Bernie Ecclestone, the president of the world motor-racing body, the FOA, has announced major changes in the way Formula 1 Grand Prix will be transmitted on digital PPV.
Speaking at the recent German Formula 1 Grand Prix (which was the 50th event to be transmitted via PPV), Ecclestone said that the service so far had proved most successful in Italy (available via Telepi_ D+) and France, but that in the UK the service "was not sold to the public as it should have been". He announced that, as of the 2000 season, the service will be available only on three TV channels (main camera, camera-car and statistics), due to the fact that precious moments are lost when viewers are given the option of switching between too many camera angles.
Ecclestone also said that he hopes the PPV service will reach breakeven point in three years time and that at least 10 per cent of free-to-air viewers will move on to digital over the next 36 months. The cost of producing the PPV Formula 1 service has been estimated at around Pounds 34 million a year, not including the launch period investments of nearly Pounds 69 million nearly three years ago.
