NOVEMBER 26, 2011

British broadcasters reveal 2012 plans

BBC and Sky, which will both follow the F1 world championship in 2012, have revealed some details of the planned coverage.

BBC and Sky, which will both follow the F1 world championship in 2012, have revealed some details of the planned coverage.

Sky will cover all 20 races, while the BBC will cover 10 races live, with deferred highlights of the remaining 10 races. The races to be covered live by the BBC are: China, Spain, Monaco, Europe, Britain, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

Sky is to launch a dedicated F1 channel next March, which will include in-depth interviews, 'magazine' shows and archive action, which will be available free to Sky customers who take both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 or the HD pack of channels.

Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said, "We have big plans for live shows and a rich line-up of Formula One programmes; getting to the drivers, exploring the technology and lapping up the drama.

"With a dedicated channel for Formula 1 we can also give all sports fans the depth and breadth of sports they demand every weekend, right through the year."

Although the two channels have agreed not to reveal presenter/commentator line-ups until the end of the season, the BBC's main commentator Martin Brundle is widely understood to have come to an agreement with Sky to join BBC Radio 5Live's David Croft in the commentary box.

The experienced Steve Rider is expected to be part of the new line-up, possibly highlighting past legends of the sport and Nigel Mansell is understood to have been approached to be a pundit. Sky is also believed to be trying to lure BBC's pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz.

BBC presenter Jake Humphrey is expected to remain with the national broadcaster, which has David Coulthard under contract for another year, while former Eurosport F1 commentator Ben Edwards is believed to be in contention for the Brundle role at the BBC.

There will be extended highlights programmes of the races not shown live by the BBC, on BBC One, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on race location.

Races in the Far Eastern time zone will have highlights broadcast on BBC One at 1400 for two hours, with those in the European time zone receiving 90 minutes at 1730.

There will be full live coverage of both qualifying and race on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, plus a one-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD.

For these races, all three practice sessions will be shown live on the red button and the website. The F1 Forum will continue on the red button for comment and analysis.

The BBC says that its presentation team, to be announced later, will be at all races, including those that are not being broadcast live and that all 20 grands prix will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live or 5 Live Sports Extra.