Just as the leading motor sport competition gets into gear for the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix, the F1 TV over-the-top (OTT) service has been given the green light for the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
F1 TV is designed to deliver commercial-free live streams of each race, offering exclusive access to all 20 driver on-board cameras throughout every race session. The service will have unique feeds not available on any other platform with the capability of multi-level personalisation. Subscribers will be able to choose the content they view and how and when they access it. All practice, qualifying and races will be offered live, along with press conferences and pre and post-race interviews. Subscribers will be able to watch live races of the main support series, the FIA Formula 2 Championship, GP3 Series and Porsche Supercup, among others.
The launch of the service marks F1's biggest investment in its digital transformation to date. Until its unveiling at the Spanish Grand Prix, Formula 1 will continue to run a closed beta version of the service to a small subset of fans for viewing and testing during the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix and Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
NBC Playmaker, iStreamPlanet, CSG and Ostmodern will join Tata in delivering the solution for F1 fans. NBC Sports' Playmaker Media, and iStreamPlanet will act as systems integrator and video streaming partner. The companies will provide turn-key, end-to-end video streaming solutions for media companies offering their customers the live video and on-demand content across all platforms.
F1 TV will initially launch on desktop. Apple, Android and Amazon Fire mobile and tablet devices will launch shortly thereafter. By summer, the service will also be available to fans on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV.
Commenting on the launch, Pete Samara, director of digital technology, Formula 1, said: "We are proud to announce the launch date for F1 TV. We have chosen partners who are at the forefront of this sector: among them, Playmaker Video, iStream Planet and Tata Communications. They, like us, are focused on delivering the best OTT experience to our avid F1 fans, the lifeblood of our sport."
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