London ePrix to be shown live on ITV’s main channel

The season-ending London ePrix from Battersea Park will be broadcast on ITV’s main channel in the United Kingdom, it has been confirmed.

The news was made official by ITV’s Formula E presenter Jennie Gow. Writing on her blog, Gow said: “We will bring you all the action LIVE on ITV4 on Saturday 27th June with qualifying from 11.30am and then the season will draw to a close in spectacular style as we bring you the title decider LIVE on ITV’s main channel. We’ll be in Battersea Park for the weekend so it will be great to meet as many of you as possible!”

Reading Gow’s post, it looks like the Saturday action will air on ITV4, with Sunday’s action airing on ITV(1). The reason for the move is because the British Touring Car Championship will be occupying ITV4 on Sunday 28th June with action from Croft, meaning that something had to move to either ITV or ITV.com, as I noted a few weeks back. I’m glad that ITV chose to move Formula E to their main channel, furthermore, it will be the first time since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix that a single-seater event has aired live on the channel.

Gow’s post also confirms that the ITV team will be on-location during the weekend, and that qualifying will have a 30-minute build-up, similar to ITV’s F1 coverage from 1997 to 2008. The move will help Formula E reach a bigger, and hopefully wider audience. There is no major sporting opposition during that weekend, as Wimbledon is starting later this year.

It is too early to read anything conclusive into this regarding any coverage plans for season two. Whether ITV will continue to broadcast Formula E for the 2015-16 season remains to be seen.