Formula 1 Managing Dir, Commercial Operations Sean Bratches said that F1's "in-house streaming service is on schedule to be released" ahead of the '18 season, according to PLANET F1. Details have been "pretty scarce" since Liberty revealed it would be launching its own product "to open up a new revenue stream" away from TV deals. Bratches: "The relaunch of our digital platform is planned. Today it only costs us money. Fans cannot download exclusive content. However, we will introduce a direct streaming offer to the fans with both live content and non-live content. Fans will then get access to data directly from the cars." In a recent report on the growth of F1, Morgan Stanley forecast that the "pay-version of the streaming service" would cost the equivalent of £6.99 ($9.67) a month (PLANET F1, 2/12). PITPASS reported while former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone believed that the TV deals "were sacrosanct and therefore barely explored other means of delivering the sport," Bratches believes "there is room for (paid) TV and an online alternative." He said, "Free-TV means reach, but the money is in pay-TV. Ideally, 25 to 30 percent of the races should be on free-TV and the rest behind a paywall. It works in France and other countries, but there are countries where we should not move to this model yet" (PITPASS, 2/12).
