The deal runs until the end of 2018 and Dominic Coles, chief operating officer of the BBC news group, says that “in terms of licence fees we have saved hundreds of millions of pounds over the whole period of the contract.” The saving is understood to come to £150m over the seven year lifespan of the deal and although the BBC has lost half of the live races its fee has reduced by more than 50% because Sky is paying comparatively more. “Our fee is down by three quarters,” says Mr Coles.