From the Dakar Rally, to the Shanghai Porsche Carrera Cup and back to the Isle of Man TT – the Island’s Motorsports Media Cluster is poised for growth. Congratulations go to Greenlight Television on their announcement of host broadcaster for the TT Races and Classic TT for the next five years.

Greenlight TV, headquartered in the Isle of Man and one of the global leading motorsports video production and distribution companies with offices in America and the UK, have released the following statement:

“We are all delighted to have been awarded the host broadcast contract for the Isle of Man TT Races and Classic TT Races for the next five years. Both are unique and iconic events in their own way and we look forward to working with the organisers, officials and riders to deliver exciting and engaging programming.”

The operation will be supported by Isle of Man based SES Satellite Leasing, the investment arm of global satellite broadcaster SES and sponsor of the TT Zero, along with Duke Marketing, operator of the official IOM TT web & social media coverage and specialised motorsport video distributor. The project has already created further job opportunities within the media industry on the Isle of Man.

 “The Isle of Man has a rich history of motorsports media production, fueled by, but not only on, the Isle of Man TT Races forming the road racing capital of the world. The Isle of Man has welcomed filming of BBC ‘Top Gear’ on many occasions as well as CineMANX TT hit 3D Closer to The Edge (2011), and 3 Wheeling (2017). Filming on the roads of the Isle of Man, including the infamous Mountain Road, is ideal due to a restricted speed limit, spectacular swerving landscapes perfect for filming aerial shots with a fast moving vehicle, and also the motorsports and media inclined Isle of Man Government operating flexible regulations to close public roads and offering financial incentives for media ventures.”, Michael Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Isle of Media explained.

 

“2018 has already been a good year so far for the Isle of Man’s motorsport media industry. In January this year Bloom Creative joined forces with Lydon Poskitt Racing to film the 2018 Dakar Rally and the announcement of investment into the Isle of Man by Motorsport Network, the world largest independent motorsports media platform which also operates motorsport.tv, was seen earlier in February.”

The TT may be the world’s oldest, and still deadliest motorbike race, longer and faster than any MotoGP, on an unsecured street course over the highlands and through towns, the race defies any description like Formula 1 with cliffs, MotoGP on steroids, or the Mecca of motorbike racing. Deeply rooted in the DNA of the Isle of Man, the ultimate Friday’s Senior TT Race creates a bank holiday.

TT race week broadcasts are reaching around 600,000 viewers on ITV4 in the UK alone, while the global viewer figures for YouTube videos currently peak around 2 million, just on the official channel. Yet, it is not the only motorsport on the Isle of Man, there are a swathe of other motorsports on the Isle of Man, including Drag Racing, Rallying, historic Bentley Racing, Hill Climbs, Drifting, Stockcars and Motorcycle Trials, even the recent Drone Racing, DR1 Champion Series was filmed along Marine Drive in 2017.

Aside from the sports men and women themselves, the motorsports bring their very own famous faces to the Isle of Man, DJ Carl Cox, The Prodigy front man Keith Flint are regular visitors to the TT and Matt LeBlanc has been seen filming on the Island. After a visit to the Isle of Man TT in 2017 former CEO of the Discovery Channel and President of Emerging Networks US, including Velocity – the Car & Motorsports channel, Clark Bunting described the Isle of Man:

“I found this place to be remarkable – the variety of landscape and, of course, the adrenaline thrills of the TT. It is a secret jewel – and I’ll be back for business and pleasure. I can’t recall ever visiting a place with such warm and welcoming people.”

It’s just been announced that the world-leading Duke Video Archive from Duke Marketing has been acquired by Motorsport Network. The investment is expected to bring additional employment to the Isle of Man digital and media cluster.

Duke Marketing are one of the world’s foremost publishers, distributors and rights holders for motor racing content. This agreement will provide a significant enhancement of Motorsport.tv, which is part of the Motorsport Network Group, with back catalogue in premier series such as MotoGP and the World Rally Championship.

The Duke Video catalogue includes over 1,500 titles and more than 2,500 hours of content including rally, sports cars and touring cars, as well as an unmatched pedigree in bike racing, with Isle of Man TT films dating back to 1948 and World Championship motorcycle sports from the 1980s at the heart of the collection.

Duke Video was founded in the Isle of Man and launched in 1981 by Peter Duke, son of six-time Isle of Man TT winner and six-time World Champion, Geoff Duke OBE and the business is known internationally for its season review videos. Peter will become CEO of the newest partner in the Motorsport Network.

Commenting on the agreement that will see investment and jobs created on the Isle of Man, Peter Duke said:

“There is great strategic alignment between our content and Motorsport Network’s capacity to put our rich archive of content in front of millions more fans.  We’re also delighted as a company that Motorsport Network will give us a massive marketing boost to expand the volume, range and breadth of content that we produce.  We look forward to exciting opportunities to bring new products – including motorsport travel packages as well as collectable videos –  to the market and dealing with new customers across the globe. ”

Motorsport Network’s Chairman, Zak Brown poured praise on the Isle of Man company and the growth in his own business:

“Duke has been a staple of the sport for four decades and we’re really excited to expand the availability of this treasury of content to our audiences through Motorsport.tv’s broadcast and OTT capability. This is the second significant announcement in as many weeks that will bring a universe of exclusive motorsport content to our worldwide audience via the Network and most particularly, Motorsport.tv.”

Motorsport Network has over 160 million-page views per month, websites in 17 languages, publications in 8 languages, a massive commitment to OTT TV.

The strategic pairing with Motorsport.tv’s extensive audiences will bring the Duke catalogue to a global audience of motorsport enthusiasts to the benefit of both organisations.

All of Motorsport.tv’s content, including the Duke catalogue, will be available online and on-demand on both Motorsport.tv’s OTT web platform and iOS and Android mobile devices, with new distribution via Apple TV and Roku coming shortly.

Motorsport Network is also available on cable, satellite across much of western Europe and Russia, and via OTT globally.