F1 And Speed Channel Splitting After This Season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The cable sports channel Speed will no longer air Formula One races after 17 years.

Fox Sports Media Group, which owns Speed, confirmed Friday that the partnership will end after this season. The network indicated it was outbid for the U.S. broadcast rights by a “different media partner.”

Two people familiar with the negotiations tell The Associated Press that F1 was in talks with NBC for U.S. broadcast rights. The people spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement.  NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speed partnered with F1 in 1996. It moved to live coverage in 1997, and has expanded to live coverage of qualifying and practice sessions of the most popular motorsports series in the world.