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The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula 1 in the UK, starting next year. The five-year deal includes radio, Internet and and mobile phone rights. It is 12 years since the BBC lost the deal to rival ITV. The deal comes at a time when interest in F1 in Britain is rising steeply as Lewis Hamilton campaigns to win the World Championship.ITV had a deal for 2009 and 2010 but it seems that the company decided to forego this because it has too many other commitments."I think maybe they will have their hands full with other things," said Bernie Ecclestone. "Maybe the BBC can service us a bit better."ITV said that it was "a straightforward commercial decision for ITV and we are pleased that F1 will continue to be broadcast free-to-air".It is believed that the decision is possibly related to negotiations currently going on over the rights to the soccer Champions League, where the two companies have been bidding against one another. BSkyB, an offshoot of Sky, has bought most of the rights for the 2009 to 2012 period for $480m and the two terrestrial broadcasters have been squabbling over the remaining games. It is possible that the BBC has decided to trade the soccer for the F1. ITV has already made a big investment in soccer with the purchase of live FA Cup and England rights.
Good news. No more adverts.How about this for a line up.Richard Hammond front man.Suzy Perry in the pit lane.
Clare Balding 25 - 1
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7399053,00.html BBC win Formula One rights from ITV (Adds length of deal, details) LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - The BBC has regained the British television rights to Formula One from rivals ITV in a five-year deal starting in 2009, the broadcaster and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday. The agreement will be seen as a coup for the public broadcaster, coming at a time when 23-year-old British driver Lewis Hamilton is leading the championship for the McLaren racing team after finishing last year as runner-up. ITV have broadcast the sport in Britain since the start of the 1997 season, when Briton Damon Hill was Formula One champion. The BBC said that the deal covered all platforms and will see Formula One broadcast on the BBC sport Web site as well as on radio and television. "We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC," BBC Sport director of sport rights Dominic Coles told the broadcaster's Web site (www.bbc.co.uk). "F1 is a crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting. No financial details were given but Ecclestone said in a statement issued by Formula One Management (FOM) he was delighted with the deal. "I wish to thank ITV for their commitment to Formula One and the high quality of their coverage. It is an exciting time in Formula One and the BBC has some innovative new ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base," he said. ITV said last October the 2007 title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix, in which Hamilton lost to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by a single point, was the most-watched Formula One race since 2000 with a peak audience of 10.6 million and an average of 7.3 million watching the entire three-hour event. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by David Holmes) And from the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7306123.stm Formula One to return to BBC TV The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season. The five-year deal for an undisclosed fee marks F1's return to BBC screens 12 years after it switched to ITV. The contract covers all platforms and will see F1 broadcast on the BBC Sport website, as well as on TV and radio. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he was "delighted", adding: "The BBC has some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base." Among the new developments will be live video coverage of F1 on the BBC Sport website. Asked why he had decided to split with ITV, Ecclestone told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's not that we are unhappy with ITV but I think maybe they will have their hands full with other things and maybe the BBC can service us a bit better. "I think it will be good, a fresh face. I'm not complaining about ITV, I'm not saying they did a bad job or anything like that. "But with all the other things they are loaded up with - and who knows they will get some more stuff - maybe it will be a bit more difficult to spend as much time on us. "I think the BBC will do that." Dominic Coles, BBC Sport director of sport rights, said: "The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning home after 12 years. "We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC. "F1 is a crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting. "Fans will be able to enjoy uninterrupted, state of the art and innovative coverage from BBC Sport, across all of our TV, radio and new media platforms, for the first time since 1996." ITV, which was in the third year of a five-year deal, released a statement saying it had "decided to exit F1 at the end of this season". It added that it was a "straightforward commercial decision". BBC director of sport Roger Mosey said: "Our understanding is that F1 did have a termination right at the end of the 2008 season, and that appears to be what has happened, and we're absolutely delighted F1 will be back on the BBC this time next year." Murray Walker, former F1 commentator for both the BBC and ITV, said: "I'm absolutely flabbergasted - I was lying in bed listening to the news this morning and I almost fell out of bed when I heard it. "It's an amazing development because I think ITV did and do a superb job, and I think there is more to this than meets the eye." BBC sports news correspondent Adam Parsons said: "ITV are saying it was a straightforward commercial decision. A lot of people I have spoken to today have queried that. "Within ITV, what they are saying is that even though Lewis Hamilton is great, even though the Brazilian Grand Prix [at the end of last year] got a huge viewing figures, that actually over the course of a year viewing figures are not that impressive, they're not that great. "A lot of races are happening at night, they're not happening at peak time. That it is not particularly good value for money. "The other side of that is the BBC is saying, Lewis Hamilton and the ripple effect of that is wonderful, millions of people tune in and the Brazilian GP was the most-watched sports event of last year. "You might say ITV would rather bad-mouth it because they've just lost the rights but on the one hand they're saying straightforward commercial decision. "But on the other plenty of people are saying that having spent a decade broadcasting when a German, a Finn and a Spaniard were winning world titles, it seems a bit curious [for ITV] to pull out when a Brit is on the verge of winning it."
