Sky Italia launches F1 channel

Sky Italia has followed in the footsteps of its UK sister operation BSkyB by launching a dedicated high-definition channel for its Formula 1 coverage.

The Italian pay-TV firm won the rights to live F1 coverage from free-to-air public broadcaster Rai at the end of the 2012 season.

The platform has now launched Sky Sport F1 HD, which will broadcast 10 of the season’s races exclusively live, with the other nine shared with free TV – although an FTA broadcast deal has yet to be agreed.

The new channel will broadcast 30 hours of live shows on each race weekend and will air the Barcelona winter test event from February 28 to March 3 for the first time in Italy.