Pass On The Inside: BBC Snags F1 TV Rights Away From ITV

BBC Inks Five-Year Deal For English TV Rights To F1

The BBC and F1 have signed a five-year TV rights deal, beginning with the '09 season, to accompany BBC's exclusive rights to radio, mobile and Internet broadcasting of the sport, according to Edward Gorman of the LONDON TIMES. F1 exercised an option to cancel its partnership with ITV two years before it was due to end, signaling both the end of ITV's 12-year stint carrying F1 races and "almost certainly wholesale changes in commentary personnel.'' F1 Management Chair Bernie Ecclestone: "The BBC has some innovative new ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base." BBC Sport Dir of Sports Rights Dominic Coles said F1 is the "crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting." ITV commentator Martin Brundle is "likely to stay on and work with a new man from the BBC." BBC Radio Five Live broadcaster David Croft and his predecessor Jonathan Legard, now covering football for Radio Five, are both under consideration to work alongside Brundle. Gorman notes another possibility is that Brundle "takes over the main commentary role and works alongside" a new partner (LONDON TIMES, 3/20). An ITV spokesperson said of ending the net's F1 partnership, "This was a straightforward commercial decision for ITV and we are pleased that Formula One will continue to be broadcast free-to-air" (London TELEGRAPH, 3/20).