In the run-up to Apple TV’s inaugural season as the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of Formula 1, DirecTV has announced that it is making the 24-race circuit available nationwide to both residential and business customers.

The agreement means that anyone who subscribes to Apple TV through DirecTV will now be able to discover and watch Apple TV’s live sports directly within their DirecTV experience, without having to exit to a separate app.

Its business customers include 300,000-plus sports bars, restaurants, hotels, and other commercial venues served by DirecTV For Business.

With F1 on Apple TV, fans can enjoy all 24 Grand Prix races, including practice, qualifying, and sprint sessions, all in one place.

DirecTV’s agreement also renews the same customers’ access to Apple TV’s live sports with Major League Baseball’s "Friday Night Baseball” doubleheaders throughout the 2026 campaign, as well as with a new season of Major League Soccer, starting this Saturday, Feb. 21. Starting this season, Apple is also including all MLS matches in its standard Apple TV subscription at no extra cost.

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Harmonic has announced that WRC Promoter GmbH has deployed Harmonic's VOS360 Media SaaS for playout and streaming of live sports events.

WRC Promoter is the company responsible for TV production and commercial aspects of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX).

"The WRC fan base is growing, and our goal is to maximize our viewership," said Philipp Maenner, WRC Promoter's senior director of media rights. "Harmonic's VOS360 Media SaaS streamlines the playout and delivery of live events and linear channels, helping us expand our video streaming service. With Harmonic's VOS360 SaaS, we can deliver video to new affiliates on the fly, broadening our global footprint."

Using VOS360 Media SaaS, WRC Promoter successfully launched Rally.TV, a new linear channel, and consolidated multiple apps (WRC, ERC, World RX) into a single platform. VOS360 SaaS is deployed in a geo-redundant configuration, assuring the highest service availability. Real-time scaling and geo-redundancy features on VOS360 SaaS enable WRC Promoter to stream sports events reliably and at scale, with pristine video quality, Harmonic reported. 

"Our VOS360 Media SaaS powers streaming for many of the world's top sports events, and we're excited to help WRC Promoter achieve unparalleled scalability, reliability and quality," said Gil Rudge, senior vice president, video products and solutions at Harmonic. "With VOS360 SaaS, WRC Promoter can tap into the efficiencies of the cloud and utilize the same playout feed for delivery to consumers and affiliates, bringing exceptional-quality live sports streaming to more than 250 million motorsport fans."

Harmonic will demonstrate its latest innovations in streaming and broadcast delivery at IBC2023, Sept. 15-18 in Amsterdam. To schedule a meeting with Harmonic in stand 1.B20, visit https://info.harmonicinc.com/ibc. Further information about Harmonic and the company's solutions is available at www.harmonicinc.com. 

SPEEDWAY, IN.—ABC’s 54th telecast of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race—a Memorial Day tradition—will be the network’s last, bringing a five-decades-long legacy to an end. A part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the “Indy 500” will be broadcast Sunday, May 27, 2018—starting with the pre-race show at 11am ET—across the network’s many distribution outlets, as well as mobile devices using the ESPN App and WatchABC App. Beginning in 2019, broadcasts of the Indy500 and other IndyCar races will be broadcast on the NBC broadcast network and NBCSN.  

Regarded as one of ESPN’s largest and most complex television productions, the 2018 Indy 500 will utilize 110 cameras—a record for this event—covering on-track action from dozens of locations. Four super Slo-Mo cameras will be situated around the track, one at each turn, to enhance replay coverage.

The camera complement includes a variety of specialty cameras that will provide unique viewpoints, including cameras mounted on inside and outside of competing cars, on a crew member’s helmet, as well as on a parachutist dropping into the high-profile race’s venue, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABC will also provide a second screen experience where viewers using the ESPN App will be able to choose between the different live video streams coming from the four on-board cameras mounted within 14 competing cars. Drivers that will have on-board cameras in their cars include: Danica Patrick, who is competing in the final race of her career, defending Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, and 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden.

[Read: Indy 500 Aims To Speed Into Living Rooms]

Sato and Rahal will also have a tiny visor cam on their helmets, giving fans a unique driver’s perspective of how it feels to be inside the car. And Blair Julian, left front tire changer for Dixon’s pit crew, will wear an “over the wall” camera on his helmet, giving viewers an exclusive look at pit stop action.

The production will also include: 210 microphones, 16 EVS machines with 123 record and playback channels, nine mobile units, four uplinks transmitting 17 satellite paths, and roughly 170,000 feet of fiber cable runs connecting the equipment.

Among the 150 technical crew members will be Senior Coordinating Producer Amy Rosenfeld, Producer Jim Gaiero, Director Bruce Watson, and Coordinating Producer Kate Jackson, who will produce the prerace show with Chip Dean directing.

In light of the historical significance, the telecast will feature a variety of pre-produced video packages, including a tribute to ABC’s 54 consecutive years of coverage, starting with its first on “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” in 1965. Other race-related features, documentaries, and race coverage can be found on ESPN SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, ESPN+, ESPN Classic, ESPN International, and the WatchABC App.