Canal+ Looks To Take F1 TV Rights From TF1 In France With 'Serious Offer'

Pay-TV broadcaster Canal+ has "made an offer" to take the F1 TV rights in France from TF1, according to Stéphane Colineau of LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE. After the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1 and the Top14, another "major sporting competition could fall in the hands of a pay-TV channel." The "serious offer" made by Canal+ for the F1 rights from '13-15  is causing TF1 to seriously consider letting go of the rights. TF1 had been wanting to keep the rights at a lower cost than the current €40M ($51.6M) annually it has to pay. The sport "does not attract audiences like it did during its golden age," and they now plateau at 3 million viewers. Canal+'s interest in F1 is "an indirect consequence of beIN Sport's appearance in the landscape." The Qatari broadcaster took a chunk of Canal+'s Ligue 1 rights as well as TF1's Champions League rights. If beIN Sport is not a candidate for the F1 rights, it is because on Sundays at 2pm local time, "the time of European Grand Prix," it already broadcasts a Ligue 1 match (JDD, 9/23).