Bratches worried about F1 pay-TV deals
Liberty Media has expressed concerns about crashing viewing figures that commercial boss Sean Bratches says is due to the trend for pay TV deals.
The Daily Mail says the limited coverage in Britain provided by free to air broadcaster Channel 4 is down a whopping 4.3 million over the first five races of 2019.
In Britain, pay broadcaster Sky has exclusive live rights for practice, qualifying and the races.
"It concerns us in a pretty material way, not just for Britain but around the world," Bratches admitted.
"From a brand standpoint, Formula 1 is nowhere near the position where it can lose free-to-air viewership. This is an agreement that was done prior to our arrival," he said, referring to deals put in place by Bernie Ecclestone.
"The pay element is very exciting revenue-wise but from a reach standpoint it is sub-optimal."
But Bratches said he contractually cannot do anything about the situation unless Sky was to "initiate" a change.
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After being an avid F1 fan for over 36 years, my interest in F1 has waned substantially since free-to-air coverage of races was abolished in Australia a few years ago.
I flatly refuse to pay over $600 per year to watch F1 races on pay tv. I believe that after many decades of being able to watch live broadcasts of F1 races, it is unconscionable that we should fill the pockets of multi-national organisations in order to raise their already massive profits.
Don't be misguided, the money doesn't go into supporting F1 teams to make the racing better, it goes into the bulging coffers of already very rich individuals and organisations.
Surely this must be the last Monaco GP. These powerful cars have out grown this Mickey Mouse track . Hamilton wins by playing the system rather than the best car. However I don’t take away from him the incredible feat of using his tyres beyond their natural life. Would still rather watch two silverstones to this ridiculous parade of street racing more akin to porshe saloon racing than Mercedes F1.
I am of the same opinion regarding the street F1 race in Monaco and I think that it is not any longer an appropriate track for F1 engines. It is overcrowded place and the developments around the track have made it unattractive and claustrophobic but I suspect that the principality likes to show off and retain this exclusive race especially since so many F1 drivers live there.