UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has said it will broadcast the entire 2017 season of the Formula One motor racing championship in Ultra High Definition following a successful test held during the weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Sky partnered with Tata Communications, the official connectivity provider of Formula One, and Formula One Management to conduct the first ever end-to-end broadcast of an F1 race in UHD.
The successful proof of concept involved the installation of multiple UHD cameras at the Singapore circuit. The footage from these was mixed in the FOM Broadcast Centre onsite, and the UHD output distributed live to Sky’s headquarters in Osterley in the UK using Tata Communications’ Video Connect service.
“We pride ourselves on being an extremely forward-thinking F1 broadcaster with a special focus on innovation,” Keith Lane, director of operations at Sky, said. “The success of this proof of concept in Singapore shows that we’re on track to show every race live in UHD next season using our next-generation Sky Q home entertainment service.”
In March, Sky struck a deal to become Formula One’s exclusive rights-holder in the UK and Ireland from 2019. The deal with FOM will run for six years, through to 2024. Sky already shows live coverage of every race, but commercial broadcaster Channel 4 started a three-year deal this season to show coverage of 10 races per year.