LONDON (Brand Republic) - The row between Kirch and car manufacturers over the future of broadcasting rights of Formula 1 racing could die down as the carmakers consider becoming co-owners of SLEC, the company which owns the rights to the sport.
BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Fiat have aggressively opposed Kirch’s involvement in the sport as they fear that Kirch would attempt to remove Formula 1 racing from free-to-air TV and limit its availability to pay-TV.
If the sport was only available on pay-TV, the audience would be much reduced making the sport much less attractive to advertisers.
SLEC, the holder of the broadcasting and other commercial rights to the sport, was 50%-owned by debt-ridden media group EM.TV. Kirch bailed out EM.TV last month when the smaller company ran into trouble when it was unable to meet a commitment to buy a further 25% stake in SLEC that it had previously agreed to.
Kirch provided the $1bn (£691m) required to buy the additional stake in SLEC and took a stake in EM.TV itself.
The car manufacturers are said to have appointed Goldman Sachs to advise them on a possible purchase of a stake in SLEC.
Bernie Ecclestone, who runs SLEC, still has the right to veto the sale of the company to a broadcaster.