TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings (Update)
–by Mark Cipolloni–
The Saturday F1 Sprint Race from Azerbaijan on ESPN drew 883,000 viewers and a 0.5 rating. There was no Sprint Race last year to compare it to.
The number of viewers in the 18-49 year old bracket dwarfed IndyCar’s big race on NBC Sunday.
The Sunday Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday peaked at 1.06 million viewers 8:15am – 8:30am ET.
These numbers have been added to our table below.
Global TV viewers for Azerbaijan GP ~ 70 million viewers
May 2, 2023
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Rating Analysis
Formula 1
Early Sunday morning when the Western half of the USA was still in bed, ESPN drew a phenomenal 958,000 viewers and a 0.53 rating for the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday, up 15.14% in viewership and up 10.42% in rating from last year’s 832,000 viewers and 0.48 rating.
Once again, F1 led all forms of motorsports with 45% of the viewers in the all-important 18-49 age bracket tuned in. In fact, the F1 broadcast gained 13.95% in the 18-49 age bracket over last year as it continues to eat the lunch of other forms of motorsports in the USA.
IndyCar
IndyCar benefitted from the NASCAR Cup race being rained out in the same time slot, so with no direct competition, one would expect the TV rating numbers to be way up. No such luck. And as we predicted, the 100 Days to Indy Docuseries that debuted on CW would not move the needle, and it did not.
NBC drew 930,000 viewers and a 0.57 rating for the IndyCar race at Barber Motorsport Park on Sunday, up 1% in viewership but down 3.39% in rating from last year’s 920,000 viewers and 0.59 rating.
Only 19% of the viewers were in the all-important 18-49 year old bracket, a drop of 7.77% from last year.
Despite being on a Network Channel (Over the air) IndyCar still was unable to draw more viewers than F1 despite the F1 broadcast being on a cable channel and at a time when half the country was still in bed.
NASCAR
FS1 got a 0.63 rating and 1.067 million viewers for Monday’s re-scheduled NASCAR race at Dover, up 13% from the Monday/FS1 races there last year’s 944,000 viewers and up 5% in rating.
FS1 drew 674,000 viewers and a 0.41 rating for the Xfinity race on Saturday, down 27.21% in viewership and down 30.51% in rating from last year’s 926,000 viewers and 0.59 rating.
NHRA
FS1 drew 472,000 viewers and a 0.28 TV rating for the NHRA finals at zMax Raceway in Charlotte, about even from last year. The NHRA lost 51.43% of its 18-49 year old viewers in a single year – a bad omen, but it is not yet time to order the flowers and plan its funeral.
TV Ratings Data
| Network | Event | Location | Total Viewers |
18-49 Viewers |
Ratio: 18-49 Yr Old/ Total Viewers |
2023 Rating |
2022 Rating |
Rating % Chg. |
2022 Network |
2022 Viewers |
2022 18-49 Viewers |
Total Viewers % Chg |
18-49 Viewers % Chg |
| FS1 | NASCAR Race L | Dover | 1,067,000 | 190,000 | 18% | 0.63 | 0.60 | 5.00% | FS1 | 944,000 | 166,000 | 13.03% | 14.46% |
| ESPN | F1 GP Race L | Azerbaijan | 958,000 | 433,000 | 45% | 0.53 | 0.48 | 10.42% | FS1 | 832,000 | 380,000 | 15.14% | 13.95% |
| NBC | IndyCar Race L | Barber | 930,000 | 178,000 | 19% | 0.57 | 0.59 | -3.39% | NBC | 920,000 | 193,000 | 1.09% | -7.77% |
| ESPN | F1 Sprint Race | Azerbaijan | 883,000 | 415,000 | 47% | 0.50 | No Race | N/A | No Race | No Race | No Race | N/A | N/A |
| FS1 | NASCAR Xfinity race L | Dover | 674,000 | 106,000 | 16% | 0.41 | 0.59 | -30.51% | FS1 | 926,000 | 138,000 | -27.21% | -23.19% |
| FS1 | NHRA Finals L | Charlotte | 472,000 | 68,000 | 14% | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.00% | FS1 | 480,000 | 140,000 | -1.67% | -51.43% |