The 2019 F1 season will fire into life tomorrow as testing begins at the Circuit de Catalunya. And for the first time, many fans will be able to watch coverage of the test live.
However the cost of watching F1 has risen significantly in some parts of the worlds recently. Free-to-air live broadcasts of F1 are increasingly a thing of the past.Last year Italy became F1’s latest major television market to lose its live free-to-air coverage, a development which had a serious effect on grand prix broadcast audiences. This year Great Britain, home to seven of F1’s 10 teams, will also lose live free-to-air coverage of F1.
Are you changing how you watch F1 this year? And how much will it cost you to watch? Here’s the broadcasting arrangements for the five regions where the majority of RaceFans readers are from.
Great Britain
The bad news for F1 fans in the United Kingdom is that only one race will be shown live on free-to-air television this year: the British Grand Prix. Channel Four will air this, along with delayed highlights of all the other rounds.
Under a deal agreed three years ago with F1’s previous commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, Sky holds the exclusive rights to broadcast the sport in the UK until 2024. For British F1 fans, that currently means a £45-per-month subscription with a minimum 18-month contract term and £20 set-up fee. That means shelling out £830 to watch the new F1 season (and the first half of next year’s championship) live.
There is a less expensive ways to watch Sky Sports F1. A Now TV pass to watch F1 on Sky over the internet costs as little as £8.99 per day, so if you’re content to just watch the races you could save over £650. Even cheaper is the mobile stream, which comes in at £5.99 per month, but note that Now TV disables support for Chromecast for streaming to television for Sky Sports channels.
There’s no good news on the F1 TV side either: Formula One Management’s direct streaming service F1 TV Pro is not available in the UK due to its exclusive deal with Sky. However Sky will show some of the live stream of the first test which is available on F1 TV.
USA
For F1 fans in America the situation is unchanged from last year. F1 will be broadcast live and advert-free on the ESPN network.
Alternatively, fans in the USA also have the option of subscribing to F1 TV Pro. It’s priced at $11.99 per month or $99.99 for the full year, and gives fans the option of watching a range of different feeds including onboard channels from every car.
Australia
The season-opening Australian Grand Prix will be live on the free-to-air Network 10 channel in Australia. In common with the arrangement in the UK, it will also show highlights of the other 20 races, which will only be live on pay-TV.
Fox Sports will show live coverage of the full season. F1 TV is not available in Australia yet.
Netherlands
Capitalising on the Max Verstappen’s popularity, Ziggo Sport last year agreed a new deal with FOM to broadcast F1 in the Netherlands. In a first, the deal will also offer F1 TV to Dutch viewers through the Ziggo Sport platform.
Canada
There are only pay-TV options for F1 fans in Canada: RDS for French-language coverage and TSN for broadcasts in English. F1 TV is not available here either.
The rest of the world
While free-to-air options are growing fewer and further between elsewhere, the uptake of Formula 1’s official streaming service is growing. According to FOM, eight new markets will receive F1 TV Pro from tomorrow: Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. More are expected to be added during the year.
They join the existing roster of countries where F1 TV Pro is available: Argentina, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Caribbean Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Saint Maarten, Slovenia, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
And don’t forget…
…you can always attend in person. With the cost of buying a year’s subscription to F1 so high in some areas, you could potentially take in several races for the same money.
If you’re making plans to go to an F1 race this year you can find information from fans who’ve been before via the RaceFans forums:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
RaceFans earns a commission on products sold via the links to our affiliate partners above, however you are not charged any extra. See here for more information.
Over to you
Have you changed how you will be watching F1 live in 2019? What do you make of the broadcast coverage in your part of the world?
Have your say below.
2019 F1 season
- Crying in the Melbourne car park at 2019 grand prix was my career low – Ocon
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
Jere (@jerejj)
17th February 2019, 16:57
Have you changed how you will be watching F1 live in 2019?
– No, the same as before.
What do you make of the broadcast coverage in your part of the world?
– Decent. Nothing really to complain about it.
F1 Codger
17th February 2019, 21:51
In the UK you can watch the German satellite channel RTL (Astra satellite at 19.2 deg East) and get all the races live and FREE (downside is that there are adverts at the most inopportune moments) and the commentary is in German, but fear not the BBC broacast commentary live on either 5Live or 5Live extra.
