Historical Indy 500 TV Rating
| Year | Final National TV Rating | % USA Households Watching | League | Comment |
| 1979 |
13.5 |
24 Share | CART | CART's 1st Year |
| 1980 |
13.8 |
27 Share | CART | – |
| 1981 |
12.8 |
24 Share | CART | – |
| 1982 |
12.3 |
25 Share | CART | – |
| 1983 |
14.1 |
27 Share | CART | – |
| 1984 |
12.9 |
25 Share | CART | – |
| 1985 |
9.7 |
18 Share | CART | – |
| 1986 |
8.8 |
31 Share | CART | – |
| 1987 |
11.0 |
36 Share | CART | 36% of Households – Wow! |
| 1988 |
?? |
?? Share | CART | – |
| 1989 |
7.8 |
28 Share | CART | – |
| 1990 |
?? |
?? Share | CART | – |
| 1991 |
8.0 |
27 Share | CART | – |
| 1992 |
9.8 |
31 Share | CART | – |
| 1993 |
9.3 |
31 Share | CART | – |
| 1994 |
9.1 |
31 Share | CART | – |
| 1995 |
9.4 |
26 Share | CART | T. George thinks he is King |
| 1996 |
6.6 |
19 Share | IRL | T. George destruction begins |
| 1997 |
5.1 |
14 Share | IRL | Rating falls below 6.0 |
| 1998 |
6.0 |
19 Share | IRL | – |
| 1999 |
5.5 |
18 Share | IRL | – |
| 2000 |
5.5 |
15 Share | IRL | – |
| 2001 |
5.8 |
17 Share | IRL | – |
| 2002 |
4.8 |
15 Share | IRL | Rating falls below 5.0 |
| 2003 |
4.6 |
14 Share | IRL | – |
| 2004 |
4.7 |
11 Share | IRL | – |
| 2005 |
6.5 |
18 Share | IRL | – |
| 2006 |
5.0 |
14 Share | IRL | – |
| 2007 |
4.3 |
12 Share | IRL | – |
| 2008 |
4.5 |
?? Share | IRL | – |
| 2009 |
4.0 |
11 Share | IRL | – |
| 2010 |
3.6 |
10 Share 5.793M Viewers | IRL | Only 10% of Households now |
| 2011 |
4.0 |
?? Share 6.711M Viewers | IndyCar | R. Bernard inherits mess |
| 2012 |
*4.1 |
TBA | IndyCar | T. George legacy continues |
*Overnight Rating, final likely to drop
Share = % of households watching the race