A new year, a new decade, but the same calculations are necessary to work out what the cheapest method is to view Formula 1 in the United Kingdom.
2020 is Sky’s ninth season covering the sport for fans in the UK. From 2012 to 2018, the pay-TV broadcaster aired half of the races exclusively live, with the other half also airing live on free-to-air television.
Last year was Sky’s first covering F1 exclusively, with only the British Grand Prix airing live on free-to-air television on Channel 4. So, what options are available for UK F1 fans, and how does this compare to previous years?
Motorsport Broadcasting takes an in-depth look at the figures, to help fans decide which package is best for them…
All calculations in this article assume that we are still going to see a (relatively) full Formula 1 season without coronavirus causing a significant impact, but also therefore come with a heavy caveat attached to them.
F1 TV Pro
Formula 1 launched their over-the-top service in May 2018, and since then the service has grown in stature, both in terms of archive and in terms of live content.
This year, the platform offers fans a richer offering, with live coverage of every session, on-board angles from every car, a Pit Lane Channel, as well as exclusive pre- and post-race programming hosted by Will Buxton.
There have always been musings that F1 TV Pro may launch in the UK, but this has never come to fruition, which is unfortunate for those wanting to cut the cord, yet understandable as Sky want to protect their investment in the sport.
It is frustrating for UK fans that want a wider variety of on-board angles (F1 TV offers angles from all 20 cars, whereas Sky does not), or want an alternative pre- or post-race offering.
From Sky’s perspective it makes little sense to expose F1 TV’s additional wrap-around content to UK fans, as it means that they now have a direct competitor.
For 2020 at least, F1 TV Pro is not an option for UK fans. However, UK fans can subscribe to F1 TV Access for £2.29 a month, or £19.99 across the year, which gives you access to F1’s rich archive.
Sky
Earlier this week, Sky unveiled a new pricing structure, which applies immediately for new customers.
The previous Entertainment offering, which was Sky’s entry level tier for new subscribers, has gone. In its place is a new Signature offering, which brings together Sky’s basic television offering and Box Set Bundles into one pack.
Currently, new customers can grab the Signature Pack for £25.00 a month, or £21.00 when taking Sky Sports, which compares favourably to the previous Entertainment price of £22.00.
The second change is that you no longer need multiscreen to access Sky Sports in ultra-high definition (UHD). Instead, Sky have rolled that into a separate, cheaper pack, which is good news for those that have no interest in multiscreen.
| Option | F1 only – HD Sky Q 1TB Box |
F1 only – UHD Sky Q 1TB Box |
Sports – HD Sky Q 1TB Box |
Sports – UHD Sky Q 1TB Box |
| Signature | £25.00 | £25.00 | £21.00 | £21.00 |
| Sky Sports F1 only | £10.00 | £10.00 | ||
| Sky Sports | £20.00 | £20.00 | ||
| Ultra HD and HD | £8.00 | £8.00 | ||
| Monthly Cost | £35.00 | £43.00 | £41.00 | £49.00 |
| Yearly Cost | £420.00 | £516.00 | £492.00 | £588.00 |
| One-Off Installation Cost | £20.00 | £20.00 | £20.00 | £20.00 |
| Yearly Cost | £440.00 | £536.00 | £512.00 | £608.00 |
Year-on-year, the price for viewing Formula 1 in ultra-high definition has tumbled thanks to the pricing changes. In the grand scheme of things, the ballparks all look similar, Sky continuing to try to entice new customers into their offering.
Sky are increasingly looking at the big picture: their TV shop-window on their website is currently trailing an Ultimate TV package, with the YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, All 4 and BBC iPlayer logos all present.
In addition, fans of BT Sport content can now subscribe to them through Sky as opposed to having to take out a contract with BT separately.
The prices above apply for new customers, and account for any offers that Sky are currently running, as was the case in last year’s article.
