F1 broadcast free again in China

Last July, Liberty Media partnered with Lagardère Sports to develop F1 marketing in China. The reason is that China represents a very important commercial outlet for all the manufacturers involved in the sport since the Middle Kingdom has become the world’s largest market. Moreover, almost all the major international brands present in the sport are seeking to capture the enormous Chinese domestic market.

Today, it was announced that the new owner of F1 had reached a multi-year agreement with CCTV, China’s public television, to broadcast all its races in full on its channels. This opens up F1 to a potential audience of over one billion people, as the channel’s coverage spans the entire country.

Yath Gangakumaran, the F1 strategy director, did not hide the strategic nature of this agreement: « China is a key market for Formula 1, where we have an ambitious plan to significantly increase our fan base and strengthen interactions with our sport. Increasing F1’s viewership through this agreement with CCTV is an essential component of this plan. »

But Liberty Media intends to go further than this broadcasting agreement as it also plans to change the program around the Grand Prix held in Shanghai to offer more content, including the first four-day festival organized for this 15th edition. It is also expected that other initiatives will be revealed in the coming weeks.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr