A comprehensive TV distribution package has been organised for the second round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship, the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, with more countries than ever broadcasting live and direct the best of sportscar racing in the world.
Over two and a half billion viewers will be able to view prestige motor manufacturers such as Audi, Porsche and Toyota going head-to-head in the 2015 battle of hybrid technology. Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche in GTE will be among the 34 cars due to take part in the six-hour event to be held on Saturday, May 2 at one of Europe’s most iconic circuits, Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes forest region of Belgium.
In Europe the race is due to be shown live across Europe by Eurosport 1 and Motors TV with a combined reach of over 399 million homes. Additionally, the entire race will be shown live by Austria’s ORF Sport Plus channel, Belgium’s RTBF (first and last hours plus a highlights show) and live news on TV2 in Denmark and n-tv in Germany. The host country for the fourth round of the WEC, Germany, will also show highlights on RTL, interest undoubtedly increased with the addition of F1 driver Nico Hülkenberg to the driver ranks of the WEC. The Netherlands’ RTL7 and Sport1 plus Switzerland’s SRG/SSR will also show highlights packages.
In the Asia Pacific area, Eurosport’s multiple territories will show the race live and as a highlights show to its 25 million viewers, while China’s Letv will also show the whole race LIVE to satisfy the ever-growing interest in sports car racing, which is attracting more top names as well as manufacturer participation. Australia’s Fox Sports will show the live and follow it with a 52’ highlights package, while New Zealand’s TV3 will take the highlights – there are four Antipodean drivers competing in the Belgian round, attracting much focus in the Southern Hemisphere. J-Sports in Japan and Sony6 in the Indian sub-continent will also show the traditional warm up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans live and as highlights to a potential 58 million viewers.
FOX Sports 1 in the USA – which had superb viewing figures for the 6 Hours of Silverstone – will once again offer the opportunity to its 100 million potential viewers to see American team Tequila Patron ESM Racing and actor-turned-racer Patrick Dempsey form part of the non-stop track action in Belgium. The first 2.5 hours of the race will be shown live on FOX Sports 1, the next 2 hours on FOX Sports 2, and the final 1.5 hours back on FOX Sports 1, while FOX LATAM also broadcast 3.5 hours of the race to 43 countries and a potential 100 million viewers in Latin America.
With Bahrain being the final round of the WEC this year, there is increasing interest in the Middle East and beIN Sports’ 4 million viewers will be able to see highlights of the race to keep track of Abu Dhabi’s Khaled Al Qubaisi among others.
In addition to the TV coverage, the race can be followed live and direct via the WEC’s second screen App (FIAWEC at the App store). On the Web, the race will be available via multiple outlets across the world, and news access will also be available via Reuters, Eurovision, SNTV and Mobil 1: The Grid. Internationally famous endurance racing radioweb service, Radio Le Mans (www.radiolemans.com), will again be available for its huge number of listeners all around the world.
A full list of the worldwide TV distribution can be found HERE
