All broadcasters around the world take what is known as the World Feed — the live master broadcast produced at each Grand Prix venue and distributed internationally. From the first television rights deals in the 1970s through to the early 2000s, the World Feed for each race was produced by the host broadcaster of the country staging that event: TF1 for France, the BBC for Britain, RAI for Italy, and so on.
From select rounds in 2004, Formula One Management (FOM) — the in-house media company of the Formula One Group, now owned by Liberty Media — began gradually taking over World Feed production. By the 2007 season FOM directed coverage at all but three rounds; by 2008 only the Monaco Grand Prix (produced by Télé Monte Carlo) and the Japanese Grand Prix (produced by Fuji Television) remained under host broadcaster control. The 2022 Monaco Grand Prix was the last ever World Feed produced by a host broadcaster, with FOM assuming full production responsibility for all rounds from 2023 onward.
From 1996 to 2002, FOM operated an enhanced pay-per-view satellite service called F1 Digital+ — also known as Bernie Vision — that ran alongside the standard terrestrial World Feed. The digital service offered additional onboard camera channels, pit-lane cameras, live timing data, and dedicated coverage of cars lower down the running order. FOM transported roughly 200 tonnes of equipment to each race for this operation, requiring 18 trucks for European rounds or two Boeing 747 aircraft for flyaway events. The service was operated from a 1,200 square metre air-conditioned tent at each venue, known informally as Bakersville after the service's manager Eddie Baker. F1 Digital+ was shut down at the end of 2002 owing to financial failure, but its innovations — consistent picture quality, permanent production crews, enhanced overlays, and team radio — were gradually folded into the standard World Feed from 2004 onward.
The local host broadcaster model drew frequent criticism through the late 1980s and early 1990s for focusing disproportionately on domestic drivers and teams, sometimes to the exclusion of the race's decisive moments. FOM's story-led production style resolved some of those inconsistencies but introduced its own criticism: a tendency to follow a narrative thread and miss live incidents. The most cited example is the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix pile-up at the start, which FOM's cameras missed entirely while focusing on the race leader — an incident the local broadcaster captured in full. More recently, FOM has faced criticism for adopting a dramatised, television-series aesthetic influenced by the Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive. In early 2025, Ferrari's general manager Fred Vasseur publicly accused FOM of editing radio communications between Lewis Hamilton and his engineer to heighten drama during the Chinese Grand Prix; FOM denied deliberate distortion.
The BBC held Formula One rights in the United Kingdom for decades before ITV acquired them in 1996. The BBC returned in 2009 and broadcast all races live through 2011. In 2011 Sky Sports signed a deal with the BBC to share coverage from 2012, with Sky showing every session live on a dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel while the BBC broadcast half the races live and all races as extended highlights. Financial pressures led the BBC to end their arrangement early after 2015, with Channel 4 taking over the remaining free-to-air rights through 2018. From 2019, Sky became the exclusive live rights holder in the UK and Ireland, with Channel 4 retaining free-to-air highlights and the British Grand Prix live. Sky extended their contract to 2029 in 2022 and then agreed a further deal reportedly worth £1 billion to 2034, confirmed in May 2026.
ESPN aired Formula One in the United States from 1984 to 1997. Coverage then passed through Speedvision and Fox Sports Net before settling at Speedvision (later Speed) from 2001 to 2012. NBC Sports held the rights from 2013 to 2017 before ESPN reacquired them for a multi-year deal beginning in 2018, using Sky Sports' commentary and presentation rather than building a standalone American broadcast team. ESPN extended their contract to 2025. From 2026, Apple TV acquired exclusive five-year streaming rights to Formula One in the United States, with a licensing arrangement allowing Netflix to broadcast the Canadian Grand Prix and selected IMAX theatrical screenings confirmed for five major Grands Prix.
Nine Network began broadcasting Formula One in Australia in 1981, initially with delayed highlights. The network aired Formula One until 2002, using BBC commentary through 1996 and ITV commentary thereafter. Network 10 acquired the rights for 2003 onward, subsequently partnering with Fox Sports from 2015. Fox Sports Australia extended its contract to 2026, with Foxtel and Kayo Sports announcing a further extension in March 2026 for the 2027 season and beyond. Network 10 retained the free-to-air broadcast of the Australian Grand Prix only.
In 2018, Formula One launched F1 TV, a direct-to-consumer over-the-top streaming platform providing live, commercial-free coverage of all races and support series, access to every onboard camera, live telemetry, and an archive of historic races. The service launched in Germany, France, the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, and parts of Latin America. As of 2026, F1 TV access in the United States requires an Apple TV subscription for live content as a result of Apple's exclusive rights deal, though archived content and exclusive productions remain available independently.
Broadcasting access was suspended in Russia and Belarus from March 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Formula One management terminating the contract of Russian rights holder Match TV and blocking F1 TV access from both territories.