Amazon has some really cheap sat receivers (not Freeview) and dishes so it is an economical way to get your quota of racing. Cheapskates and Pensioners rejoice.
F1 Codger
17th February 2019, 22:09
I should have specified the receiver as not-FREESAT, you just need a general purpose satellite receiver that can tune to a variety of international satellites but the sat you want for races is the Astra sat at 19.2 deg East. Happy fanaticising.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th February 2019, 15:38
@F1 Codger, I use Finnish TV coverage.
dex022 (@dex022)
17th February 2019, 16:58
I just got F1TVPro for 2019 season.
I hope it will run without problems.
Scottie Stewart (@ocscottie)
17th February 2019, 18:31
They also have a 50% off coupon code going on right now, thats how i got it for just $49.99, i hope it is still valid
USE CODE “F1TV50” AND GET 50% OFF F1 TV PRO
dex022 (@dex022)
17th February 2019, 20:09
I did use the code so i got 50% off price. Mine was just shy off 33 euro’s i think…and my friend will give me half of that cause he wanted to take part in subscription since we almost always watch races together.
stefano (@alfa145)
17th February 2019, 22:00
you sound like a spam bot, but ok
ColdFly (@)
17th February 2019, 19:57
Can some fellow users share experience with the most effective VPN service please.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
17th February 2019, 20:19
@coldfly
Iv’e been told AirVPN is quite good.
Balue (@balue)
17th February 2019, 17:02
Why is it virtually impossible to find out about F1 TV Pro?
RogerA
17th February 2019, 17:54
@balue impossible how?
they have been talking about it for a year now, it’s been advertised on trackside ad’s at every circuit and details about it are all over the f1 website.
and what is part of f1tv access and pro are also detailed on the f1tv site as is where what is available and more in the faq.
https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/home
https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/faq
https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/content-schedule
Balue (@balue)
17th February 2019, 18:31
So it was the tiny FAQ link at the bottom of the F1 TV (hidden with nonsenical stuff), who would have known. There was really nothing obvious on the page (just a lot of Michael Schumacher videos), and wasn’t really sure if F1 TV Pro had anything to do with F1 TV.
Extremely poor site. Makes you wonder when this is supposed to be a multi billion project and then it’s difficult to find even the most basic stuff.
Iosif (@afonic)
17th February 2019, 17:13
In Greece F1 will be completely free to air from 2019 to 2021.
CC
17th February 2019, 21:04
So apart from the climate, the women and the food, there is another reason to move to Greece.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
17th February 2019, 21:38
The economy?
Kazihno (@kazinho)
18th February 2019, 3:05
The best part is that even if you are on an island in the middle of the Aegean/Mediterranean with zero tv reception, ERT simulcast their tv channels over youtube – including F1.
MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
17th February 2019, 17:17
You should clarify that in the USA, the EPSN coverage is sponsored by Mothers car care products.
And Canadians can tune in to ABC from the USA for the few races that are broadcast on free-to-air ABC instead of ESPN… usually Canada, USA, and Mexico (and an afternoon replay of Monaco).
Also, F1 TV Pro is not available in Canada, but F1 TV Access is and that gives access to replays and support races after 7 days.
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
17th February 2019, 17:29
Probably just going to continue to use pirated streams like I have for the last 7ish years.
John Toad (@)
18th February 2019, 6:25
Same here. I’m lucky enough to have fibre broadband, so have plenty of bandwidth and can usually find a nice stream.
Patrick (@anunaki)
17th February 2019, 17:41
I get it from ziggo like the previous years. Yes it looks through orange glasses and the commentary can be better, but it’s alright.
I watch with my mates and Max will probably do very well
Aiii (@)
17th February 2019, 17:45
You scared me with that Ziggo business into thinking F1TV Pro wasn’t launching here tomorrow. Geez. 😄
Anyway, subbing to that. If it’s crap, I’ll get another year of Now TV.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
17th February 2019, 17:48
Q Have you changed how you will be watching F1 live in 2019?
