Formula 1 have launched a free advertising-supported streaming channel for viewers in the United States.
Named ‘Formula 1 Channel’, it will not broadcast live sessions but will show reruns of previous grands prix, highlights, documentaries, other features and F1’s junior categories. It will be available on streaming services such as Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee and Pluto TV.The channel will be launched ahead of next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. The ad-supported service will not require a subscription to view and will broadcast 24 hours a day.
Highlights of 2024 events will only be shown at least five days after they take place. The Formula 1 channel will also broadcast highlights of Formula 2, Formula 3 and F1 Academy races.
Formula 1’s director of media rights and content creation, Ian Holmes, said the channel was the latest move by the series to “evolve and elevate our content experience for fans.
“This service caters to the diverse viewing habits of our USA fanbase and serves as a great entry point for new fans into the sport, through strong curated programming, which aims to showcase the drama of F1,” said Holmes.
“Together with C15 Studio, we hope to develop the Formula 1 Channel into an industry-leading product, that serves alongside our existing live broadcast offering with ESPN and F1 TV, to give fans a truly comprehensive F1 experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Formula 1 sessions are currently broadcast in the United States on ESPN, which recently signed a three-year extension with Formula 1 to continue broadcasting all race sessions until the end of the 2025 season. Races on ESPN currently run uninterrupted by advertisements. US viewers also have the ability to subscribe to the live F1 TV streaming service.
The sport has experienced a boom in popularity in the United States over recent years, thanks in part to the popular Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive. The Miami Grand Prix will be the first of three grands prix which take place in the USA this, followed by the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas and the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
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HUHHII (@huhhii)
25th April 2024, 15:52
…and with a VPN to everybody. If you can stand the commercials, that is. I certainly don’t so I’m glad F1 isn’t on free-to-air anymore
BasCB (@bascb)
25th April 2024, 19:39
Yeah, from watching IndyCars on rebroadcast US feeds at times, I would really not be into it coming from Europe with far lower amounts of ad breaks and especially after a few years of F1TV coverage without any interruption.
But it’s a very good move IMO to provide this to get more chance of reaching new customers.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th April 2024, 21:46
Well, there are ad breaks and American and breaks, which are much more extensive, much more frequent and touching topics such as insurance, big cars, disgusting food and those blue pills.
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th April 2024, 16:18
At least F1TV is quite worthwhile with no ads.
János
25th April 2024, 17:58
Apart from the spoilers they give away by putting a screenshot from corner 1 on their homepage plus erratically forwarding the stream to the point of the podium ceremony once you click “play”.
I have complained about this 3 times and they still refuse to fix the issues which is why I cancelled my subscription…
elchinero (@elchinero)
25th April 2024, 18:58
never noticed that
i seem to be in control of my “gun”
BasCB (@bascb)
25th April 2024, 19:41
really? I always get the “watch live or watch session from the start” thing first. To me the biggest issue I have is always being offered the Dutch commentary (since i use Dutch as my standard language on my PC) instead of getting their own (english) commentary.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
28th April 2024, 2:28
the archive is worth paying. I have to say though, with max set to win every freaking race from hear till 26, the commentary is really red lining to not state the obvious. Past seasons it was okay, but everyone is taking a hit for the power unit freeze. Its like there is no contest, and its hard to get excited about that.
In 2026, its going to be like, how do i keep my battery as close to 80% as possible, the motors will be completely out of sync with the driving from time to time, and it will be very weird, and the guys who figure out how to make the most efficient car with just enough top end to over take will probably win every race just like Mercedes. All while the engine manufacturers keep taking 13 million power power unit, when they shouldn’t even cost 7 figures.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
25th April 2024, 16:24
Meanwhile they price hiked my yearly sub with 30 Euro’s, but I guess someone has to pay for all that free content.
Dex
25th April 2024, 23:19
I don’t consider “ad-supported” content of any kind to be free. Only if it’s adblock supported too…