NBC reports two percent IndyCar viewership increase

Excluding both this year’s Indianapolis 500 – rescheduled from May to August for the first time ever – and the Friday afternoon round of the Harvest Grand Prix earlier this month, which aired on USA Network – the remaining 12 races (six on NBC, six on NBCSN) averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 664,000 viewers, up two percent on 2019 (15 races, 649,000).

The six races on NBC averaged 891,000 viewers, while the six NBCSN races averaged 432,000 viewers, according to official national data provided by The Nielsen Company and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

This past Sunday’s season-concluding Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg averaged a TAD of 675,000 viewers on NBC, up six and 18 percent respectively on the two NBC races earlier this fall at Mid-Ohio and the second Harvest GP round at IMS road course.

Following the three month delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the season began on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway in primetime on NBC, which averaged a TAD of 1.256 million viewers. That became  NBC Sports’ most-watched IndyCar race on record and the series’ most-watched race since 2016, excluding Indy 500s.