Why do I get ads when I pay so much for Sky Sports F1?

[Peterbrook]

Any reason why the live Formula 1 training sessions are interrupted to show adds when we pay so much for it? 
especially as those ads are often irrelevant to me. I don't care about football, cricket or rugby and much less about fights or any other of the sky channels. 
Please just broadcast the sessions, the full sessions and stop the **bleep** ads.

Thank you,

[PandJ2020]

---

@Peterbrook wrote:

Any reason why the live Formula 1 training sessions are interrupted to show adds when we pay so much for it? 

---

Because you'd pay even more if there weren't ads.  And to be fair they don't do this during the main events like the race.

[Daniel0210]

@Peterbrook 
The Sky Community is a customer led discussion forum where Sky customers are available to help other customers. You are NOT contacting Sky Customer Services by posting here.

[MarkGoldsmith]

Ads particularly during live sports being broadcast on linear TV channels won't be going anywhere considering how sporting events are practically the only types of shows the broadcasters can get the highest ad rates for in a dying advertising market. This is mainly due to sporting events being the few things that people will still watch live and therefore can't fast forward ads like you can watching a recording or a on-demand replay.

[nolte]

Curious, do sky put ads on during qualifying or the race itself?

[MarkGoldsmith]

---

@nolte wrote:

Curious, do sky put ads on during qualifying or the race itself?

---

Not during the track action. The race from lights to chequered flag is ad-free and each qualifying session is ad-free expect between the sessions (the gap between the sessions was designed by F1 to allow for broadcasters to take ad breaks without missing anything).

[Marlu-Nyu]

Sky Sports does show adverts—even on paid subscriptions—mainly because it helps subsidise the huge costs of broadcasting rights for major sports like Formula 1, the Premier League, etc. Even though we pay a premium, advertising is still a big part of their business model.

It’s worth noting that Sky doesn’t usually cut away during key live moments like qualifying or the race itself. Practice sessions are often seen as lower priority, so they may insert promotional content or adverts there, assuming it's less disruptive (though I know many fans would disagree!).

[Marlu-Nyu]

---

@Marlu-Nyu wrote:

Sky Sports does show adverts—even on paid subscriptions—mainly because it helps subsidise the huge costs of broadcasting rights for major sports like Formula 1, the Premier League, etc. Even though we pay a premium, advertising is still a big part of their business model.

It’s worth noting that Sky doesn’t usually cut away during key live moments like qualifying or the race itself. Practice sessions are often seen as lower priority, so they may insert promotional content or adverts there, assuming it's less disruptive (though I know many fans would disagree!).

---

Additionally, Sky earns about £10-£15 (≈ €12-€18) per customer per month from advertising alone across all Sky channels.
This equates to an extra annual fee of £120-£180 (≈ €145-€215) extra, you, the customer would need to pay.