Formula E will return to free-to-air TV in the UK for the 2024-25 season after striking a deal for ITV to show all of its qualifying sessions and races. Sam Smith explores what this deal means for the series.
Formula E’s announcement is a major positive but it’s also a bare minimum if the championship is to achieve its own ambitious targets for exposure.
The deal with ITV to show all FE races on both ITV4 and streaming service ITVX will be cheered to the rafters by fans in the UK.
They’ve seen their thirst for live coverage parched for the last 12 months as a subscription-based deal (at a premium price) on TNT Sports was the only way for them to follow the 2024 season.
Under the new deal all 16 races and qualifying sessions of the 2024-25 season shown live and free-to-air across ITVX and nine of the races will be on ITV4. Additionally, a new highlights show will be shown on both ITV4 and ITVX following each race weekend.
The Sao Paulo season-opener, Miami, the second race of the Shanghai double-header and the Jeddah, Monaco and Tokyo double-headers will be shown live on ITV4, which for motorsport fans has become synonymous with comprehensive live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship for many years.
There is only one clash between Formula E and BTCC in 2025 with the BTCC Oulton Park and Formula E Jakarta rounds on the same weekend, although with the time difference between the UK and Indonesia, there will be no direct clash in scheduling.
The UK is so important to Formula E because all bar four (Maserati, DS Penske, Nissan and Porsche) of its 11 teams are based there, two races are held in London and the promoters are based in Hammersmith, London.
The outcry from some of its fans last year over the pay deal with TNT Sports, which will still be available in the coming season, was significant.
The fact remains though that the TNT deal is not particularly important in the greater scheme of things because the vast majority of the subscribers that watch on that platform will have been attracted to the channel for either its MotoGP, Premier League or Champions League football coverage deals.
Formula E had some rebuilding to do after the global Covid pandemic stymied its rapid progress in 2020. Those rebuilding years have been decent in several areas but efforts to reverse the decline with more races on live on free-to-air television didn’t come on stream in the UK despite dalliances with Channel 4.
Formula E’s relationship with terrestrial broadcasting in the UK has been both varied and erratic over the years.
The services of Formula E's previous lead presenter Jermaine Jenas have not been renewed after he was fired by the BBC in August for inappropriate behaviour at the national broadcaster.
In a statement from Formula E, details of Jenas’ departure were succinct, stating that Formula E was “excited to confirm that Nicki Shields is our lead presenter for season 11. As with every off-season, we undergo a thorough and carefully considered evaluation process of our presenter line-up. Jermaine Jenas will not be part of the team for season 11".
Several familiar faces will return to the coverage this season with Shields anchoring while Andre Lotterer, Karun Chandhok, James Rossiter, Allan McNish, David Coulthard, Catie Munnings and Billy Monger act as pundits and analysts.
ITV is a major boost for FE
Nissan driver Oliver Rowland's summary of the ITV deal being "absolutely great" was typical of the positive response it's had.
“I actually remember when Formula E first started it was on ITV, and I was actually a pundit on there a few times," Rowland told The Race.
“We had a bit of backlash last year being behind pay per view but now those people can tune back in now and enjoy Formula E at its best, which is brilliant news.”
Andretti team commercial director Jim Wright told The Race that getting key broadcasting deals in place was “very, very important and to be fair to Formula E, they've created a really strong mixture of free-to-air [and] behind paywall and streaming broadcasting partners.
“But there are still key markets, and the UK is obviously one of those, where we desperately needed a free-to-air deal, and a strong free-to-air deal, which is going to be there for a number of years.
“We've channel-hopped for many years now, so we need a strong home where we can build equity in broadcasting partners.”
Speaking to The Race at Jarama earlier this month prior to the ITV deal confirmation, Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds made it clear that the feedback from fans had been listened to but at the same time highlighted the merit in having a deal behind the paywall.
“Clearly the feedback that came out last year is there are a lot of people who won’t be able to afford to pay to watch Formula E in the UK because they won’t subscribe to TNT,” said Dodds.
“Whether that’s through choice, or affordability, either way, it feels like there are fans who aren’t able to follow the sport in the way they want to.
“There’s an important time in any sport when someone wants and is prepared to put you behind a paywall because it means they’re prepared to invest in you as a sport, and therefore that’s a moment for the sport.
“It means investment in the production quality. Usually when I go home I watch the race coverage to see how it looks on the TV. I think some of the coverage from TNT Sports last year was fantastic.
“The quality of the product was really, really high. But not enough people accessed it who wanted to access it."
Formula E has several other key territories that it needs to make some terrestrial breakthroughs with as well. One of those is in Germany, crucial because of Porsche’s involvement which is now guaranteed until 2030 at least.
Last year the free-to-air ProSieben coverage was lost and Formula E found a home only in coverage via the Austrian-derived Red Bull-affiliated channel Servus TV. There have been recent discussions with RTL and ProSieben again but details of German coverage are yet to be decided.
“Of course, the perfect scenario is we continue to offer a paid product where people can watch everything they want to watch in super high quality, and we also have a brilliant partner that allows us to showcase the racing on a free-to-air product,” opined Dodds.
“I hope we’ve got that balance right and I hope they appreciate that we do listen to their feedback and we’ve tried to find a solution that works for all parties.”
Dodds is not simply glad-handing fans here, he’s genuine in his assessment of Formula E catering for all areas of consumption when it comes to its live sports product.
It’s a fine line between business and serving fans with what they have come to expect in a growing strand of the sport like Formula E, which is accessibility.
The quality of Formula E racing is exceptional. It can be an acquired taste and some so-called purists of racing may never get it.
But there is plenty of investment in it from enthusiasts, many of whom Formula E has converted to motorsport because of the lure of sustainable racing and genuine innovation such as attack mode and the incoming energy-boosting pitstops, known as pit boost.
The UK, and the world in general, needs to see more Formula E, and now it can. That has to be a good thing and something Formula E can hang its multi-coloured, multi-faceted hat on for hopefully several years to come.
