The results for the first year of the Indy Racing League’s 10-year television deal with cable channel Versus are
in.
To start, the season finale at Homestead-Miami Oct. 10 scored a .15 national rating, meaning 171,000 TV households
tuned in nationwide, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research.
In Indianapolis, the Oct. 10 race garnered
at .23, meaning 3,000 TV households in central Indiana tuned in, according to Nielsen.
Versus officials said they
met contractual promises made to the IRL about delivering more viewers across more programming, pre-race, post-race and during
the races than last year.
Versus CEO Jamie Davis said Versus attracted 29.5 Million viewers for all IRL programming
aired this year. The number of viewers is not to be confused with the number of TV households, a number more commonly used
by media buyers and advertisers to determine ad prices.
Davis points out that Versus’ total number of viewers
across all IRL shows on the cable channel this year, outpaced the total (25.9 million) ESPN and ESPN2 garnered for its IRL
coverage in 2008. Of course, that only means there were a lot more lower rated shows this year than last. Those ratings, Davis
insists, will improve.
A closer look at the numbers shows Versus’ average viewership for race coverage (315,000
per race for 12 races) dropped 59.5 percent from what ESPN and ESPN2 delivered (778,000) in 2008.
IRL officials
said they expect it to take a couple years to build viewership on Versus and are encouraged by the increased coverage.
ABC also saw viewership drop 3 percent (2.64 million viewer per race for five races) from 2008, when it averaged 2.73
million viewers over seven races.
For the 17 races on Versus and ABC, average viewership per race this year was
1.16 million, a 28 percent decrease from last year’s 1.62 million average over 18 races.
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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It's also across the street from Fogo de Chao and Morton's....
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Yep, the haters are trying to make good news bad. I guess it is hard to get people to believe the series is dying when they are gaining new sponsors.
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David Copperfield! I remember watching his specials on TV when I was little.
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Don't forget this is next to an MMA gym, a pawn shop, and some abandoned spaces.
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Good project for Zionsville - A group who has owned the property for many years has waited and worked patiently to bring highest and best use development to a major corridor, and mix that in with the great downtown you have. Win Win. All the Best to Pittman Partners and Zionsville.
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The programming was very good on Vs. Certainly more and better than anything ABC/ESPN put together. From their 1/2 hour and 1 hour specials to the pre, during and post race coverage. Now Vs. and the IRL must work to get more viewers to the better coverage. As Vs. grows, so will the rating for its programming. Same happened to ESPN and Speed. The IRL keeping its best drivers does not hurt. Contrary to some on here, migrating NASCAR coverage only helps the IRL. More racing fans exposed to great racing will equal more viewers. It will be interesting to see what next year brings.
Doesn't matter. It ain't gonna un-suck the earl. Nothing will. Ever.
code = exf7c
That sort of thinking is as delusional as believing the 'league' has garnered a new audience on ReVersus. And very typical of the denialists that permeate the gomer mentality.
The mocking, derision, and ridicule will continue unabated regardless. :cheers:
code = rf2c5
I have had nothing to do with posts being pulled, Anthony can vouch for that. I am actually enjoying your attempts at arguements, it shows people your inteligence level.
I learned long ago if your enemy is slitting his throat, do not interfere. So keep on posting the blind hatred that makes your side look silly.
And yes, I would bet a lot of NASCAR fans would enjoy the IRL. That is why NASCAR has tried to woo away the most popular IRL drivers, including Danica, and try to manufacture IRL standards like close races and tight points races. The race for the chase was created to manufacture the tight points races that come naturally in the IRL.
Ok, that said, let the hating begin.
Championship will be decided today in Florida. But will anyone notice or even care?
And while aficionados of the racing series will be plugged in, the general public won't and anyone looking for results in Sunday's newspapers will need a sharp eye.
Until then, will anyone even notice or will anyone even care?
No, and No.
-All Ovals....abandoned.
-All Americans...abandoned.
-Cars don't fly.....proven wrong.
-"We'll beat 'em in the same equipment"....IRL defeated and taken over
-Pep Boys, Northern Light and Fox Sports....flash in the pan.
-No foreign expansion....foreign expansion.
-Lots of ovals to race on....adding street races in foreign contries.
-Same boring dronefest oval races....absolutely.
-ESPN/ABC TV.....virtually NON existant now.
-0.15 TV ratings for Champeenship race....IRL nailed it.
-Greatest number of injuries per race per series per year for 15 years....IRL.
-Can't fill grandstands at former successful CART races....see Toronto.
-Races in Iowa Cornfield.....IRL.
-Touts ETHANOL yet uses BRAZILLIAN ethanol...un-American.
-Biggest star since IRL inception is a 110lb. girl who bares body in swimsuit and has won one race because someone ran out of gas....only in the IRL.
-Supreme leader Tony George quits IRL in huff over IMS leadership, because he's ousted by family members for running business so poorly.....the legacy of the Sagamoron continues.
-Marlboro pulls free IRL free ticket sponsorship.....Penske's deal with tobacco coming to end ASAP too.
