Isle of Man TT Gets TV Deal for Australia & USA

Want to watch the Isle of Man TT from the comfort of your non-British TV, but haven’t been able to in the past? A new TV from the Isle of Man’s Department of Economic Development will do just that.

Inking a new TV contract with North One TV, the Isle of Man TT will be televised in the American, Australian, and of course British markets, making it easier than ever to watch the iconic road race.

With a five-year contract with the Velocity Channel in the US, the American cable channel will show seven one-hour race shows. Each segment will air within 24hrs of each race, and be tailored for the American market.

In Australia, FOX Sport has signed a three-year deal to show the Isle of Man TT, and will air 15 one-hour segments. And meanwhile in the UK, ITV4 will continue its superb coverage, with 15 one-hour TT race highlight shows. ITV4 has a new five-year deal.

According to the TT organizers, North One Television has produced TV coverage and managed distribution of the Isle of Man TT Races since its appointment ahead of the 2009 IOMTT Races.

During that timeframe, the worldwide IOMTT audience has grown from 8.1 million in 2010 to 24.4 million viewers in 2013, with programming going out in more than 130 countries.

With the Isle of Man keen to make the TT a globally watched event, these TV deals are a huge step forward to bringing the historic road race into the living room of future fans. With excellent coverage in-market, race enthusiasts out-of-market have in the past been forced to watch the TT by less-than-legal means.

While Velocity & FOX Sports Australia may not be channels that are on every television set, at least there is some means for enthusiasts to watch the races in America and Australia, and that’s an important step. Hopefully the coverage is just as good as the work already being shown on ITV4, if that’s the case, we think this deal bodes well indeed.