Formula 1 is reportedly considering launching its F1 TV channel on Amazon Prime.
If the plan goes ahead, it would see the channel become available in countries where the local broadcaster has either given up exclusive rights. The UK is not expected to be one of the countries where the channel would be available.
“It makes sense for us to be on there [Amazon Prime] because it’s an open platform and we’re already in discussions with them about distribution in the future,” Digiday quotes Formula 1’s head of global sponsorship and commercial Murray Barnett. “In the US we have an agreement with ESPN that allows us to exploit our own OTT service separately so we’ll definitely be on Amazon Prime [there].”
“We want to be one of the smarter channels on the Amazon Prime platform,” said Barnett. “[F1 TV] is part of how we’re building a direct relationship with our fans because that’s always been something that’s run through our promoters or TV partners….We see F1 TV as an independent revenue stream outside of the relationship with our TV partners.”
If the launch does happen, it could potentially bring the F1 TV app to more than 100 million subscribers over time.
