APRIL 28, 2009

Spanish firms to broadcast F1 on mobiles

Movistar and Vodafone are to broadcast race coverage of Formula 1 via mobile phones in the Spanish market. They will work with the rights-holder La Sexta and will provide practice and qualifying free, but wil charge for the race coverage.

Movistar and Vodafone are to broadcast race coverage of Formula 1 via mobile phones in the Spanish market. They will work with the rights-holder La Sexta and will provide practice and qualifying free, but wil charge for the race coverage. It remains to be seen whether there will be a big take-up on the offer, although with the larger screens that now exist with the Blackberry and iPhone products the opportunity clearly exists. The Formula One group has agreed similar deals in various other national markets but the services have yet to begin.

If the coverage is a success then it is anticipated that the Formula One group will be able to develop a new revenue stream, which will be useful as pressure grows for the revenues to be shared more with the teams.