The overnight Nielsen TV ratings are in for this year’s Indianapolis 500 … and the news isn’t great.
The race, which aired on ABC (WRTV-TV Channel 6) on Sunday, earned a 3.68 rating, according to New York-based Nielsen Media
Research. Each rating point represents 1.1 million homes nationwide, meaning just over 4 million households across the U.S.
tuned to this year’s race.
This year’s national rating was down from a 3.96 last year, or about 4.36 million TV households.
In the central Indiana market, the race predictably scored much higher, earning a 12.2 rating. Locally, each rating point
equals 10,720 TV central Indiana households, meaning 130,784 tuned in. That means 22 percent of all TV households in this
market watched the race (which is tape delayed here).
The local numbers too were down, from a 14.6 rating in 2009 and a 26 percent audience share.
The Indianapolis 500 Victory Banquet, televised locally on WTHR-TV Channel 13 the night after the race, also saw a rating
drop from 12.1 in 2009 to 8.0 this year. WRTV officials think part of this year’s drop can be attributed to a 2009 rating
spike in Indy 500 programming.
Helio Castroneves’ victory, WRTV officials said, was particularly captivating, given his recent success on Dancing
With the Stars and the press coverage surrounding a federal tax evasion investigation centering on the IndyCar driver and
his sister.
This year's TV ratings for the IndyCar Series has new CEO Randy Bernard's attention, sources said, and he is working
hard to improve them. More on that in the next day or two.
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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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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
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The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
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As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
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The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
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I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.
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The public ain't buying the INDY dream anymore.
Wonder how many viewers they had at indycar.com? Advertisers love that sort of direct feed...
Ratings swirling the toilet, acres of gleaming aluminum where fans used to be. Yet the denial from the gomerati continues unabated.
The only entertainment the 'league' provides is the minor humor of watching fail repeatedly.
code = x2nm7
::POPCORN::watching the insignificant racing league becoming more insignificant::POPCORN::
get out while you can Randy
Our family went to practice, first day quals and the race from 1976 through 1994. It hasn't been the same since then and, unfortunately, it never will. We have gone to a few practice days here and there over the past 16 years, especially when a suite invite makes itself available, but no longer do I have much interest in the entire spectacle.
Now the "big teams" hide from the railbirds at the north end of the pits and all of the boring cars are the same.
Everything that I am hearing about the new direction of the IRL, etc. sounds great. However, I fear that, as times really are a-changin," that Indy Car has lost too many fans to the last two generations (generations that have other interests that do not include going to the trouble of going to a race track to watch cars go in circles and who could care less about what goes on with the people involved because it is not about them).
Too bad. It was a great run.
And for all the joy from the haters, Indy is still the largest one day sporting event in the world, and has a much larger financial impact than the Super Bowl or any other race in the US.
Interesting article in the Star about the increase in rooms and spending local businesses have seen this month over previous Mays. They seem to feel that the condensed schedule has increased interest and participation as people can stay for two weeks and experience just about all phases of the race. Good article.
Also, what about internationally? How did it do there?
In a world of many options and distractions, multi-tasking and technology...why would the IRL even think it could be what it was?
No, it's not the same, and if we all can't accept that, OR accept change then maybe we are not true fans.
But I'm sure you Gomers would like to think that every company looking to blow an ad budget would rather rely on your 'gut feelings'. Lol. That's disgusting, really.
Pretending that the minuscule audience Anton's folly has is enough to support this ongoing fraud is laughable in its delusional thinking. This is funny at the 'you need to be institutionalized immediately and permanently as a matter of public safety'-level.
Keep it up, this is knee-slappin' comedy.
code = xcpb5
"Watch as this week, the Hulmanista's screech and pretend nothing is wrong, then bleat pointlessly about Nascar as if it has anything to do with the relentless years of failure from the 'league'."
Next week, on a very special Gomers In Denial, we learn that there were no broken fenceposts, and Mike Conway is actually in rehearsal for the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars!
Lmao.
code = 5xkhn
We could also do the reality show haters, why don't they get a life and move on. But it would be the same episode every week. And I am sorry, even the mind numbed masses would get tired of the same incorrect predictions of it is going to fail, it is going to fail, it is going to fail.
I would really like to see the documentary Haters living in the past. An in depth report on why haters seem to believe a series that killed itself was somehow better than a series that survived. Of course like cart, all those would have to be paid infomercials, because no network would be stupid enough to pay to show it.
With success like that, how can you call me a hater?
3.68 , INDY 500 tv ratings have fallen to the lowest level EVER. Why is that Indyman...you have all the answers.
My guess is that the American public knows the IRL is a failure and they also know it's the IRL stink that permeates the 500 now.
Tony George's IRL....designed to RUIN AOW, and I believe that 3.68 is PROOF positive especially with a record LOW amount of 9 AMericans in the race and ex-CART teams DOMINATING the 500. Something's racing to the finish and it ain't related to success. m This all should go over good with sponsors...