A Being in the UK I won’t be watching live, and given the diminished experience of watching highlights I will probably only watch a few races. Had they been delayed full races it would be different
Q What do you make of the broadcast coverage in your part of the world?
A I watched a fantastic Formula E race from Mexico City yesterday
ColdFly (@)
17th February 2019, 22:24
Q are you driving a Picasso 1.9 diesel?
@picasso-19d-ftw
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
17th February 2019, 22:42
A For the win!
Though truth be told @coldfly, no, not any more. Got something even racier these days: a ten year old Aygo. Great for track days
ColdFly (@)
18th February 2019, 7:51
And ideal when paying car football ;)
@picasso-19d-ftw
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
18th February 2019, 10:37
Yeah, makes you wonder more footballers don’t drive them ;) @coldfly
Mick t.
29th March 2019, 19:56
Its a total disgrace this highlights only rubbish. Been a fan for 30+ years but this has done it for me. So thanks f1. Thanks a lot.
Pedro Andrade
17th February 2019, 17:51
Also going for the crappy internet streams. I like F1, it’s my favourite sport, but I don’t like it so much that I’m going to subscribe to a full yearly service to watch 20 events per year.
I’ve complained about this before here, but I’m risking repetition because I think this is a major issue for F1 at the moment. If F1 is not free to air only die hard fans or people that are buying sports channel subscriptions anyway for other stuff will remain in contact with the sport, at least with decent TV coverage. I’m from Portugal, which is a country where most people were casual fans anyway, so I think this is a good model. Portugal was free to air in the public network until 2006, in 2007 the main cable TV sports channel took over. When I was a kid watching F1, everyone knew who Schumacher or Senna were, and a decent amount of people knew about Hakkinen, Barrichello or Alonso. Now I’m pretty sure you would draw a lot of blank if you ask a random Portuguese about Hamilton, only the second most successful driver in F1 history. I’m pretty sure no one knows who Vettel or Verstappen are.
How can the sport survive when new people have to pay subscriptions to watch it? Again, this is one of Bernie’s crap legacies, but Liberty should take notice that this is killing F1 and do something about it.
JFCVT
17th February 2019, 19:17
Not to mention that, two years ago, Eurosport Portugal bought the TV rights and even started a new, motorsport-dedicated premium channel: it folded a year after, for lack of viewship
Kenny Schachat (@partofthepuzzle)
18th February 2019, 23:10
F1 TV Pro is billed monthly. I thnk you can cancel or renew at any time.
Colmans
17th February 2019, 17:54
I guess I’m going to have to get 9 now tv month passes at a cost of £300
That is unless now tv or TalkTalk do a special priced season pass again like last year, which I hope would be around £200-£250 mark
Anthony
17th February 2019, 18:07
1080p 50fps rips of Sky feed until F1 Pro is available in NZ
kris
17th February 2019, 19:48
Spark is meant to be announcing a F1 Stream. Was meant to be last month, a bit concerned we are now on 18th Feb no further news. I might have to follow your example.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th February 2019, 0:44
Here’s the latest I could find regarding Spark Sports. Supposedly the platform will be ready in time for the Melbourne GP.
Spark is offering their customers Fanpass at something like $30 per month (12 month contract), but I don’t see Fanpass showing F1 races because Spark bought the rights to F1 races, and Fanpass is a competitor to Spark Sports.
MaliceCooper
17th February 2019, 18:21
I suspect like many here in UK, I’ve been watching since I was a kid sat with Dad way back when. I even endured through the ITV years (shudder). I’m not shelling out for a ridiculous SKY package, dislike the SKY monopoly, and even if it was really cheap I just don’t like their presentation.
So I may check out Channel 4’s highlights occasionally, but I expect I’ll see very little F1 from now on. It’d be easier to follow a full Indy season on YouTube , but it’s just not the same. Shame, but hey life goes on. Plenty of other hobbies out there competing for my money and attention.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
17th February 2019, 18:38
Same as the last 10 years with pirated streams. The volume turned down completely on Croft and sometimes the radio coverage turned on.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
17th February 2019, 18:41
Greek here and I am so glad there is ote tv for me to watch F1. Let us hope for a great season!