Note that, outside of the offer periods, the Signature package costs £30.00 per month, as does the Sky Sports pack, which suddenly looks a little dearer…
If you have stumbled across this article after March 260th, and want to subscribe to Sky Sports F1 on its own…
| Option | F1 only – HD Sky Q 1TB Box |
F1 only – UHD Sky Q 2TB Box |
Sports – HD Sky Q 1TB Box |
Sports – UHD Sky Q 2TB Box |
| Signature | £25.00 | £25.00 | £21.00 | £21.00 |
| Sky Sports F1 only | £18.00 | £18.00 | ||
| Sky Sports | £20.00 | £20.00 | ||
| Ultra HD and HD | £8.00 | £8.00 | ||
| Monthly Cost | £43.00 | £51.00 | £42.00 | £49.00 |
| Yearly Cost | £516.00 | £612.00 | £492.00 | £588.00 |
| One-Off Installation Cost | £20.00 | £20.00 | £20.00 | £20.00 |
| Yearly Cost | £536.00 | £632.00 | £512.00 | £608.00 |
Assuming the above is the case, I have no idea why you would take Sky Sports F1 only over the complete Sky Sports offering, the latter of which works out cheaper.
Overall, as the pricing structures currently stand, if you want to watch every Formula 1 race live on Sky, you are looking at a Sky monthly bill of between £40.00 and £50.00.
Virgin Media
The bad news for readers who have no interest in sports that air on BT is that Virgin Media is no longer a viable option, for TV only at least.
The only way to get Sky Sports via Virgin Media is to take their Maxit TV pack at £53.00 a month, and then add Sky Sports for an additional £31.75 a month.
Virgin’s pricing in recent years has become increasingly uncompetitive, making it an unviable option for new subscribers to the market.
This does changes radically however if also want to take Virgin’s broadband package. If you want to take their broadband offering, then you can grab their basic Maxit TV pack with Sky Sports.
That, combined with their basic broadband and phone pack works out at a total of £64.75 per month, Virgin’s strategy here to drive people down the triple-play route.
| Option | SD TiVo 500GB Box |
HD TiVo 500GB Box |
| Maxit TV (including BT Sport) | £53.00 | £53.00 |
| Sky Sports | £31.75 | £31.75 |
| Sky Sports HD | £7.00 | |
| Monthly Cost | £84.75 | £91.75 |
| Yearly Cost | £1,017.00 | £1,101.00 |
| One-Off Installation Cost | £35.00 | £35.00 |
| Yearly Cost | £1,052.00 | £1,136.00 |
BT TV
A new entry to the Sky Sports market is BT themselves, thanks to the deal agreed between themselves and Sky last month. BT TV subscribers can now watch Sky Sports via a Now TV pass.
BT TV is an IPTV service, meaning that readers wanting to subscribe to Sky Sports F1 will first need to sign up to BT’s broadband offering, making the below an apple and oranges comparison compared to Virgin Media and Sky.
BT’s pricing does compare favourably with Virgin Media, although Virgin’s television offering is more comprehensive than BT’s. The benefit of BT is that you can flexibly change your packages as you see fit without any penalty.
| Option | SD | HD |
| BT Broadband | £27.99 | £27.99 |
| Big Sport | £40.00 | £60.00 |
| Monthly Cost | £67.99 | £87.99 |
| Yearly Cost | £815.88 | £1,055.88 |
| One-Off Installation Cost | £19.99 | £19.99 |
| Yearly Cost | £835.87 | £1,075.87 |
Now TV
If the idea of paying a significant amount of money for the pay-TV players does not sit well with you, there is still the option of Now TV, which is a viable option this season.
As in 2019, Sky are also airing the IndyCar Series live, which is good news for fans of the American-based series.
The F1 Season Ticket returns to Now TV, but is only available to purchase until the end of March. The pass allows fans to watch F1 and IndyCar for £198.00 across the year, an increase of £3.00 compared with the price of last year’s pass.
