12/02/2018
NEWS STORY
A major weapon in Liberty Media's arsenal as it prepares to take Formula One forward is streaming, whereby all manner of content and data would be sent direct to the end user... or fans as Chase Carey, Ross Brawn, Sean Bratches and Co like to call them.
While existing TV broadcast deals, such as in the UK with Sky, may delay the introduction of F1's planned streaming service in some countries, in others the service is almost good to go.
Speaking to the German media recently, F1 commercial boss Bratches, defended the move to streaming, despite fears that it will increasingly make the sport only available to those willing (and able) to pay.
"The relaunch of our digital platform is planned," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
"Today it only costs us money," he continued. "Fans cannot download exclusive content. However, we will introduce a direct streaming offer to the fans both live content and non-live content.
"Fans will then get access to data directly from the cars," he revealed, before adding the all-important catch. "One will be freely available, while the other, for serious fans, is behind a pay barrier."
While Bernie Ecclestone believed that the TV deals were sacrosanct and therefore barely explored other means of delivering the sport, Bratches, with an eye on the success of casino online, believes that there is room for (paid) TV and an online alternative.
"Free TV means reach, but the money is in pay TV," he said. "Ideally, 25 to 30 per cent of the races should be on free TV and the rest behind a pay wall. It works in France and other countries, but there are countries where we should not move to this model yet."
Interestingly, while some of Morgan Stanley's recent analysis of the sport's future TV trends is open to question, the report did give some insight into the plans for streaming.
Streaming, is "not a near-term revenue driver but important long-term" claimed the bank, which forecasts that only 104,000 users will subscribe this year at an estimated monthly cost of £6 ($7.99) providing just £5.4m ($7.5m) of revenue.
Indeed, according to the report it will take seven years for the number of subscribers to top one million, the bank admitting "slower than expected adoption of the company's upcoming digital platform efforts could impact growth expectations".