Speaking to press representatives, Eddie Cue, Senior Vice President of the Services Division, emphasized the technical superiority of the company’s own streaming offering:
You’ll be able to do things with multi-view and other features that weren’t possible before. Therefore, you’ll have a front row seat to watch the action in a way you’ve never seen before.
Not only the actual race is streamed, but the entire event, i.e. free practice, qualifying, sprint qualifying, sprint, etc. Users can watch up to four camera perspectives in the Apple TV app or on the set-top box of the same name. The streams should be significantly less compressed than the live broadcasts from other manufacturers, Cue promised.
Cooperation with Netflix
In addition, the two competitors Netflix and Apple TV announced a cooperation regarding certain content: As of today, subscribers can watch the eighth season of the documentary series “F1 – Drive to Survive” on Apple TV, while it is simultaneously made available online on Netflix. In return, Netflix is allowed to broadcast the race of the Canadian Grand Prix, which takes place from May 22nd to 24th – whether Netflix only broadcasts the race or also qualifying and training is not clear from the information.
US exclusive
Both the Netflix cooperation and the streaming of the Formula 1 Grand Prix races are limited to the United States. In Germany, Sky has exclusive rights for live broadcasts. The first race this year will take place from March 6th to 8th in Melbourne (Australia), and the following weekend will continue in China. The only Grand Prix in German-speaking Europe will take place in Austria from June 26th to 28th this year. Anyone in Europe who has a subscription to Apple TV can stream the movie “F1 – The Movie” at any time. Netflix subscribers can also watch the Netflix documentary series “F1 – Drive to survive” – the eighth season is already online with all eight episodes.