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
17th February 2019, 18:43
I’m not keen on what Sky offer. The cheapest way of watching all live sessions in the uk currently will be to buy 20 lots of the week pass. That would be 20x£14.99. Pretty much £300. The sky sports week pass used to be £10.99 and the day pass £5.99. Now they are £14.99 and £8.99. Why so much more? they don’t have other uk competitors in the same way they used to.
Last year, early in march, there was a £150 deal for sky sports. It gave you 9 months of the sports deals which covered the whole season. But for uk viewers who wanted to spend as little as possible to watch ever session live, you could still watch half live on channel 4. And as you could buy the other 10 passes (£12.99 each), that only added up to £130. So that £150 deal was not worth it.
It will be incredibly frustrating if they don’t offer this again this year as it actually seems like reasonable value. If they don’t offer it, I’ll be stuck with what to do. £300 for sky coverage which I generally think is poor and certainly worse than Channel 4 is just too expensive.
Lets just seriously hope they offer this soon : https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Sports/NOW-TV-SPORTS-F1-PASS-9-MONTHS-150/td-p/458845
Shlemanas (@shlemanas)
17th February 2019, 18:53
I also really hope this Now TV offer comes up again this year, otherwise I will be stuck with streaming or just waiting for the highlights on C4.
A M (@amam)
17th February 2019, 18:58
I live in the UK, so i will listen to free live commentary on 5live radio. Then watch the highlights on Channel 4 later. That’s sufficient for my needs.
anon-e moss
17th February 2019, 19:23
I’ll just wait and download a hi-res pirate copy for free, if I can be bothered. Other wise I’ll just take on a different hobby. F1 is dead. All this nonsense would be fixed if people just stopped giving money to the beast.
Nige
17th February 2019, 19:52
Lack of TV coverage will be the death of F1
Retired (@jeff1s)
17th February 2019, 20:01
Here in France, I gotta pay 40 euros a month for Canal+ channels (practice, qualy, race, all live) or 180 euros once a year for F1TVPro.
What a choice (of rich)!
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
17th February 2019, 20:46
Switzerland here. The swiss coverage is quite poor, until now I was lucky enough to be able to follow everything I could on Channel 4. My big question about F1 TV Pro is : will I be able to watch it with a delay, using a pause button ? I have gotten so accustomed to watching F1 at my own pace that I think I couldn’t go back to watching live, building my Sunday schedule around the race, and telling everyone in the house to leave me alone when watching.
On the website, the FAQ is so poor that I will probably end up paying for one month in order to find out. The asterisk says “immediate replays” are on for Switzerland but does it mean that I can watch the race with pauses, or only that I can watch the replay of the race once the race is finished ? You would think that it is a quite basic information that would be given to the potential customer.
ColdFly (@)
17th February 2019, 22:41
Not sure if you can pause the F1TV Pro stream, but replays are available immediately
@palindnilap
bwells88 (@bwells88)
17th February 2019, 21:01
Being in Canada we do have TSN coverage but only FP2, Qualifying and the race so why can’t we have the option of F1TV Pro?.. I can see if TSN had full coverage.. I usually use Mobdro for the rest of the action so that won’t be changing anytime soon…
MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
17th February 2019, 21:25
@bwells88 Probably because of details in the TV rights contracts. It’s quite frustrating when you also consider TSN does not show race replays ever, but we have to wait 7 days to watch replays on F1 TV Access.
bwells88 (@bwells88)
6th March 2019, 21:33
Sad but true… I usually record everything on PVR so I can rewatch if I want too.. I’m a long time Alonso fan so I’m still not even sure who I like for this year! Haha
Leclerc in the Ferrari could be a good bet!
Duncan Snowden
17th February 2019, 21:27
Honestly, if C4 are able to keep the highlights format they’ve used up till now (which, to be fair, remains to be seen), I’m not sure I’ll even notice the difference. In fact, I’m almost (almost…) looking forward to it, in a strange way. As I recall saying when the “half-and-half” arrangement started, it’s actually rather liberating not to feel tied to the TV every other Sunday afternoon. There is the problem of avoiding the result for a few hours of course, but F1 isn’t plastered all over the place like football; I’ve never had much difficulty there. Live free practice was an interesting innovation when it started, but I watched F1 for over 20 years without it, and I actually found myself tuning in less and less on a Friday over the last couple of years. I don’t think I’ll miss it much.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
17th February 2019, 21:39
As ever, the UK is being ripped off.
