beIN Sports secures Formula One TV rights for MENA

Rebecca Hawkes | 05-03-2014

Qatar's beIN Sports is the new exclusive FIA Formula One (F1) broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa, after striking a rights deal with MP & Silva which runs until 2019.

beIN Sports will show every race live in both Arabic and English, beginning with this month's Australian Grand Prix. In addition, the network – formerly known as Al Jazeera Sport – will show all of F1's support races, including GP2 and Porsche Supercup.

For the past years Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) has broadcast F1 in a region that has seen the sport attract a growing following, thanks in part to the F1 Grand Prix hosted in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

Meanwhile, in a bid to combat content security issues, the premium beIN Sports satellite channels delivered by Nilesat 7 and Badr / Es'hail 1 at 25.5 degrees East can now only be viewed with viewing cards registered to an official beIN Sport receiver. Viewers now require a registered Humax IR3000 or Humax Free HD set-top box to receive beIN HD channels 6 -15.