The World Rally Championship has agreed new rights deals in the UK and Poland ahead of the start of the 2015 season of the motor racing series tomorrow (Thursday).
UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport and commercial broadcaster ITV have agreed new contracts for the 2015 WRC campaign, with the championship’s commercial rights-holder, WRC Promoter, stating the deals will result in increased television coverage in the UK.
BT Sport will broadcast live stages from all 13 rounds, as well as event previews and post-rally highlights shows. Additionally, it will bring fans various programming from Wales Rally GB later this year.
BT Sport will also step up its coverage by screening classic archive programming featuring former British world champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns.
ITV’s free-to-air digital channel ITV4 will broadcast an hour-long highlights show following each round in a prime-time Tuesday evening slot, with additional daily programmes from the final round at Wales Rally GB on November 12-15.
The highlights programme will be repeated the following Saturday and ITV4 has also committed to increase online coverage. WRC Promoter also said that Welsh public-service television channel S4C will report on the series.
In other news, Polish pay-television operator Polsat has agreed a two-year deal with WRC Promoter covering the 2015 and 2016 seasons of the championship. The WRC has enjoyed increased attention in Poland through the presence of former Formula One star Robert Kubica (pictured) in the series.
The 2015 WRC season commences with the Rallye Monte-Carlo, which takes place from January 22-25.