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The World Rally Championship (WRC) has confirmed Rally.TV, the evolution of its WRC+ over-the-top (OTT) platform, will launch this summer.
Confirmed:
- Rally.TV will launch later this summer, with a linear TV channel to be unveiled in the coming months
- Subscribers will be able to watch WRC, the European Rally Championship (ERC) and World Rallycross (World RX)
- WRC Promoter also rolling out a Rally TV linear channel to offer 24/7 programming
Context: WRC announced plans to overhaul its OTT service at the end of last year, with the release anticipated in mid-2023. Annual and montly passes for Rally.TV began to replace existing WRC+ packages in December 2022, and it is expected that those with an existing WRC+ subscription will be upgraded once the user consents.
Comment: Florian Ruth, WRC Promoter’s senior director for content and communication, told SVG Europe: “All of our three different championship apps will merge into one app, and we call it Rally TV. And not only will all those offers merge into one app, but we have started a linear 24/7 TV channel called Rally TV. So all our offerings – all the live events, all the live hours, all the highlights, all the history – this all will be shown in a 24/7 linear channel called Rally TV.”
Coming next: There are no concrete details yet on the full launch date of the Rally.TV OTT offering, but the linear announcement appears tied to rights holder agreements. Any upcoming renewals or new contracts will likely include details of the platforms on which Rally TV will be available.