Updated on November 14th.
The BBC will continue to air Formula E during the upcoming 2019-20 season, organisers have confirmed.
The free-to-air broadcaster, who took over the rights from Channel 5 last season, will air every race live via their online platforms, encompassing BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and BBC’s Red Button service.
In addition, the Marrakesh and Rome rounds of the championship will air on either BBC One or BBC Two, an increase on the one race (Hong Kong) that aired on BBC Two last season.
Although the London E-Prix is returning to the Formula E calendar this season as a double-header event, there are no plans to air either race on either BBC One or BBC Two.
Motorsport Broadcasting understands that this is due to E-Prix weekend clashing with the opening weekend of the Olympics from Tokyo. The 2020 Olympic Games begin on July 24th, with the double-header taking place on July 25th and 26th.
Formula E’s existing arrangements with Eurosport continue for qualifying and the race, the pan-European broadcaster having signed a two-year deal last year encompassing the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
Quest also returns to the fray in a similar vein to last season. The free-to-air broadcaster will air highlights of every round, plus live coverage of selected races.
Of course, Discovery Communications has an investment in Formula E, and owns both Eurosport and Quest, which makes deals such as these easier to negotiate.
Based on Formula E’s press release, BT Sport’s involvement in Formula E is no more, leaving Formula E’s shakedown and practice sessions, as well as the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series without a home (update – see footnote at bottom of article).
Fans wanting to watch these sessions will need to head to the relevant social media channels moving forward. In addition, based on information from the Formula E website, the YouTube stream of the race will be geo-blocked for UK viewers.
Jerome Hiquet, Formula E’s Chief Marketing Officer, said “We are extremely pleased to be back on the BBC for yet another exciting year of electric racing, with more races selected to be shown live on network channels.”
“Expanding our broadcast partnership and offering different ways to watch Formula E on the BBC helps bring British fans closer to the sport than ever before.”
| Session | 2018-19 season | 2019-20 season |
| Shakedown | BT Sport YouTube |
YouTube |
| Practice | BT Sport YouTube |
Europort Player YouTube |
| Qualifying | BT Sport Eurosport YouTube |
BBC online / Red Button Eurosport YouTube |
| Race | BBC online / Red Button BT Sport Eurosport YouTube BBC TV (one race) Quest (selected races) |
BBC online / Red Button Eurosport BBC TV (two races) Quest (selected races) |
Good news from the outset, but not as great as hoped?
Formula E remaining on the BBC is good news for a championship which has clearly struggled to find a stable home in the UK.
All races will continue to be available via the BBC Sport website, whilst two races could capture a wider audience via BBC’s television outlets.
However, it is a sign of how wanted Formula E is by broadcasters when a press release is issued by organisers eight days before the season opener, with seemingly little fanfare and under the radar.
Formula E is keen to shout that it is a series on the rise, yet that does not show in television deals worldwide, which is bad news from a financial perspective given that is where the money lies.
Arguably the demographics where Formula E is rising are those that do not watch television in their masses, but you would expect some ripple effect across the board if there was a genuine rise.
The BBC deal is good, do not get me wrong. But, the fact that only 2 out of 14 races are airing on BBC TV compared with 1 out of 13 last season suggests that the needle never moved far enough.
Back in March, an average audience of 229k (4.6%) watched the Hong Kong E-Prix on BBC Two, peaking with 355k (6.5%), a solid number considering the fact that the race went largely unadvertised.
Evidently, it was not enough to persuade the decision makers to do something different this season which, and as someone who really wants the championship to break out into the mainstream, is a real shame.
On the World Feed front, Vernon Kay will continue to front coverage of the series, which begins next Friday in Saudi Arabia. Nicki Shields returns from maternity leave, with Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti remaining in the commentary box.
Update on November 21st – So, in a late addition, the big news is that it appears the BBC are also showing Formula E qualifying live this season across their digital platforms (I’ve updated the table in the main body as a result). Meanwhile, Eurosport’s online Player service will cover both Formula E practice and the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series live.
Contribute to the running costs of Motorsport Broadcasting by donating via PayPal
Motorsport Broadcasting 
that is a YES and cue the bbc iplayer for Friday
What a shame. Another year Listening to giggling Englishmen prattling about aardvarks and chickens instead of a really knowledgeable trio like Diffy, Hobbs and Matchett that treat F1 like a great sport and not like some sniggering school children.
If I was BBC Sport, air a 40 minute highlight show on BBC two on Saturday and Sunday nights?
This is so great bit sad they aren’t giving the treatment it deserves with full coverage and proper presenters and analysis. Bring on round 1
Assume the two live races will be the London events of the season finale, which might perform better given they are in the UK and lead to better coverage next season. A Hong Kong race early on a Sunday morning was never going to draw in new fans.
The article mentions which two races are live on BBC TV (Marrakesh and Rome).