercial broadcaster Globo has started to inform advertisers and broadcast sponsors that it will not show Formula 1 action next season, its has been reported.

The development comes after recent doubts cast over the future of Globo’s rights agreement beyond the end of the current season.

It was reported earlier this year that F1 TV, the series’ official OTT streaming platform, would be stepping up its presence in Brazil from 2021.

F1 TV’s subscription offering, Access, is already available in Brazil and is priced at $2.99 (€2.51) per month, but series owner Liberty Media is said to be looking to launch the premium Pro offering from next season. Pro offers live streaming of races and qualifying sessions, along with other content, which Globo currently provides on an exclusive basis, including its own live streaming on its sports website.

Brazil’s Meio & Mensagem reports that Globo has been in talks over an extension of its deal but a compromise has not been reached after the broadcaster proposed a “revision of the values”.

Globo first broadcast F1 in 1972. Free-to-air broadcaster Rede Bandeirantes covered the series for a period thereafter but Globo regained the rights in the early 1980s and has been broadcasting F1 ever since.

Globo has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and has sought to renegotiate some rights contracts and trim costs.

The dominant Brazilian free-to-air broadcaster recently requested the termination of its rights contract for South American football’s top-tier Copa Libertadores competition. In June, an injunction was awarded against football’s world governing body Fifa allowing Globo to withhold a $90m (€75.8m) broadcast rights payment. The broadcaster has also reduced its rights fee payments to Brazilian league clubs during the coronavirus crisis.

This year’s Brazilian Grand Prix was cancelled after F1 was forced to significantly revise its 2020 calendar due to Covid-19.