Both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 saw year-to-date declines over the holiday weekend. The rain-soaked Indianapolis 500 drew a 4.6 overnight rating on ABC, down from a 5.2 last year — and the lowest overnight for the 500 since 2004. Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola 600 on FOX fell to a 4.5 overnight, from a 4.7 last year.
Important to note: the rating for the Indianapolis 500 does not include the time period from 3:00 PM ET to 6:00 PM ET, when the race was in a lengthy rain delay. The rating covers the time period from 1:00 – 3:00 and 6:00 – 7:15.
This is the fifth straight year that the Indianapolis 500 has drawn a higher overnight rating than the Coca-Cola 600. However, the NASCAR race is virtually assured its first final rating victory over the Indy 500 since 2004 — the final ratings for NASCAR are usually several points higher than the overnight ratings.
Overnight ratings for the rest of the weekend’s events should be available tomorrow.
