- New hour-long build-up show to be broadcast before every race
- Informal Friday night show to introduce each race weekend
- TNT Sports rumoured to be picking up UK coverage of all-electric series
Formula E has signed on production company Whisper to deliver its English-language live race coverage and programming.
From the start of the 2024 season in Mexico City, the company – co-founded by ex-Formula One driver David Coulthard – will produce a new hour-long build-up show before every live race. Whisper replaces North One Television in the role.
There will also be a revamped show the night before every race weekend in a more informal, magazine-style format, while enhanced coverage will be built around the practice and qualifying sessions.
According to the release, ‘driver personalities, rivalries and storylines in Formula E’ will be at the forefront of the new programming, with the aim of capitalising on a growing global audience that is now the fourth-largest motorsport fandom in the world.
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“We are excited to work with Whisper who will bring to Formula E their impressive, proven credentials for creating compelling sports and entertainment broadcast content,” said Aarti Dabas, chief media officer of Formula E.
“Formula E is the most competitive motorsport world championship with unrivalled racing action, big personalities in the paddock, and genuine storylines that will capture the imagination of new and current audiences.”
Aurora Media Worldwide will continue to create the host broadcast, with Gravity Media providing its 50,000-square-foot facility in London for onsite production.
BlackBook says…
Providing more content for audiences is a promising step for a series looking to grow, but it appears inevitable that Formula E will disappear from free-to-air (FTA) TV in the UK.
All signs point towards TNT Sports picking up the coverage after Channel 4 decided against a contract renewal with the all-electric series.
Formula E need only look at MotoGP, which was far more established in the UK when it made the move to the pay-TV broadcaster. The global motorcycling series now garners a fraction of the average audience of one million it used to see on BBC Two.
Striking a balance between money and audience reach is a dilemma all motorsport series wrestle with but, in the case of Formula E, an already small UK audience will likely struggle to survive the move behind a paywall.