Now TV’s day pass has increased in price for the third year running to £9.98, however the weekly pass remains at £14.99. The monthly pass remains at £33.99, but an offer currently running allows subscribers to grab the pass for £20.00 for the first three months.
This year, fans need to purchase seven monthly passes to watch every race live:
- pass 1 from March 13th to April 13th (Australia, Bahrain, and Vietnam)
- pass 2 from April 25th to May 25th (Dutch, Spain, and Monaco)
- pass 3 from June 5th to July 5th (Azerbaijan, Canada, France, and Austria)
- pass 4 from July 10th to August 10th (Hungary)
- pass 5 from August 20th to September 20th (Belgium, Italy, Singapore)
- pass 6 from September 25th to October 25th (Russia, Japan, USA)
- pass 7 from October 29th to November 29th (Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi)
The passes exclude the British Grand Prix, which airs live on Channel 4. For IndyCar fans, the seven passes cover all bar one race, the exception being Long Beach on April 15th.
Making use of the £20.00 offer means you can view Formula 1 using the seven monthly passes for £223.94 across the year (or £237.93 without the offer).
In comparison, twenty weekly passes cost £299.80 across the year (or £314.79 if F1 reschedules China). The individual day passes cost £199.60 across the year, a steep increase year-on-year.
The day and weekly passes are not ideal, leaving realistically the monthly pass your best bet, unless you plan on dipping heavily in and out of F1 throughout 2020. And, of course, you may waste money because of coronavirus…
Sky Sports Mobile TV
The cheapest of the bunch remains Sky Sports Mobile TV by some margin, at just £10.99 per month. The app, which is available on iPhone and Android, costs fans £76.93 across seven calendar months.
You hear many people reference Now TV elsewhere, yet Sky Sports Mobile TV gets very little mention despite being a far cheaper alternative.
In summary, there are 15 different options, across five different players this year:
– £1,136.00 a year – Virgin Media (HD)*
– £1,075.87 a year – BT TV (HD)**
– £1,052.00 a year – Virgin Media (SD)*
– £835.87 a year – BT TV (SD)**
– £632.00 a year – Sky (F1 – UHD) – post-offer period
– £608.00 a year – Sky (All – UHD)
– £536.00 a year – Sky (F1 – UHD) – offer (expires March 30th)
– £536.00 a year – Sky (F1 – HD) – post-offer period
– £512.00 a year – Sky (All – HD)
– £440.00 a year – Sky (F1 – HD) – offer (expires March 30th)
– £299.80 – Now TV (Weekly Pass x 20)
– £237.93 – Now TV (Monthly Pass x 7)
– £223.94 – Now TV (Monthly Pass x 7) – offer (expires March 16th)
– £199.60 – Now TV (Day Pass x 20)
– £197.00 – Now TV (F1 Season Ticket) – offer (expires March 30th)
– £76.93 – Sky Sports Mobile TV
* includes BT Sport as mandatory
** includes BT Broadband as mandatory
In comparison, F1 TV Pro for fans in America costs $79.99 per year, which translates to £61.30 across the whole year, undercutting every single price listed above.
Comparing Sky’s platform with F1 TV Pro is a false economy, the former is always going to cost more given that it offers consumers more breadth for their money.
Sky reaches viewers across different age groups, demographics, and genders, whereas F1 aims to please the passionate fan with their over-the-top service.
However, if you love your motor racing, but are not really interested in other sports, maybe dabble in a bit of Twitch or gaming as an alternative hobby, then are Sky or Virgin Media really serving your needs?
For me personally, I like my motor sport, but also like other sports, such as football and wrestling, as well as the usual mainstream television entertainment programmes, which does make some of the choices listed viable.
Are any of the options above cheap enough for you, and has Sky’s 2020 pre-season offer hooked you in? If you have spotted anything worth adding, or noted any other deals out there, drop a line in the comments below.
Pricing and information correct as of March 8th, 2020. Pricing is subject to change.
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