Fox Sports will take the MotoGP world feed commentary for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix after using that of the local rights holder for the previous round of the season.
Australian viewers watched the action from Silverstone with commentary from TNT Sports (United Kingdom), formerly BT Sport, which telecasts the championship in Britain.
Typically, Fox Sports would take the world feed which is produced in-house by Dorna Sports, featuring the likes of Matthew Birt, Louis Suddaby, and New Zealander Simon Crafar, who won the 1998 British Grand Prix.
The switch to TNT for this year’s British GP apparently proved unpopular with viewers, with Fox Sports this morning advising that it will revert to its usual practice.
“Round 10 of the MotoGP from Austria should be insane,” read a social media post from Fox Motorsport.
“Live coverage from Friday at 6.45pm.
“A reminder to Foxtel customers that we have listened to your feedback and you will receive the MotoGP world feed this weekend.
“Enjoy all the action from the Red Bull Ring.”
That is likely to please Crafar, who tweeted during the British GP weekend, “I’m sad to hear that Australian MotoGP viewer’s no longer get our (MotoGP.com) coverage.
“We (Dorna commentary team) absolutely love the welcome we get at Phillip Island each year.”
I’m sad to hear that Australian MotoGP viewer’s no longer get our (https://t.co/qK4zdRKMlD) coverage.
We (Dorna commentary team) absolutely love the welcome we get at Phillip Island each year.— Simon Crafar (@simoncrafar) August 5, 2023
Strictly speaking, Fox Sports also takes the ‘world feed’ for its Supercars telecasts, which are produced by the championship’s own television department with some talent supplied by the network, namely host Jessica Yates and pundit Mark Skaife.
Its Formula 1 coverage has been a retransmission of Sky Sports’ offering since it acquired the Australian television rights, and MotoGP has typically been the Dorna world feed, sometimes supplemented by its own studio panel on race days and/or for Phillip Island.
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