Formula 1 and RTL are actually inseparable in Germany: Michael Schumacher became world champion there seven times (51), four times Sebastian Vettel (32) and once Nico Rosberg (34). Now everything is over. As the private broadcaster announced, the engagement ends after this season. Since 1991, RTL has been showing the premier class of racing in free TV and, alongside the pilots, has also made moderators and commentators Kai Ebel (55), Florian König (52), Heiko Waßer (62) and Christian Danner (62) into cult stars.
In some cases, more than 10 million people in Germany tuned in to experience great successes such as the Schumacher title wins with Ferrari live on television. RTL boss Jörg Graf (53) said in a statement that the market was overheated in some cases and that if the rights had been secured, the market would have left the economically justifiable framework. You want to focus more on football now. This is the end of a real TV era.
The hottest candidate for the sole broadcasting rights is the pay-TV channel Sky, which so far has only shown the races in parallel with RTL. As a result, the Formula 1 races could completely disappear from free TV next year, a development that has long since been completed in other countries.