Final Indy 500 TV ratings plummet

UPDATE #2 ABC earned a 4.3 final Nielsen rating for live coverage of Sunday's rain-delayed Indianapolis 500, from 1:01-3:03pm ET and 6:01-7:12pm, down 15.7% from a 5.1 last year. The rain delay probably hurt the ratings a bit.

05/30/07 Despite being down for the national rating, more Hoosiers tuned in to watch the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday on TV. Local overnight TV ratings on the 91st race, the first to be rebroadcast around Central Indiana in high definition, was up 3 percent, a WRTV-6 release reported Tuesday. The 15.1 percent rating marked the third consecutive local increase for the race — 2006 was about 1 percent better than 2005.

05/29/07 ABC earned a 4.6 overnight Nielsen rating for live coverage of Sunday's rain-delayed Indianapolis 500, from 1:00-3:00pm ET and 6:00-7:15pm, down 8.0% from a 5.0 overnight last year. The rating was measured only during periods when the cars were racing, according to the official.