Barber IndyCar TV ratings

[fasteddy]

I completly agree we need American driver to move the needle, you have some names Todd?

There are plenty of names, but I don't have all day to list the reasons whey they are racing in NASCAR instead.

[jackinbox]

If it were me I would put the races in the morning on Sunday or no later than noon. No one wants to be inside on a Sunday at 3-5pm in nice weather. Its just a bad time to be watching TV. Pit the races either Friday night or weekend late morning/early afternoon to increase TV ratings.

Really? You can't be serious. If Sunday morning is such a ratings juggernaut, then why doesn't NASCAR, the NBA, MLB, etc schedule any events during that time? If that would increase ratings, they would all be doing it. Your "No one wants to be inside on a Sunday at 3-5 in nice weather" argument has no numbers to back that up. What's the earliest time EDT that NASCAR ever runs a race? 1pm??

[Indy-hp]

Many people are in church on Sunday mornings. Sunday afternoon is fairly standard for motor races.

[billt]

I don't know much about ratings, but I do know what I like and it ain't road/street "racing". Once they get to an oval, I'll watch. Until then, it's pretty much all Cup for me.

[Doctorindy]

Long Beach hasn't exactly been a ratings machine of late.

I've found it strange how ABC has not made Long Beach on of "their five" the past couple of years. Especially since it's leading into Indianapolis. Long Beach was a stalwart on ABC for many years.

[ptclaus98]

I've found it strange how ABC has not made Long Beach on of "their five" the past couple of years. Especially since it's leading into Indianapolis. Long Beach was a stalwart on ABC for many years.

If it was, I bet it would be the second highest race in terms of rating.

[use2know]

I've found it strange how ABC has not made Long Beach on of "their five" the past couple of years. Especially since it's leading into Indianapolis. Long Beach was a stalwart on ABC for many years.

ABC aired 12 LBGP's in total... ('88-'97 & '99)

BUT... the OTA Network that was first to televise the CART/CC/IndyCar era Long Beach Grand Prix was NBC ('84-'87)... AND NBC was the last to provide the event with an OTA Nework platform ('05-'07).

[MoparsRule]

American drivers on ovals has been a bvoon for ARCA ratings. They're off the charts.

Easy solution.

[indyracefan]

ABC aired 12 LBGP's in total... ('88-'97 & '99)

BUT... the OTA Network that was first to televise the CART/CC/IndyCar era Long Beach Grand Prix was NBC ('84-'87)... AND NBC was the last to provide the event with an OTA Nework platform ('05-'07).

Things that make you go 'hmmmm'.

[Ernest Miller]

This race never had a chance in the ratings after Tiger Woods became a factor on Saturday and tied for the lead on Sunday at the Masters. American star power taking on the best of the world equals huge ratings in the United States, something AOWR hasn't had since Al. Jr. and Michael were going wheel to wheel with Nigel Mansell , Emmo and Jaques Villeneuve. And this "no one can find VERSUS" argument holds no water with me. On Cox cable in Oklahoma, VERSUS holds a prime spot on the dial, just after all the local channels in HD. Its spot is better than all the ESPN channels. This race would have been better served to have been shown on tape delay Saturday evening . Regards, Ernest

[numetalbizkit]

Versus on DirecTV is 4 channels below Speed and about 400 channels from ESPN, and 600 from local channels...

[Billy Chin]

This race never had a chance in the ratings after Tiger Woods became a factor on Saturday and tied for the lead on Sunday at the Masters. American star power taking on the best of the world equals huge ratings in the United States, something AOWR hasn't had since Al. Jr. and Michael were going wheel to wheel with Nigel Mansell , Emmo and Jaques Villeneuve. And this "no one can find VERSUS" argument holds no water with me. On Cox cable in Oklahoma, VERSUS holds a prime spot on the dial, just after all the local channels in HD. Its spot is better than all the ESPN channels. This race would have been better served to have been shown on tape delay Saturday evening . Regards, Ernest

The final round of the Masters was off something like 12% from last year, so that excuse has already been debunked.

[Chris Paff]

The final round of the Masters was off something like 12% from last year, so that excuse has already been debunked.

Also last years race was during the Masters

[use2know]

The final round of the Masters was off something like 12% from last year, so that excuse has already been debunked.

Because of the over-all length of the televised events, the individuals who make a living dissecting viewer metrics for golf prefer to use cumulative numbers... Using a cume standard, the Sat. and Sun. Network coverage pulled down the second largest number of viewers to watch all or part of the Masters in 10 years.

But if you wish to use the "final round down 12% from last year" standard... it was still the third highest-rated Masters final round in 10 years.

You cannot convince me that having 35.8 million viewers watch all or part of the Sun. final round coverage of the Masters had absolutely no effect on the viewership numbers for competing TV sporting events...

[Billy Chin]

Because of the over-all length of the televised events, the individuals who make a living dissecting viewer metrics for golf prefer to use cumulative numbers... Using a cume standard, the Sat. and Sun. Network coverage pulled down the second largest number of viewers to watch all or part of the Masters in 10 years.

But if you wish to use the "final round down 12% from last year" standard... it was still the third highest-rated Masters final round in 10 years.

You cannot convince me that having 35.8 million viewers watch all or part of the Sun. final round coverage of the Masters had absolutely no effect on the viewership numbers for competing TV sporting events...

I was simply citing a statistic I read on this site. Certainly would defer to your data and expertise in this area. Thanks for sharing what you know about this stuff.

As to your rhetorical question, I'm sure it had some impact on "competing TV sporting events . . .", though given the relative size of the Indycar audience (both last year and this at Barber, as well as historically), it would seem as though the specific impact to Indycar was likely minimal. Would obviously be interested in whatever statistical data you have access to that demonstrates whether that is an accurate view. Thanks.

[Ernest Miller]

The final round of the Masters was off something like 12% from last year, so that excuse has already been debunked.

Last year's Master's was one of the highest rated ever. So don't try to use the smoke and mirrors on me about being down 12%. It was still an outstanding ratings number for CBS. Regards, Ernest

[Billy Chin]

Last year's Master's was one of the highest rated ever. So don't try to use the smoke and mirrors on me about being down 12%. It was still an outstanding ratings number for CBS. Regards, Ernest

How much do you think the Master's impacted the Indycar ratings? What event do you anticipate will have a negative impact on this week's ratings?

[Todd Gack]

I've found it strange how ABC has not made Long Beach on of "their five" the past couple of years. Especially since it's leading into Indianapolis. Long Beach was a stalwart on ABC for many years.

NBA playoffs.

[Ernest Miller]

How much do you think the Master's impacted the Indycar ratings? What event do you anticipate will have a negative impact on this week's ratings?

The NBA playoffs certainly could impact ratings. That's why the league should be running the vast majority of their races (If not all) of their races between Memorial and Labor day. Regards, Ernest

[nascarnation]

NBA playoffs.

Interesting point. I stopped by my daughter/SIL's house this afternoon.
He's probably a "typical" sports guy who watches a lot of tv sports and goes to the Indy 500 in person every year.
He was watching the NBA, the Lakers I think it was.