2023 Music City GP winner Kyle Kirkwood and his #27 Andretti Autosport Honda team

TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings

TV Ratings for this past weekend for all major USA motorsports events – NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP, SRX, and IMSA

–By Mark Cipolloni–

TV Ratings Analysis

NASCAR

The USA Network got 2.603 million viewers and a 1.5 rating for the 78 minutes of the rained out Michigan Speedway Cup Race that was started Sunday and finished Monday.

Figures for Monday’s makeup race were not immediately available.

The numbers were down from last year, but that may be due to the rain out.

NBC got 1.630 million viewers and a 1.0 rating for the NASCAR Xfinity race at Michigan Speedway on Saturday, up significantly from 2022 on the USA network.

Both NASCAR races drew less than 20% of the viewers in the all-important 18-49 age group, a bad omen.

IndyCar

NBC got 1.113 million viewers and a 0.7 rating for the Music City GP in Nashville Sunday. Last year’s race was rained impacted and finished on CNBC so those ratings were meaningless.

In 2021 the race was broadcast on NBCSN and this year’s viewership was down 7.25% from 2021 despite being on NBC now.

Given how poor ratings were on NBCSN in the day, one has to scratch their head and wonder why less people tuned into the NBC broadcast than NBCSN.

The race lost over 30% of viewers in the all important 18-49 year old age group from 2021 to this year – a horrific omen of an aging fanbase.

IMSA

The USA Network got 233,000 viewers and a 0.1 rating for the IMSA WeatherTech Race from Road America, down significantly from last year.  The IMSA race drew less than the MotoGP and SRX races, and one has to wonder how the participating manufacturers justify their participation due to such low viewership.

TV Rating 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
USA NASCAR Cup race Michigan 2,603,000 455,000 17% 1.50 1.45 3.45% USA 2,621,000 513,000 -0.69% -11.31%
NBC NASCAR Xfinity race Michigan 1,630,000 300,000 18% 1.00 0.62 61.29% USA 1,002,000 195,000 62.67% 53.85%
NBC IndyCar Race Nashville 1,113,000 195,000 18% 0.70 0.68 2.94% NBCSN 1,200,000 288,000 -7.25% -32.29%
NBC MotoGP Race Silverstone 612,000 130,000 21% 0.40 No Data
ESPN SRX Series Race Berlin, MI 377,000 143,000 38% 0.20 No Race in Berlin Michigan last year
USA IMSA Race Road America 233,000 78,000 33% 0.10 0.18 -44.44% USA 266,000 62,000 -12.41% 25.81%