It can be said with certainty now. Formula 1 racing, which has been ensconced on the Star Sports network pretty much since cable TV came to India in 1991, will be going it alone in this market for the foreseeable future.
Which means that Indian F1 fans will not have access anymore to the pinnacle of motorsport racing on linear TV. Or any domestic OTT platform.
Those who are willing to pay the price though can subscribe to Formula 1’s OTT video platform F1 TV, which has made a quiet entry into the Indian market, inc42 reports.
It bears noting that it was as far back as October 2022 that industry insiders had indicated to SportzPower that there were no takers among the Big 3 of Indian sports broadcasting for the next cycle of F1 media rights. At the time, this platform had been given to understand that it was more than likely that F1 coverage in India would be restricted to F1 TV and so it has come to pass.
What is also relevant to note is that for the last rights cycle, Star Sports acquired rights for 7 years in 2014 and it ended a year early in 2021. Then they extended or renewed the contract until the end of the 2022 season.
In 2022, F1 completed deals in multiple countries for the upcoming seasons but NOT for India. And it certainly comes as no big surprise for SportzPower. In the end analysis, the math just didn’t square up. Star Sports was coughing up $13 million (Rs 90 crore) PER YEAR for the F1 rights. And their revenues? All of Rs 2 crores is what this website is given to understand.
Coming back to the inc42 report. As per the website, F1 TV subscription plans are available for Indian users through the F1 TV app, which can be downloaded from Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store in India.
The OTT service has been launched with a two-tier subscription model. The F1 TV Pro subscription has been priced at Rs 249 per month or Rs 2,999 for the entire 2023 Formula 1 season.
With the Pro subscription plan, users will be able to watch every F1 race live or on demand. The subscription plan also includes access to various camera angles that can be changed and cycled by the user, replays, documentaries, archive footage, and various live data points.
In addition, TV Access, another subscription plan, has been priced at Rs 1,499 per year or at Rs 239 a month. However, this subscription plan does not allow access to live-streaming of F1 races. Users will get access to replays, documentaries, archive footage, live timing, telemetry, and other data under this plan.
For the record, the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship is scheduled to start in Bahrain on March 5. The championship will conclude in Abu Dhabi on November 26.
