TV News: Weekend USA TV Ratings – NASCAR, IndyCar Tank, F1 booms
Here is the USA TV Ratings detail from last weekend. NASCAR and IndyCar tanked, F1 was very strong. At the current pace under Liberty media, soon, F1 will rule America.
Analysis
NASCAR Cup: The TV rating for the NASCAR Cup race from Road America on the USA Network was a 1.15, down 35.75% from last year’s 1.79 TV Rating on NBC. Viewership dropped from 3.078 million in 2021 to 1.930 million this year, a loss of over 1 million viewers. Only 20% of the Viewers were in the 18-49 year old age bracket, which indicates an aging, dying out fan base.
Formula 1: The TV Ratings for the F1 British GP on ESPN2 was a 0.64, up 5% from last year on ESPN. It was the most viewed British GP on record. It was the most viewed F1 race ever on ESPN2. More importantly, 52% of the viewers were in the 18-49 year old age bracket, by far more than any other race series. This is extremely important to advertisers and sponsors, and looking at the consistent trend now, it’s clear that only F1 matters. The other series are all dying a slow, painful death. ESPN/ESPN2/ABC are averaging 1.3 million viewers per race through 10 races – up 37 pct over this point last year (961K) and up 39 pct over full 2021 season (949K). Imagine how huge the F1 TV ratings would be if there was an American driver in a competitive car!
SRX Series: The TV rating for the SRX race from Stafford Springs on CBS was a 0.61, down 22.78% from last year’s 0.79 TV Rating also on CBS. Only 16% of the viewers were in the 18-49 year old age bracket, indicating SRX is not meeting the target audience that advertisers want, i.e. only old fogies are watching the old retired drivers and living in the past.
IndyCar: The TV rating for the IndyCar race from Mid-Ohio on NBC was a 0.57, down 34.48% from last year’s 0.87 rating, also on NBC. Last year’s race drew 1.3 million viewers vs. 877,000 this year, a loss of 1/3 its viewers in one year. The IndyCar race on over-the-air NBC drew 41.3% less viewers than F1 on a cable channel. Only 24% of the IndyCar Viewers were in the 18-49 year old age bracket, which indicates an aging, dying out fan base. In fact the IndyCar race on over-the-air NBC got far less viewers in the 18-49 age bracket than even the F1 Qualifying Broadcast received on a cable channel (ESPN2). If only IndyCar was sold to Liberty Media, who planned to make it a global powerhouse like F1, instead of a small domestic series. IndyCar was big under CART when CART tried to make it into an F1-like series. What might have been!
Detail TV Ratings
| Network | Event | Location | Total Viewers | 18-49 Viewers | Ratio: 18-49 Yr Old /Total Viewers |
2022 TV Rating | 2021 TV Rating | %Chg |
| USA | NASCAR Cup Race L | Road America | 1,930,000 | 384,000 | 20% | 1.15 | 1.79 | -35.75% |
| ESPN2 | Formula 1 British GP L | Silverstone | 1,239,000 | 643,000 | 52% | 0.64 | *0.61 | 4.92% |
| CBS | SRX Race L | Stafford Springs | 975,000 | 152,000 | 16% | 0.61 | 0.79 | -22.78% |
| USA | NASCAR Xfinity Race L | Road America | 881,000 | 206,000 | 23% | 0.58 | 0.80 | -27.50% |
| NBC | IndyCar Race L | Mid-Ohio | 877,000 | 213,000 | 24% | 0.57 | 0.87 | -34.48% |
| ESPN2 | Formula 1 Qualifying L | Silverstone | 664,000 | 312,000 | 47% | 0.40 | 0.48 | -16.67% |
| NBC | IMSA Race L | Mosport | 420,000 | 86,000 | 20% | 0.28 | **0.16 | 75.00% |
| ESPN2 | Formula 1 Pre-Race | Silverstone | 290,000 | 109,000 | 38% | 0.19 | N/A | N/A |
*Race was on ESPN last year vs. ESPN2 this year
**Race was on NBCSN last year from Lime Rock, vs. NBC this year