Long Beach IndyCar TV Rating (Update)

Rossi leads at the start

UPDATE NBCSN has failed IndyCar again and the sport has this to look forward to for the next 3.5 years. The final rating for IndyCar's 2nd biggest race of the year – the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – was a miserable 0.24 with only 370,000 total viewers tuned in and only 82,000 in the all-important 18-49 year old range.

If there is any good in the numbers, they are up 14% from last years horrible final rating of 0.21 on NBCSN with 321,000 total viewers, also up slightly. However, the 18-49 viewers were 83,000 in 2017 and dropped to 82,000 this year. When the numbers are this small you get large % changes, but it's the number of viewers that is significant. How much value did NBCSN deliver to IndyCar's sponsors?

The poor ratings on NBCSN are consistently bad and after 10 years of having to endure such pain, we have another three years of additional pain and suffering ahead of us.

Too bad that IndyCar is perhaps the best kept secret to great racing in the world, and with ESPN International soon gone, it will be an even greater secret as no one outside of North America will ever see again.

Massive crowd but hardly anyone saw it on NBCSN

04/16/18

NBCSN earned a 0.30 overnight rating for yesterday's Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, up 11% from a 0.27 for last year's race.

A 0.30 rating is horrible for IndyCar's 2nd biggest race of the year. They should be ashamed of themselves

In 2016 the race earned a 0.37 on NBCSN – better than 2018 but still horrible

In 2015 the race earned a 0.32 on NBCSN – better than 2018 but still horrible

Conclusion: NBC Sports Network does fantastic race broadcast production, but can't deliver a good TV rating if its life depended on it.

ABC delivered a 0.87 rating for the season opener = 1.147 million viewers. The next two IndyCar races on NBCSN saw IndyCar get a 0.19 (Phoenix) and a 0.30 (Long Beach).

So what new TV deal does IndyCar sign? Only 8, up from 6, races on a network channel, instead of 100% of the races on a network channel.