Spawinte (@spawinte)
17th February 2019, 21:44
Will torrent the full session broadcasts afterwards. I’d pay for F1 TV if the live races were available on it here.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
17th February 2019, 21:49
Q Have you changed how you will be watching F1 live in 2019?
A Yes, I will not be watching F1 live in 2019. I refuse to pay Sky an exorbitant amount of money for a package that I will only use 20 times. Instead I will watch the delayed highlights on C$ and spend the rest of the money on visiting UK club circuits like Cadwell, Croft, Knockhill and Oulton Park that I have not visited before. I should come out about even in cash terms, but richer in spirit and experience.
Duncan Snowden
18th February 2019, 0:28
Well said. Best comment so far.
JC
17th February 2019, 21:57
Enjoy Sky’s coverage, UHD 4K is great, really like SkyQ so looking forward to another season in front of the telly!
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
18th February 2019, 1:46
Can somebody suggest how to pay for F1 Tv when not in an approved country? I’m in Australia and want to buy F1 TV Pro but it will not accept Australian Credit cards.
Grrr
Garns (@)
18th February 2019, 2:45
@homerlovesbeer
I think its probably more we cant get the F1 TV Pro in Australia as we have Foxtel rather than the Australian credit card. I get the F1 TV which is old races and documentaries and paid for that with an Aussie credit card no worries. Try that and see how you go.
In answer to @keithcollantine article I will just be watching on Foxtel, its $60 AUD per month and considering I only have it for F1 that’s expensive. I think not having F1 free to air worldwide is a major concern for getting and keeping younger viewers, which seems to be a issue at the moment. Bernie was quite open in saying he only wants fans who can afford a Rolex and I think its a big mistake if Liberty take the same path (I don’t think they do though).
A casual F1viewer will only become a die hard fan if they have easy access to viewing and are entertained. At the moment a causal fan really isn’t getting either.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
18th February 2019, 5:05
@garns @homerlovesbeer
Check out Kayo Sports, it looks like a pretty fair deal for what’s being offered.
Maybe not if you’re not into other sports at all though.
Garns (@)
18th February 2019, 10:31
@skipgamer
Thanks Tristan, I will have a look at that. Yes, I am certainly into other sports so this may be a good option.
Garns (@)
18th February 2019, 10:31
Do you actually use this streaming yourself?
Thomas Raftery
18th February 2019, 12:50
I see Foxtel Australia have booted Nascar. anyone know the best way to stream that.
TygerQB
18th February 2019, 11:17
You can go to privacy.com and get a virtual credit card, then use that to sign up at F1 TV Pro using a vpn. Should work
Mark
27th February 2020, 14:20
Has anyone tried privacy.com and a VPN to buy a F1 Pro subscription?
Does privacy.com allows to select in which country the card is issued?
David Desu
18th February 2019, 2:01
I won’t be watching any races live since I’m in the UK and don’t have Sky, and even the NowTV day pass is at such a high price I will feel absolutely fleeced paying that everytime I want to watch a race live (which will probably bore me to tears anyway). F1 is dead until the Sky contract runs out, and I hope to god F1 will bring the full Pro experience to the UK the minute that contract is over and not sign up again.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
18th February 2019, 5:01
There’s a new streaming option for Australia not listed @keithcollantine Kayo Sports offers “Every Practice, Qualifying Session and Race Live” for F1, FE and MotoGP with replays available in HD along with a bunch of other sports (Indycar is covered but no replays it seems)
$25 for 2 screens or $35 for 3 screens. Quite a fair deal considering what’s being offered.
John H (@john-h)
18th February 2019, 5:35
I won’t be watching this season. My love and passion has been taken away by Sky (I’m not paying Murdoch anything). Feels like appropriate timing with Brexit looming. Sad times to be from the UK at the moment. Goodbye.
