Murray Walker signals end for free-to-air TV

Dec.21 - The BBC's expected exit from F1 could also signal the looming end for free-to-air television coverage of sports in general.

That is the view of Murray Walker, the legendary British commentator who spent years commenting not only for the BBC, but also for the public broadcaster's eventual free-to-air successor ITV.

ITV is now tipped to step up once again amid budget cuts at the BBC, although 92-year-old Walker was quoted by the Times as insisting he has no inside info about that.

"I have not heard anything," he said, "but I think it is the way it is going.

"If ITV are taking over then I am sure it will be just as good, and I hope they keep the same people, but my own view is that all sport will soon be pay-to-view," Walker added.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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