Extreme E adds Belgium’s Radio Télévision Belge Francophone to its broadcast portfolio

Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button have all founded teams to compete in the Extreme E Series

Extreme E has confirmed Belgium’s Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) as the latest addition to its growing list of broadcasters.

The series will join a long list of motorsport already available on the RTBF’s linear channel and digital platform, including Formula 1.

RTBF is the public broadcasting organisation of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of the country. It operates four television channels: La Une, Tipik, La Trois and Arte Belgique;  alongside radio channels, La Première, RTBF International, VivaCité, Musiq3, Classic 21 and Tipik Radio.

Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, commented: “We are delighted to have added Belgium to our broadcast reach, and we are confident that Extreme E will fit perfectly within the plethora of exciting sport already aired by RTBF.

“Belgium loves its motorsport, the country is well-known for producing some of the world’s greatest racing drivers, so we have no doubt that Extreme E will delight the audience with its illustrious list of competitors and its thrilling format in addition to providing all the significant human and environmental stories behind the race series itself.”

Manu Van der Brempt, Motorsport line producer at RTBF, added: “RTBF is very involved in the challenges of the future, audiovisual evolution as well as environmental matters. Moreover, most Belgians appreciate creativity and that’s a major part of Extreme E’s proposition: thoughtful innovation, an initiative to commend from my point of view.”

Extreme E has already attracted some of the biggest names in motorsport including Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, who have founded teams X44, Rosberg Xtreme Racing and JBXE respectively. Button will also make up the male half of his driver pairing, with his female teammate yet to be announced.

Following the inaugural race in Saudi Arabia (3 to 4 April), the series will visit Senegal (29 to 30 May), Greenland (28 to 29 August), Brazil (23 to 24 October) and Patagonia (11 to 12 December). By holding races in areas that are suffering at the hands of the environmental crisis, such as tropical rainforests and the Arctic, the aim is to raise viewers’ awareness of and interest in environmental issues.