Formula 1 has announced F1 TV – the sport’s official OTT platform.
The launch has been rumoured for some time. For $8-$12 per month, fans will be able to access all F1, F2, GP3 and Porsche Supercup sessions. Subscribers will also be able to access twenty on-board cameras, F1’s historical archive of footage and pre-event and post-session press conferences.
The platform will be launched in four different languages – English, French, German and Spanish – and will be available in over twenty countries, not including the U.K.
Frank Arthofer, the Director of Digital and New Business said the product is primarily aimed at F1’s hardcore fans:
“With the launch of F1 TV, we are beginning on the journey to build a cornerstone of our digital transformation. F1 TV subscription products are clearly and centrally aimed at our hardest core fans, and we are firm believers that while we are bringing a new audience to the sport, we must always remain focused on delivering products and experiences that serve the most avid F1 fans. Our objective with F1 TV is simple: provide these fans with the best available service to watch live Grands Prix and provide them with the best sports OTT customer experience in the world. Our team and our partners are singularly focused on delivering on that vision: not just for launch but over the long-term. Live streaming video is an exciting space changing almost daily.”
Also being offered is ‘F1 TV Access’, a lower cost option which features live timing and radio commentary, along with extended highlights of the action and access to the historical archive. This option will be available ‘on a near-global basis’ when the platform launches.
Formula 1’s Official Connectivity Provider, Tata Communications, will be involved with the distribution of the service. Their Managing Director Mehul Kapadia, said:
“F1 is the first global sport to adopt such an ambitious mobile strategy – and we’re excited to be part of it. A single global OTT video platform, with multiple live feeds and hundreds of hours of past highlights, gives fans the power to create their own unique, immersive motorsports experiences. It’s a way to keep existing audiences hooked and attract new fans to the world of F1 too.”
Meanwhile, Sean Bratches has been speaking about some changes for how F1 will be broadcast this season – including lower camera angles and overtaking ‘spotters’ around the tracks:
“We are going to close the apertures, focus intently on the racing, and lower the cameras – because the lower the camera the higher the realism of the speed is. We will also have 25 spotters around each grand prix to call back to race control and tell them where overtaking is about to take place.”
The F1 TV Pro service will be available in the following forty countries when it launches ahead of the Australian Grand Prix: Argentina, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Caribbean Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Sint Maarten, Slovenia, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United States Virgin Islands, USA and Venezuela.
You can sign up to see the latest updates on the service on F1’s official website.