Written by Vyas Ponnuri
In case you missed it, Formula E recently announced a new broadcaster for its upcoming Season Ten, in 2024, in the form of Whisper Media, a leading sports and entertainment production company.
Whisper Media will be producing English-language coverage of Formula E for its tenth instalment, among other goodies, including enhanced coverage of the free practice sessions of a race weekend, and the popular duels during qualifying for Formula E races.
From the Mexico City E Prix, Whisper Media will be providing enhanced coverage, in the form of an hour-long build up show to the weekend. This show will shine more light on bringing the sport to life, with enhanced insights into the drivers, storylines, and a deeper dive into Formula E's exciting championship battles.
Whisper Media will be attempting to penetrate deeper into Formula E's growing fanbase, a figure that rose by around 4% last season, reaching 225m, the highest ever cumulative live audience during a Formula E season. The electric racing series also became the fourth-largest motorsport in the world, with an estimated fanbase of 344 Million fans around the world, surpassing NASCAR into the top four.
In addition, the night before the race weekend, Whisper will be providing a revamped all-access areas based around the Free Practice One session of the weekend, featuring drivers on the track, but in a more informal, magazine-style format.
This comes in addition to enhanced coverage of Free Practice Two and Free Practice Three sessions, alongside more exciting coverage of the duels stages of qualifying, which will feature the top eight drivers, four from each group going head-to-head in order to claim pole position, and three vital championship points.
Finally, a star-studded line-up of presenters will also be revealed for season ten, a fair sprinkling of newer names, featuring the likes of the returning favourites — Nicki Shields; former Indy 500 winner and ace commentator Dario Franchitti, former Formula One racer, and commentator Karun Chandhok, former Audi team principal Allan McNish; lead commentator for Season Ten, Tom Brooks, and Radzi Chinyangaya.
Aurora Media Worldwide will continue to produce the host broadcast with Gravity Media's facilities.
Who is Whisper Media? A Look at Formula E's new broadcasters for Season Ten
Whisper Media is a widely-recognised name in the field of sports and entertainment production. Headquartered in Singapore, the company has been a major name in broadcasting over the past two decades, and have become a global force in the field of DBI (Digital Brand Integration), operating all over the world.
DBI refers to an advertising technique which involves addressing one of the quickest growing parts of broadcast advertising — Brand Entertainment.
Whisper Media places advertising imagery across various platforms using state-of-the-art technology and know-how. They elevate the brands out of the usual clutter of advertisements, and help the audience overcome a phenomenon called ad-blindness, which involves customer missing an advertisement due to the clutter of advertisements.
Whisper Media's clients include some prized names within the sporting world, such as FIFA, UEFA, and Premier League (football), Formula One, NFL, Wimbledon (Tennis), and various broadcast channels and platforms such as Peloton, Sky Sports, Channel 4, Paramount Pictures, Amazon Prime Video, and Bose.
Whisper has also been responsible for Formula One coverage to Channel 4 since 2016, delivering highlights from 24 races across five continents, right to your television screens. They also provide special coverage for the British Grand Prix, and have received awards and accolades for their class-leading coverage.
Most notably, Channel 4's Formula One coverage was voted 'Sports Entertainment Show of the Year' at the 2022 Sport Broadcast Awards. Their coverage of a technical sport towards the most ardent and the casual viewers has definitely played an important role in bringing home accolades of such stature.
With such reputation and calibre behind them, Whisper embark on a new journey in 2024, providing Formula E coverage right to the TV screens of Formula E's ever-growing fanbase.
Aarti Dabas, Chief Media Officer, Formula E, said:
“We are excited to work with Whisper who will bring to Formula E their impressive, proven credentials for creating compelling sports and entertainment broadcast content. Formula E is the most competitive motorsport world championship with unrivalled racing action, big personalities in the paddock, and genuine storylines that will capture the imagination of new and current audiences.”
Sunil Patel, CEO & Co-Founder, Whisper, said:
“Our intention for the Formula E coverage is to deliver ‘Entertainment Electrified’. We have an exciting and updated talent line up, as well as ambitious coverage plans, as we seek to redefine the coverage with the inspiring Formula E team. This project will draw on our creative storytelling skills and our absolute passion for motorsport.”
Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship begins in Mexico City on Saturday, January 13th, and features new races in China and Japan, with returning rounds Hyderabad, Sao Paulo, and Portland too. A new venue in Italy is also yet to be announced.