Germany celebrates F1’s return to free TV

German stakeholders and Formula 1 fans are celebrating the sport’s 2024 return to free-to-air television screens.

This year, with Nico Hulkenberg now the only German driver, and with no German races on the calendar, exclusive pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland recorded an alarming slump in audience numbers for 2023.

Things will change for 2024. Sky has entered a new 2-year arrangement with Germany’s traditional free-to-air F1 broadcaster RTL to air seven of the 24 grands prix per season.

"For the first time in my life, I’m at a loss for words," colourful former RTL commentator Kai Ebel told the Kolner Express newspaper.

"I have various projects already for 2024, but of course, Formula 1 is my life and it would be very nice to work on the grid again. We’d have to talk about it first."

Hulkenberg also welcomes the development as "great news".

"As a German F1 driver, I am of course pleased that the sport will once again gain visibility among the masses in my home country," he told RTL.

"It’s an important step after the relevance of the sport in this country declined in recent years."

Even Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko, an Austrian, commented: "I am very pleased that RTL, which made Formula 1 so popular in Germany, is coming back.

"Seven races on free TV will certainly help ensure that the boom that is shaping Formula 1 worldwide will also have positive effects in Germany."