The 2015 IndyCar Series season began on a slightly better note.
IndyCar Series racing from St. Petersburg drew a 0.6 final rating and 891,000 viewers on ABC Sunday afternoon, flat in ratings and up 4% in viewership from last year (0.6, 860K), and up 100% and 130%, respectively, from the 2013 race on NBCSN (0.3, 388K).
The 0.6 rating is tied as the lowest for any IndyCar race on ABC since coverage opposite the Olympics in August 2012 (0.5). It also earned the network’s third-smallest audience over that span.
Ratings did not budge despite the fact that Sunday’s race had a direct lead-in from the NBA on ABC — an advantage last year’s race did not have.
Head-to-head, the race was trounced by NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on the Fox Sports 1 cable outlet (4.1M).
(Sun. numbers from ESPN)
