The BBC will concede half of its coverage of Formula One to Sky next year, as the Corporation continues to find areas where it can cut expenditure due to the flat licence fee.

Sky will broadcast all of the seasons’ races, while the BBC will focus its efforts on “key races” like the British Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix and the last race of the season, screening half of total races live.

The broadcast deal will last for seven years, running from the 2012 season to 2018.

Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater said she was “absolutely delighted” at the deal, while the managing director of Sky Sports, Barney Francis echoed her sentiments: “This is fantastic news for Formula One fans,” he said.

But one of the BBC’s commentators, Martin Brundle, refused to play ball, tweeting that he was “not impressed” at the changes.

There was speculation that the BBC would be forced into dropping its coverage of the sport completely, as a result of the 20 per cent savings it is being forced to make in the wake of a frozen licence fee. But, despite the BBC promising extended highlights of every race, this will be the first time that all Formula One races will not be available on free-to-air television.

There’s yet to be any reaction from the manufacturing teams that participate in the competition, but there are unanswered concerns about the possibility of lower viewing figures, thereby affecting the value of the many sponsorship deals that fund the teams’ efforts.

(Source: MediaGuardian)

Image taken by Flickr user Whiz Kris, licensed under Creative Commons.

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