Formula 1 is in danger of being watched only by “motorsport freaks” if it is solely available on pay-TV, according to a media expert. Long gone are the days when all grands prix were free-to-air on the traditional television channels, with Sky now holding the rights in the big markets of UK, Germany and Italy. Only with few exceptions can non-subscribers in those countries watch a race live. In Germany, this is the first season F1 is, for the most part, being broadcast exclusively on Sky’s pay-TV channel. Consequently, the viewing figures have been slashed, down from an average of 4.55 million in 2020 when the races were also shown on RTL to just 816,000 on Sky this year. Ian Holmes,...
Full Story »