What do you have now? Can the damage ever be reparied?
As far as ratings, the IRL has a long way to go. I think we have all said that. They need to market and sell their product. I think the proposed opening of the engine design is a good start. If you have multiple engine manufacturers, there is more marketing. I think the IRL made a major score with Izod as they have gone above and beyond on marketing the entire series. They should be the model for all future marketing deals.
I also like the idea of exploring a NBC/VS. partnership. Having the race on one family of stations will help with consistency. There is a long way for the series to go, but they have a good start.
I want it to recover.....especially if the Speedway addresses the fallacies they brought on themselves. Haven't heard an apology or the official abolition of the IRL moniker. As you are well aware of, throwing stuff against the wall to see if it sticks IS a sign of desperation. That stuff they are throwing is the same crap they've been throwing the past 15 years...so, you can't fool me or the others who choose to keep the sport honest. How you can live with yourself is beyond me (letting it all get to this stage and allowing the speedway to screw everything up with merely a notice by you).
So new engine formulas, new and active sponsorship and seeking out new tv partners is the same thing they did 15 years ago?
Most haters do not want it to recover. they want it to fail so they can dance on its grave and by snow cones at the mall that replaces the Speedway. We have all seen their comments on here. Luckily their predictions for the last 15 years have been way off. again, does anyone wonder why i call them haters?
"Everyone must be watching online. That's why the ratings are down." and "It was hot, so everyone was hiding under the stands. That's why it looked like there was nobody there."
Throw in the occasional "Tony George SAVED AOWR", "Randy Bernard is a genius", "There's nothing wrong with the IRL. It's great as is." and "Danica is hot" and I doubt if much else would be said by the Kool-Aid drinkers.
To them, I say:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/kool-aid%20drink%20up%20bitches/ubercomments_backup2/funny/497.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
jim has the proper perspective on it.
How about that Texas race? Lookled like a ghost town! And that fire rescue...dudes standing around with fire extinguishers and limp fire hoses while the freshly crashed driver was ripped out of the cockpit. Great way to extricate a driver from a crashed burning vehicle.
The IRL is a POX on the AOW racing scene. ANYONE who can tell me the head of IRL safety DOESN'T deserve to be fired for that performance is a koolaid drinking fool. How sad for the supposed higher level of AOW to respond like that. Heads should roll. but they won't....let 'em burn. Pathetic....goes right along with the flying cars issue. Only in the IRL...
IRL sucks, we all lose.
Noone can relate to racing today...most can't even change a tire, but sure can change the channel to American Idol. Fact is that people aren't interested in cute little "drivers" getting pulled into the hauler for getting upset. Here, people are interested in "racers", innovated macho American ones that they can relate to, that put their own finances and life on the line just to win a silly trophy at the end of the day. Monday Night Raw wrestling gets the same ratings as Indy...and that's FAKE! The only soap opera anymore is about Danica. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH BLAH BLAH. Go back to an open spec coupled with Foyt slapping Arie Lyundyk on a weekly basis (yep, years ago...I know) and you'll get people watching. Oh yeah...why baseball and football so popular? Because kids play it, then grow up watching it. What ever happened to the feeder series? Indy needs to INVADE the karting and USAC worlds and give incentives for the youth to go racing in the big leagues. And parents...take the armor off the little ones and let them get hurt every once and awhile...get'em into racing, not soccer. Yes, it is more expensive...but racing doesn't have ties. Racing has real noise, not that beehive noise that I'm hearing during World Cup games.
I personally blame Penske and Co. for the sanitazation of Indy racing. Rick Mears was one of the best (and one of my all-time favorites), but he was too corporate and wouldn't really say a bad word about anyone. So now, all of racing uses the "Mears" model and the racing world suffers. If Indy racing had 12 Gordon Johncocks, a few Unser Sr's., and one AJ (that's all the series could handle), you'd see people coming back. A fair with a sideshow at each race wouldn't hurt either.
My two cents...sorry for the rant. Just hate people looking at "ratings" and making a call on one fact. That's the same a saying, "My car is out of gas, I need to get a new one."
thanks for the good stuff..
For more information please visit http://www.divewatchreviews.com/
Too many other long races: NASCAR.
It's not a race anymore: it's a "spectical": all "money making" adjuncts.
Unprofessional drivers conduct: jumping on fences, "bush league" stuff.
Did I say "too many commercials" ??
TV audio is so bad that I watch the race on TV, but listen to it on radio !!! At least I can keep up with the race, otherwise right in the middle of some action they sneak in a commercial. By the time the race returns, things have happened and those idiot announcers never mention anything ( most probably bacause those ads pay their overblown salaries. )
Can't enjoy the race anymore.
Carburation Day, etc. usually preempted by some golf game -- as if there aren't enough golf games on TV.
Too many commercials -- too many attempts to make a few more "sheckels" at the expensive of a once-a-year race.