In a busy weekend of news for 2012 Formula 1 broadcasting, Sky Sports announced the launch of a dedicated channel to the sport for next season.
Sky Sports F1 will be on air during all 20 race weekends, and will contain uninterrupted live coverage of all the race sessions in high definition, along with analysis, highlights and support programmes. These include a legends interview show presented by former BBC and ITV presenter Steve Rider.
The channel will be available free to all Sky subscribers who take either the sports package or HD package, with no news yet over whether it will be coming to Virgin or other formats. Presumably under OFCOM regulations, it will need to be made available to other providers with an extra fee.
The new channel confirms the speculation that Sky would be putting the F1 on a separate channel next season, although it was rumoured to be a more general motorsports channel that would incorporate the broadcaster’s portfolio of racing rights including Speedway, Indy Cars, plus highlights of Nascar, DTM and the FIA GT1 World Championship.
However, nothing has been confirmed regarding the support championships to F1 being shown on the new channel. GP2, GP3 and the Porsche Supercup have most recently been televised by British Eurosport, but their contract expired at the end of 2011 and no news has been forthcoming of their destination for 2012. The lack of a mention of them in the recent press releases suggest that at this point, Sky will not be showing them.
All in all, the announcement has been a bit underwhelming, especially when the channel will only be on air for a short period on race weekends. It was an opportunity for Sky to increase their motor racing portfolio, but they do not seem to be interested in that and more focused on Formula 1 itself. This does mean though that the F1 will be a big priority event for the broadcaster, and will not be shunted around the schedules (or even behind the red button) on busy weekends.
As for the on-air talent for the channel, the only confirmation is Martin Brundle, who said at the weekend he will be leaving the BBC for Sky. Meanwhile, Radio 5 Live commentator David Croft has left the station and is expected to sit alongside Brundle in the Sky commentary box, while their current rugby union presenter Simon Lazenby should move across to cover F1.