Chase Carey is keen to expand Formula 1’s presence on digital platforms, but won’t put an end to pay to view broadcasting.
The new CEO wants more options for F1’s “passionate” fans moving forward, including free, pay, and digital options.
“Part of what we have to do is make sure it’s more than [a migration from] free to pay,” he said. “It’s digital, and how you engage fans across the broader spectrum of free, pay, and digital.
“Our goal is going to be to engage the full spectrum of video platforms.
“You expect to gravitate towards the pay platform over time, but we want to find the right agreements to marry that with some free over the air – that is something we clearly value.”
The move of coverage from free to paid for platforms has been linked to a decline in audience numbers.
Carey is keen to avoid that scenario, saying he will evaluate the trade off between reach and dollars. But he also added that most other sports are moving to pay to view platforms.
The move to digital should please fans, with opportunities to tailor coverage to different fanbases.
Carey and his team are still in the process of deciding what this new coverage would involve and how it would work, but he believes it’s a “tremendously important opportunity”
“We’re actually ideally suited [to a digital service], because we have a wealth of data and information, and such great history, so we have the ability to create unique packages,” he said.
“We’re still figuring it out for that fan who wants a much deeper understanding of what’s going on in the sport, and what’s going on on the track.
“We’re spending a lot of time with a whiteboard, defining what’s the product, what is the experience, what is going to motivate the hardcore F1 fans around the world to pay?”
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