
As Formula 1 Returns to States With U.S. Grand Prix, Here's an Inside Look at How F1 Races Are Produced Behind the scenes with F1 Director of Broadcast and Media Dean Locke By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, October 22, 2021 - 9:43 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After a two-year absence, Formula 1 returns to North America this weekend for the U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. With a sold-out crowd of more than 360,000 fans in attendance, the race will air live on ABC at 3 p.m. ET. Ahead of the race, here is a look back at SVG Europe's chat with Formula 1 Director of Broadcast and Media Dean Locke at the Motorsport Show 2021 on the latest production and broadcasting innovations being used to produce coverage of, and programming around, one of the world's most popular sports.
ESPN Brings Sky Sports' Coverage to the States ESPN and ABC will bring Sky Sports' award-winning presentation of F1 to American viewers and after the series returned to its original U.S. television home in 2018 (the first race ever aired in the country was on ABC in 1962 and races also aired on ESPN from 1984-1997).
During the pandemic, Sky's European territories collaborated in ways they hadn't done before, earning them a place on the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021 shortlist for Outstanding Production Achievement - Event.'
Particularly strong was the collaboration between Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and Sky UK that saw technical infrastructure sharing, resource sharing, content sharing, and support across the three territories becoming the new normal on Formula 1 cover. With the power of the group and support from NEP and Tata, Sky Sports were also able to generate maximum output through sharing features, interviews, and even whole shows from Sky UK. In addition to that, they were also able to share facilities (SkyPad) and talent (Nico Rosberg) on-site in Germany and Italy.
Sky Deutschland laid a lot of the groundwork for this shift to collaborate international remote-production, having already moved to a remote model in 2018 for sustainability reasons. This meant that the F1 production was ready to go when the pandemic hit. Coverage was produced from a base in Munich and then paired with a small production unit on-site, with collaboration from the UK Osterley site, and camera feeds from UK, Germany, and Italy.
As F1 Draws More American Eyeballs on ESPN, Series Eyes Expansion to More U.S. Cities Through the first 15 races of 2021, F1 races on ESPN and ESPN2 are averaging 916,000 viewers, up 51% over the entire 2020 season average of 608,000 viewers and 39% higher vs. the average of 660,000 viewers for the first 15 comparable races in 2019.
In addition to increased viewership, F1 continues to expand it footprint in the US. After signing a 10-year deal in April to host the Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium, F1 has also floated aspirations of growing further to cities like Las Vegas and Manhattan.
For more on how F1 race broadcasts are produced, check out this session from the Motorsport Show 2021 featuring Formula 1 Broadcast Executive Director of Television Production Philip Rorke chatting with Fox Sports' NASCAR Coordinating Director Artie Kempner on the tricks of their trade, their tools of choice and anecdotes about their jobs and careers.
The U.S. Grand Prix 2021 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin will air live on ABC at 3 p.m. ET with coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. In addition to Sunday's race telecast, qualifying and all three practice sessions will air on ESPN networks on Friday and Saturday with streaming of all sessions and the race on the ESPN App. ESPN Deportes will air the race, qualifying and the three practice sessions in Spanish.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Encompass Digital Media has been selected by Channel 4, one of the UK's public service broadcasters, to deliver managed linear playout services as part of a...
28/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has confirmed a new partnership with leading Korean systems integrator and distribu...
28/07/2026
Limecraft today announces version 2026.5 of its AI-powered production platform. Limecraft 2026.5 https://(www.limecraft.com/limecraft-2026-5-multicam-quad-view-...
28/07/2026
X Platform technology enabled a premium UHD viewing experience through a hybrid ground-to-cloud architecture developed with Chilevisi n, ClaroVTR and Pixop
App...
28/07/2026
LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today announced it has set historic performance records during the 2026 World Foo...
28/07/2026
dhd.audio announces that its latest generation firmware, Version 10.4, is now available to DHD customers. Version 10.4 introduces expanded configuration capabil...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/07/2026
Brand's Intuitive Metering and Dialogue Tools Improve Efficiency and Maintain Clarity Across Projects Ranging from Sitcoms to Effects Heavy Fantasy Series
...
28/07/2026
TAG Video Systems, a leader in 100% software-based realtime media monitoring, multiviewing and quality control (QC), today announced the latest innovations to i...
28/07/2026
Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Between the maturation of IP and remot...
28/07/2026
New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Large format sensor allows Texas Legacy ...
28/07/2026
NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to ...
28/07/2026
AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Epic Games
Leading creative applications are...
28/07/2026
How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens When he was a Berklee student, Aggeler volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, where he hel...
28/07/2026
Anyone can make a robot move; NVIDIA Jetson makes it think. As a discerning AI i...
28/07/2026
RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, RT Radio 1, RT One and RT Player to showcase the best of the reels, rhymes and rambles from Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na h ireann 202...
28/07/2026
Through a wide range of perspectives, this documentary looks at how Ireland might navigate one of the defining political questions of the future
Wednesday, Jul...
27/07/2026
The Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation has named its scholarship and grant recipients for the 2026/2027 academic year. The awards support students...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have signed a multi-year media rights agreement covering basketball championships and select football and ba...
27/07/2026
Yahoo Sports and Cameo have partnered to allow fantasy football users to book personalized celebrity videos directly within the Yahoo Fantasy app and website. T...
27/07/2026
Eutelsat has welcomed the FCC's order establishing the regulatory framework for the transition of Upper C-band spectrum in the United States. Under the orde...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a global rights agreement for the 2026 season. Events will air bi-weekly on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET beginni...
27/07/2026
NBCUniversal and YouTube have signed a multi-year global partnership that includes bundling Peacock with YouTube Premium, extending NBCUniversal's distribut...
27/07/2026
Agenda includes presentations from the Miami Heat, Inter Miami, Florida Panthers...
27/07/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
27/07/2026
Ten one-minute shorts will roll out across CBS, The CW, Paramount+ during the 2026 PBR Teams season
PBR is officially moving into scripted animation. The Profe...
27/07/2026
Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute shared the names of this year's cohor...
27/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
27/07/2026
Latest MPE-capable instrument completes Pure Trilogy line-up
Sonora Cinematic have just released the third and final instalment in their series of acoustic ...
27/07/2026
Emulates four varieties of optical compression
The latest addition to the fedDSP line-up has just been announced, and packs four distinct optical compressor...
27/07/2026
Optical & FET compressors join 500-series line-up
At our recent GearExpo UK show, we heard from Drawmer that they would soon be launching a pair of new 500-...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Lightware announces SNMPv3-based monitoring support for selected Taurus devices, available from firmware v1.20.0. The update enables IT administrators and AV in...
27/07/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its vision for the Real-Time...
27/07/2026
All episodes available Thursday 6 August on Sky and streaming service NOWMonday ...
27/07/2026
Why Confidence MattersIn this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along the way, we ex...
27/07/2026
Apple today announced AppleCare One - a new way for customers to protect multipl...
27/07/2026
Yesterday witnessed truly memorable scenes in Croke Park, bringing the curtain d...
27/07/2026
Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval...
27/07/2026
Open source software is a critical pillar of the global economy. It underpins cloud computing, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, government...
26/07/2026
What is Audio Vivid? A New Destination for Immersive Audio Over the past several years, immersive audio has evolved from a niche production consideration into a...