2018 IndyCar TV Viewership decline accelerates
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| IndyCar TV Executives say ratings are up. Do NOT believe them – viewership is down 14.2% this year |
IndyCar TV losses continue to accelerate for 2018 with the loss of viewers through Pocono now over 2.1 million. Last weekend's Pocono race saw another 15% drop in TV rating from last year.
If all the races were on network TV this year with an average of 1 million viewers per race (plus Indy 500) the total viewership would be about 19 million thru Pocono, an increase of 49.6% and sponsors would be knocking down the door to join the series.
| Venue | Network | 2016 Rating |
2016 Viewers |
2017 Rating |
2017 Viewers |
2018 Rating |
2018 Viewers |
| St. Petersburg | ABC | 1 | 1,400,000 | 0.8 | 1,190,000 | 0.81 | 1,144,000 |
| Phoenix | NBCSN | 0.29 | 363,000 | 0.21 | 343,000 | 0.19 | 253,000 |
| Long Beach | NBCSN | 0.37 | 402,000 | 0.21 | 321,000 | 0.24 | 370,000 |
| Barber | NBCSN | 0.26 | 279,000 | 0.39 | 470,000 | <0.20 | 310,000 |
| Indy GP | ABC | 1.0 | 1,300,000 | 0.7 | 1,000,000 | 0.8 | 1,140,000 |
| Indy 500 | ABC | 3.9 | 6,000,000 | 3.4 | 5,500,000 | 3.1 | 4,900,000 |
| Detroit 1 | ABC | 0.7 | 1,000,000 | 0.6 | 847,000 | 0.55 | 751,000 |
| Detroit 2 | ABC | 0.6 | 918,000 | 0.9 | 1,400,000 | 0.6 | 936,000 |
| Texas | NBCSN | 0.3 | 388,000 | 0.35 | 561,000 | 0.21 | 336,000 |
| Elkhart Lake | NBCSN | 0.33 | 470,000 | 0.37 | 568,000 | 0.22 | 322,000 |
| Iowa | NBCSN | 0.37 | 534,000 | 0.37 | 534,000 | 0.31 | 452,000 |
| Toronto | CNBC (live) | 171,000 | 187,000 | ||||
| Toronto | NBCSN (delay) | 0.3 | 530,000 | 0.32 | 489,000 | 0.29 | 458,000 |
| Mid-Ohio | NBCSN (delay) | 0.55 | 811,000 | 0.39 | 576,000 | 0.39 | 644,000 |
| Mid-Ohio | CNBC (live) | 0.13 | 200,000 | 0.09 | 139,000 | ||
| Pocono | NBCSN | 0.45 | 635,000 | 0.4 | 618,000 | 0.34 | 542,000 |
| 2016 Total | 15,201,000 | 2017 Total | 14,804,000 | 2018 Total | 12,697,000 | ||
| Chg from 2016 |
-397,000 | Chg from 2017 |
-2,107,000 |