Categories: 2016 SeasonF1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ecclestone: No ad breaks key to Channel 4 F1 deal

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Bernie Ecclestone says it was important to him F1 was broadcast free-to-air in the UK without ad breaks after Channel 4 took over from the BBC.

The BBC announced on Monday morning it would be terminating its contract to broadcast F1 with immediate effect as part of a drive to save £35million per year. While sad to see the BBC go, Ecclestone hinted the switch to Channel 4 over ITV was due to a promise not to show adverts during the race.

“I am sorry that the BBC could not comply with their contract but I am happy that we now have a broadcaster that can broadcast Formula 1 events without commercial intervals during the race," Ecclestone said.

“I am confident that Channel 4 will achieve not only how the BBC carried out the broadcast in the past but also with a new approach as the world and Formula 1 have moved on.”

Channel 4 will show ten of the 21 races next season live, while also committing to live coverage of practice and qualifying. The remaining races will be covered in a highlights show.

“Formula One is one of the world’s biggest sporting events with huge appeal to British audiences," said David Abraham, Channel 4 chief executive. "I’m delighted to have agreed this exciting new partnership with Bernie Ecclestone to keep the sport on free-to-air television.”

Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt added: “Channel 4 and Formula One are the perfect partnership. We've the same appetite for innovation and we'll be demonstrating that to fans by becoming the first free-to-air commercial broadcaster to show the races ad free.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.