Austrian public-service broadcaster ORF has said it is in talks over extending its rights deal for the Formula One motor racing championship, but has maintained that a new contract must represent good value.
Reports in September suggested that ORF may not be prepared to pay the rights fee of about €15m ($16.2m) per year to retain the rights beyond the end of the current 2015 season.
However, Austrian newspaper Der Standard said ORF director general Alexander Wrabetz has told the broadcaster’s supervisory body that he is in talks over a contract extension. “The costs have to be right,” Wrabetz said, according to the newspaper.
ORF has broadcast F1 in Austria since the 1960s. The country stages an annual grand prix on the Formula One calendar at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.