John Toad (@)
18th February 2019, 6:43
This past season I’ve watched F1 via streams, IMSA via IMSA.TV, WEC via YouTube, Indycar via BT Sport (which I get as part of my broadband bundle), BTCC via ITV and FE via BBC iPlayer
Of that selection IMSA offered by far and away the most entertaining and close racing followed by BTCC then Indycar. It was a toss-up between F1 and WEC as to which had the least close racing.
I’ve been watching F1 since 1958 so I’ll probably carry on watching F1 using web streams.
Ben (@x-f1-x)
18th February 2019, 7:03
Will be USING IPTV like I have for the last 5 years, UK prices are disgusting now
Jelle van der Meer (@)
18th February 2019, 9:18
In NL I am using the Go.ZiggoSportTotaal internet subscription – From the laptop or Ipad I then stream it to my television. The cost is €9.99 per month but as subscription minimal length is 1 month you can actually save 1 or 2 months if you plan it well. You do also get access to all sports Ziggo airs but that doesn’t have my interest
So last year it cost me €69.93 to watch all 21 qualifying and races live.
Added benefit is that up to a week you can re-watch what you like including option to fast forward/rewind as you please. You can also pause the live stream as well as the time screen if needed.
Jelle van der Meer (@)
18th February 2019, 9:21
Oh forgot to mention – the subscription allows for up to 5 devices (minimal 24hr period) – so you could share 1 subscription with maybe 1 or 2 friends. I use 2 devices to watch (1 for live stream and other for time screen and back-up).
Mark (@surfermark)
18th February 2019, 9:51
I just wait till Sunday evening or the next day then download a torrent from a PirateBay proxy and watch the whole of Sky’s coverage with the adverts removed for free! Thanks Murdoch :)
Luke
18th February 2019, 23:05
does the £5.99 mobile pass include sky sports F1? I only see it in the £10.99 pass.
Kenny Schachat (@partofthepuzzle)
18th February 2019, 23:56
I have several things to say about my experience F1 TV Pro
Pros: good video quality, includes all practices, qualifying and races. Replays available within an hour of the end of qualifying and the race. I live on West Coast of the U.S. This meant that I could avoid getting up ridiculously early (ex 5 am) to watch races live. I could watch the replay when I got up. They used the Sky audio feed. I love Brundle so that was a plus for me. OTOH, I’m not a fan Crofty’s shrieking, hysterical style. YMMV.
Cons:
1) They use the Sky feed but that does not include any of the Sky pre-race content or the Sky specific in-race video content. During the race, you will hear the audio from the Sky pad and pitlane but you don’t see it. Not a bigdeal but a bit disconcerting.
2 )There were MANY glitches and broadcast problems with the live streaming and most of them remained in the replays.
– The Sky audio commentary was frequently out of sync with the on screen action by several seconds. I complained via email many times and this improved during the season but it didn’t completely disappear.
– There were commentary audio dropouts ranging from a few seconds to several minutes that occurred as many as 20-25 times during the races. I contacted F1TV Pro support many times about this via email. After the first F1 TV Pro race, which also corresponded with other serious problems with the live streaming feed, I was given a one month refund. The audio and other problems continued throughout the season and although there were slight improvements, it was never fixed. At one point, they tried to convince me that the audio dropouts were due to commercial breaks in the Sky feed!? *I* had to inform *them* them that the source Sky feed does NOT have commercial breaks. I finally convinced one support person to actually watch the replay to see what I was talking about. When he did, he sheepishly confirmed the problem. They said that they were going to fix it for 2019. I’ll believe it when I hear it.
– There was a three week period, beginning with the last race, where almost all of the 2018 F1 TV Pro replay content was not working. Support never gave me a straight answer. After many complaints, they gave me a 1/2 month refund.
All of the above problems were very annoying and it was exhausting putting so much effort into getting support. Liberty even stated publicly that 2018 was a essentially a trial/beta test for the service. We’ll see if they step up in 2019.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
19th February 2019, 15:02
Given that my parents have said they wouldn’t watch Sky’s F1 offering if they were paid to do so (after having had a free sample in early 2016), I’ll be watching delayed highlights via Channel 4.