-NASCAR pulls back "Ticket Extortion Packs", forcing IRLer's to actually buy tickets.....sink or swim.
-Where's IRL legends Billy Boat, Tyce Carlson, Greg Ray, Dr. Jack, Brad Murphy etc. ad infinium.......they were a gimmick and left behind when Tony george went for the power grab.
-The IRL name is synonomous with FAILURE, WHY do they continue with the brand?......because IMS is working off of the 60 year old Hulman philosophy of INDY sells. Not with .15 tv rating it don't.
-McDonalds has pulled it's sponsorship.....NO ROI.
-Suites are for lease at the speedway....who cares anymore?
-IRL creation was to insure competition / legacy at speedway.....castrated the month of May to an insignificant 10 day or less event. penske/Ganassi/ Andretti-Green have won almost all the races in the past 7 years.
-No engine leases.....sold out to Japanese Companies for engine leaases.
-American chassis, equal access to parts.....all Italian, some folks using SEVEN years old cars without equal access to parts.
-IRL street race marketing plan flawed....using CART/CCWS numbers that the IRL can't produce or repeat equals misleading the consumer and leaves bad taste in customers mouths.
-IRL is CART without fans or TV audience.....bad cars, bad racing and a sellout Tony George is what the IRL is. Unpaletable for any race fan.
-NASCAR took good AOW talent because it was keeping the IRL "down".....why bother now?
There's billions more reasons....chew on that Indyman. The Star pulled the "Crash History of the IRL" from the website for a reason. Bet you can't figure out why, can you? It's the only "standard" the IRL really has, too.
Nothing like mixing truth and fiction and calling it fact. Chief, next thing you know, Obama will be calling you to be the Czar of Racing.
Spent a lot of time writing your rant about a series you do not care about. Such a beautiful day, could not find anything else to do? See I typically do not spend anytime talking, posting or ranting about things I do not care about.
Of course most of the rant is a recycling of your previous rants that alternate between factual, incorrect and just completely wrong.
How is that crystal ball? Got another crack? Or is that what you are smoking? So to all haters, are you ready to admit to another year for the IRL like you have for the last decade? It is funny to watch your predictions come and go.
For as fast as they run, the IRL is the safest series out there. When was the last one to go airborne? Sure, it could be safer, we could wrap the cars in bubble wrap, or slow them down to 20 mph. Sad that there are haters out there dreaming of the next major accident so they can crow about it. Truly Sad.
I would respectfully disagree with this whole issue as it relates to versus. The bottom line is that this is a game of politics between DirecTV and Versus which is owned by Comcast. The IRL is at a point of growth and their strategy aims to capitalize on building an alliance with a sports network that wont cut it short. I recall the 2008 and even 2007 season where races where broadcast by ABC and ESPN only to be started or cut before the races where even run or concluded. A true scam if you ask me for the IRL. In short they were not getting their money's worth of air time and had I been in charge of the IRL I would have jumped the ABC ship way before because as a business owner I would have lost valuable market share because of these shinanigans by ABC and ESPN (I.e. Disney) ...Meanwhile back at the farm NASCAR (being the powerhouse that it is) enjoys much coverage on multiple channels including ABC. Its all about $ and marketing for the stations. Still Versus is not innocent here, Comcast its parent company raised the fees on DirecTV to broadcast it and DirecTV rightfully so pulled the plug on their programming in their line up in response. In the middle the screwed IRL viewers like me were left in the dark (thankfully at seasons end). I jumped ship from DirecTV over to ATT U-Verse, not so much cause of the actions related to this but because DirecTV itself is not all its cracked up to be too. Their programing is going downhill, I was succeptable to weather interference living in FL and their customer service (Now being a large company) has gone from bad to worse. Again when companies get too big they loose that personal touch with its patrons...(Sad)
I hope this puts to rest this argument. I am speaking from having dealt with DirecTV..Comcast and now AT&T over a period of 15 years...I've been with them all in one way shape or form...speaking to multiple supervisors as well as making my own assessments of this cat and mouse game even in the TV programming. The reason many people don't like IRL is because they don't really understand it or take legitimate time to do so, and because there is a disproportionate amount of American Drivers in the series compared to other nationalities. Added, there is also that attitude that the IRL is a Foreign league because of Honda and Foreign drivers who make it up...I can go on an on. The IRL is exciting, its part of Americana, and in a few years I can bet people will know more about it. One key way is for the IRL to have vision and align itself with companies like versus to achieve that. Is Versus the best, likely not, but for one liked the coverage, it was on time, great analysis, and great post race interviews...ask ABC or ESPN to do that!.... Otherwise they may have to look further down and develop a channel much like the NFL did to get their point across at their own level and pace. Marketing is and will be key for the IRL but with programming being such a competitive thing everyone is vying for air time. In this economy it is difficult, but thats why contracts are there and I think for the NOW, the IRL should be on versus and its relationship should expand if Versus and the IRL are as committed to each other as they say they are.
Thanks,
Eric.