F1 News
Who had the F1 broadcast rights in the United Kingdom before Sky Sports?
Sky Sports have held the Formula 1 broadcast rights in the United Kingdom for over a decade and will continue to show every F1 race exclusively until at least 2029. The United Kingdom makes up a big chunk of F1's total broadcast rights and has historically led the way in showing the sport on TV.
Who had the F1 broadcast rights in the United Kingdom before Sky Sports?
BBC Sport had the broadcast rights for Formula 1 prior to Sky Sports. This deal started for the 2009 Formula 1 season and lasted exclusively until the end of the 2011 season. The BBC had to make cuts to their sports department. Sky Sports signed an initial seven-year deal to show races on their own dedicated F1 channel. This was the first channel of its kind, and now there are dedicated channels for Golf, Premier League, Football and Cricket, to name a few.
In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, the BBC showed half of the races live in the Formula 1 season. A highlights programme ensured that the other races would also be shown on free-to-air TV but delayed. Due to more financial pressures, the BBC had to make more cuts and stopped showing live races. The extended highlights and rights to broadcast the British Grand Prix free-to-air shifted to Channel 4. This deal with Channel 4 is still in place today.
ITV Sport
Between 1997 and 2008, Formula 1 was broadcast by ITV in the United Kingdom. Originally presented by Jim Rosenthal and later presented by Steve Rider. Murray Walker commented on ITV until his retirement in 2001. He was joined by Martin Brundle. James Allen went on to replace Murray Walker.