After ten years of flirting with multiple free-to-air networks, Formula E has made the jump to pay television in the United Kingdom.
From ITV to Channel 5 to the BBC and onto Channel 4, the electric series has never found its belonging at any of those networks. Now, after battling for its place on free-to-air, the series has turned to TNT Sports for its next phase.
But how has Formula E ended up here, and did the series have any other options? Motorsport Broadcasting analyses the situation.
A new home for 2024
Organisers of the series, now heading into its tenth season, have announced an agreement with TNT Sports, touting the outlet as the championship’s exclusive television home, although terms of the contract (or its length) are undisclosed.
Discovery+ will stream coverage, the platform bringing together their Eurosport and TNT outlets under one roof.
Moving forward, fans will be able to access live coverage of MotoGP, World Superbikes, British Superbikes, Speedway, World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans) and Formula E via Discovery+.
Their television line-up for the new season is a hybrid of familiar Formula E names, combined with names typically associated with Whisper’s Channel 4 F1 broadcasts, the production house taking over the English language wrap-around offering from North One Television.
Joining the likes of Nicki Shields, Karun Chandhok, Dario Franchitti and Allan McNish will be Billy Monger, David Coulthard and Jamie Chadwick, the latter two names making “guest appearances” during the 2023/24 season.
Tom Brooks returns as lead commentator, this time on a full-time basis, replacing Jack Nicholls in the role.
The big talent announcement though is that former footballer Jermaine Jenas will be presenting Formula E’s race coverage, succeeding Vernon Kay. Jenas is no stranger to presenting, having presented the BBC’s magazine programme The One Show since 2020, as well as contributing to TNT’s football coverage.
“Since retiring from football I never thought I would find a sport that I loved as much but Formula E is a sport like nothing else,” Jenas said. “I couldn’t be more excited to take on this incredible presenting role and travel the world with such amazing teams.”
“To get in front of the camera and share that energy and action with viewers is a whole new challenge and adrenaline rush for me and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Formula E in the UK – at a glance
2014-15 – ITV
2015-16 – ITV
2016-17 – Channel 5
2017-18 – Channel 5, Eurosport
2018-19 – BBC, BT Sport, Eurosport, Quest
2019-20 – BBC, Eurosport, Quest
2020-21 – BBC, Eurosport, Quest
2020-21 [London only] – BBC, Channel 4, Eurosport
2021-22 – Channel 4, Eurosport
2022-23 – Channel 4, Eurosport
2023-24 – TNT Sports
Formula E’s CEO Jeff Dodds added, “This is incredible news for sports fans in the UK who already watch premium live sports on TNT Sports. From next month they will get to enjoy the new thrill of Formula E racing, the most competitive motorsport on TV.”
“For existing Formula E fans, we are excited to present TNT Sports as the new home of Formula E in the UK,” Dodds said.
“With experienced professional sportsperson and broadcaster Jermaine Jenas leading our stellar line-up of expert presenters to provide his original perspective for viewers, we cannot wait to get to work in Mexico City.”
Was this Formula E’s number one option?
The biggest surprise about Formula E’s announcement is that it did not happen earlier. Formula E was first linked with TNT Sports (then BT Sport) a decade ago, and had a brief spell on BT Sport five years ago!
At the time, their chief executive Alejandro Agag said that the series was in discussions with BT and Sky, but that the aim was “free-to-air even if we get less money. Free-to-air would be great: BBC or ITV.”
To Agag’s credit, that is exactly what Formula E did, launching in 2014 live on ITV4. Less than a year later, a peak of over 1 million viewers watched Nelson Piquet Jnr become the first Drivers’ Champion in London.
But since then, despite glimpses of optimism along the way, the series has failed to gain traction in the UK and instead has gone into reverse. ITV lost faith, as did other broadcasters.
Viewing figures have failed to reach the 2015 peak, with clashes with F1 and MotoGP, long gaps between races and a lack of promotion from both broadcasters and series organisers hampering the championship.
