Formula 1 chiefs have confirmed that free-to-air coverage of grand prix racing in Italy will be cut back this year as the result of a new exclusive television deal with Sky Italia. As Motorsport.com revealed last week, previous free-to-air broadcaster RAI had failed to reach a new deal for broadcast rights – leaving the door open for Sky to tighten its control. F1 has therefore agreed a three-year deal with Sky, until the end of 2020, for exclusive broadcast and digital coverage on its pay TV channels. A statement from F1 said that part of the deal includes that ‘at least four races’ - including the Italian GP – will be shown live on free-to-air channel TV8, which is owned by Sky....
Full Story »