2023 Indy 500 late race restart

IndyCar: Total TV Viewership up slightly in 2023

NBC Sports’ 2023 coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES delivered the most-watched INDYCAR season in 12 years – with and without streaming.

Since 2011, it was NBC Sports’ most-watched season on record, and the most-streamed season ever.

The 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, headlined by Alex Palou’s second career series championship and Josef Newgarden’s Indy 500 victory, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.32 million viewers across NBC, USA Network, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms. This ranks as the most-watched season for the INDYCAR SERIES since 2011 (1.39 million viewers, NBCSN/ABC) and the best in NBC Sports history, up 2% vs. last year’s then-record viewership (1.30 million viewers, NBC/USA Network/NBC Sports Digital). TAD is based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

Half of the season’s 16 races on television delivered a TAD of more than 1 million viewers, tying last year for the highest mark since 2008. NBC’s 13 races posted a TAD of 1.47 million viewers, up 4% vs. last year’s coverage on NBC (1.42 million, 14 races).

Overall viewership was led by the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500, which delivered a TAD of 4.93 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. The race also had a 13 share (percentage of homes watching television at the time of the race), its best in 15 years (2008; 13 share).

Led by comprehensive streaming coverage on Peacock, including the platform’s exclusive presentation of the Honda Indy Toronto on July 16, the 2023 season ranked as the most-streamed INDYCAR season on record with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 58,000 viewers, up 15% vs. 2022.

Locally, Indianapolis led all markets with a 3.26 rating for the season. Following are the Top 10 markets for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

RANK MARKET RATING
1 Indianapolis 3.26
2 Knoxville 1.82
3 Louisville 1.52
4 Greenville 1.39
5 Ft. Myers 1.36
6 Dayton, OH 1.30
7 Milwaukee 1.23
8 Cincinnati 1.20
9 Detroit 1.18
9 Richmond-Petersburg 1.18

–NBC SPORTS–

TV data only (Excludes Streaming Data)

The all-important 18-49 year old viewership continues to plummet year over year.

2021 to 2022: down 6.07%

2022 to 2023: down 13.6%

IndyCar Avg 18-49 Age Group Viewership  in 2023: 17.9% (a death knell)

F1 Avg 18-49 Age Group Viewership in 2023: 42%

Total IndyCar TV Viewership 2022 to 2023: Up 5.0%

Average IndyCar USA TV Viewership Per Race: 1,058.647 (Much better than the NBCSN days)

Average F1 USA TV Viewership Per Race (2023 to date): 1,240,000

Average F1 Global TV Viewership Per race (2023 to date): 72 million

Venue 2021 Network 2021 Rating 2021 Viewers 2021 18-49 2022 Network 2022 Rating 2022 Viewers 2022 18-49 2023 Network 2023 Rating 2023 Viewers 2023 18-49
St. Pete NBC 0.77 1,219,000 290,000 NBC 0.89 1,405,000 337,000 NBC 0.76 1,189,000 216,000
Barber NBC 0.59 914,000 257,000 NBC 0.59 920,000 193,000 NBC 0.57 930,000 178,000
Long Beach  NBCSN 0.21 368,000 78,000 NBC 0.64 1,055,000 294,000 NBC 0.61 1,026,000 193,000
Indy GP  NBC 0.64 1,024,000 229,000 NBC 0.60 998,000 232,000 NBC 0.46 715,000 120,000
Indy 500  NBC 3.15 5,547,000 1,125,000 NBC 2.69 4,618,000 914,000 NBC 2.65 4,710,000 734,000
Detroit 1 NBC 0.53 842,000 193,000
Detroit 2 NBC 1.11 1,383,000 363,000 USA 0.23 354,000 94,000 NBC 0.65 1,047,000 177,000
Texas 1 NBCSN 0.22 358,000 77,000 NBC 0.62 954,000 211,000 NBC 0.53 830,000 178,000
Texas 2 NBCSN 0.24 407,000 98,000
Elkhart Lake NBCSN 0.47 800,000 164,000 NBC 0.69 1,087,000 208,000 USA 0.23 385,000 84,000
Toronto Peacock Not Published – too embarrassingly low
Iowa 1 NBC 0.61 941,000 186,000 0.70 1,121,000 240,000
Iowa 2 NBC 0.45 719,000 114,000 0.60 1,055,000 180,000
Mid-Ohio NBC 0.87 1,298,000 295,000 NBC 0.57 877,000 213,000 USA 739,000 100,000
Nashville NBCSN 0.68 1,200,000 288,000 CNBC 0.09 121,000 24,000 NBC 0.70 1,113,000 195,000
Indy GP 2 NBCSN 0.30 502,000 141,000 NBC 0.67 1,046,000 233,000 USA 0.30 556,000 104,000
Gateway NBCSN 0.25 434,000 103,000 USA 0.34 553,000 138,000 NBC 0.60 1,090,000 254,000
Portland NBC 0.43 666,000 124,000 NBC 0.61 979,000 208,000 NBC 0.60 953,000 189,000
Laguna Seca NBC 0.44 715,000 179,000 NBC 0.32 507,000 137,000 NBC 0.33 538,000 85,000
Annual Total 17,677,000 4,004,000 17,139,000 3,737,000 17,997,000 3,227,000
% Chg ’20 to ’21 51.1% 5,977,000 % Chg ’21 to ’22 -3.0% -538,000 % Chg ’22 or ’23 +5.0% +858,000