The pandemic only exasperated the problem that the series faced in the UK. Channel 4’s broadcast deal sought to reverse the decline, with more races airing live on free-to-air television. Note the key word: “more,” not “every.”
Some races aired live on YouTube, meaning that the series was offering a disjointed service to fans. Either way you cut the slice, audience figures on Channel 4’s YouTube broadcasts were pitifully low, while races on Channel 4’s linear channel struggled outside of London.
According to The Race, the Hyderabad E-Prix averaged 97,000 viewers for the two-hour broadcast on Saturday 11th February. Two weeks later, the Cape Town E-Prix averaged 151,000 viewers. It is with this in mind that comparisons with MotoGP, which moved to pay TV a decade ago, are invalid given that their free-to-air audience was far higher than what Formula E achieved.
With such little interest, why should Channel 4 care enough to renew, when repeats of The Simpsons would draw a higher audience? At a time where broadcasters are making efficiencies across the board, it is little surprise that Channel 4 did not renew.
Channel 4 would not be alone in their assessment of Formula E: in Germany, free-to-air station ProSieben cut ties with the championship owing to viewer interest not developing “as expected.”
Earlier suggestions of a deal between Formula E and ITV in the UK for season 10 appear to have fallen through based on the wording of the press release issued by Formula E and TNT Sports, although Autosport suggests that free-to-air deals may be agreed on a “race-by-race” basis.
What we do not know is whether TNT Sports have offered Formula E substantial sums of money. They may well have done; however, I struggle to see a situation where this has happened. TNT most likely see this as a way of boosting their existing sports portfolio at little cost to them.
TNT Sports is not a small network: it is the second biggest sports network in the UK only behind Sky and has a significant sports portfolio. And, combined with Eurosport via Discovery+, the powerhouse airs sport ranging from the Olympics through to the UEFA Champions League football.
From a Formula E perspective, they may feel that it is better for them to be in amongst those sporting properties via Discovery+ rather than on free-to-air television, or having a couple of thousand viewers watch them via Channel 4’s YouTube channel.
For those who only watch Formula E and no other sport that Discovery+ airs, the news is likely disappointing, however I understand why the series has taken the decision it has, when faced with few alternatives.
Formula E wants to, understandably, attract the wider sports fan in the UK, and this is the best they can get with the options they have at their disposal.
If you enjoyed this article, consider contributing to the running costs of Motorsport Broadcasting by donating via PayPal. If you wish to reproduce the contents of this article in any form, please contact Motorsport Broadcasting in the first instance.
Motorsport Broadcasting 
Folks, I have been a motorsports participant as well as fan for over 70 years. The problem with Formula E is not with the network. The problem is that the cars are ugly, the drivers have no personality, there is no really good on track racing action, there is nothing to listen to, the tracks are lifeless and beige, and the commentary tries way too hard to make something out of nothing. The whole concept needs to be rethought. It was more exciting when drivers had to go and get a different car in the middle of the race. What does THAT say? Watching paint dry is more fun.
I love having to pay £30 a month just to watch one sport. Going to Sky Sports would have been a much better way at growing the audience, Sky F1 will have 5 other single seater series next year, you’ve already got people with a similar interest there and a goldmine of untapped fans.
Yes let’s give everything to Sky I mean they’re known for treating the periphery of their main sports well just ask Scottish Football fans. I’m happy it’s on TNT/Discovery their stable is above and I think it’s well fitting in that I’ll look forward to it all being on TV and not shunted about and broadcast on YouTube when there’s the hundredth repeat of a housing show on or when you literally have a youth focused channel called E4 and now E4 Extra you don’t make that leap to show Formula E there…
I think part of the problem is that the tracks have no personality. They’re tunnels made of fencing. I understand the advantage of having them in city locations but I’m not sure that the trade off is worth it. Another issue with street circuits is that are quite narrow and then inevitably leads to more crashes (same is true for many IndyCar races). Having Formula E races on well known scenic circuits would definitely improve the TV spectacle. Yes, the newest cars are not visually appealing though F1 has also had some hideous cars: any remember those absurdly tall air boxes?