Formula 1 has announced a new long-term deal with Sky Sports F1 in Germany, as free-to-air broadcaster RTL will stop broadcasting F1 at the end of 2020.
Formula 1 will be shown exclusively on Sky Sports F1 in Germany, starting in 2021. This will also bring about the start of the first 24/7 F1 channel in Germany.
This news comes just a day after free-to-air broadcaster RTL confirmed their 30 year run of broadcasting Formula 1 will end at the conclusion of the 2020 season.
Sky Deutschland will show every single minute of each session throughout a Grand Prix weekend, with no commercial breaks during the races. Sky Q customers will also have access to the races in UHD. F1 TV Pro available to Sky Sports subscribers as part of the overall offering in Germany.
Sky will broadcast four pre-selected races per season on one of their free channels, with a 30 minute highlight show after each Grand Prix also being shown on Sky Sports News.
“Formula 1 and Sky have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, working well together to enhance the broadcast offering by providing comprehensive coverage of the sport for our passionate fan base.” said F1’s Director of Media Rights Ian Holmes. “I am delighted that our work together will continue to build and strengthen the impressive quality of Sky’s programming, as well as their digital reach.”
“This will be the best motorsports experience ever.” said Devesh Raj, CEO of Sky Germany. “We know motorsport fans love the way we produce F1 and our commentators have fans all of their own, but now with the first channel dedicated to F1 content on German TV ever we’ll give fans more F1 content than has ever been seen on German TV before.”
“With our unique digital content offering and four races free for everyone every year, we will help introduce millions more people to the joy of F1 and help grow the sports across the motorsport country Germany. This exciting new deal shows that Sky is the number one for sports fans in Germany.”
It hasn’t been confirmed who will lead Sky’s coverage in Germany, although RTL’s presenter Kai Ebel and commentator Christian Danner will presumably be making enquiries after stating their shock after the RTL announcement.
