LBGP TV ratings

[SarahFan]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090421/SPORTS0107/90421062


discuss away...


a increase over st pete for certain..... but 100K (25%) decrease in viewers from 08' on espn...

no Nascar, golf and the Lakers were blowing out my Jazz as competition...

and the Helio factor

I may eat my words later.... but suspect it will be the highest rated Vs. race this season

[MDS]

You don't measure a 10-year deal after two events.

[SarahFan]

You don't measure a 10-year deal after two events.

measure?... no

worthy of discussion?... certainly

[anthonyvop]

You don't measure a 10-year deal after two events.
No you don't.


But when a Tape Delay race from the day before beats you then you do have some issues.

[maxmach]

Of course the ratings are lower, it's a smaller audience, is Verses advertising, yes, could they do more, yes, do we have a worthy product to advertise, yes, do non-racing people know about the product? No. Right now do people care, not really.
We have to keep and improve the product, we have to advertise, and we have to keep it going for a ......couple of years. Easily said, hard to do.
Tell your friends, who don't watch racing, to watch, write sports illustrated, espn, and usa today and ask them question, and give them kudos on anything to do with indycar. Let them know there is an interested audience.

[jimispeed]

Of course the ratings are lower, it's a smaller audience, is Verses advertising, yes, could they do more, yes, do we have a worthy product to advertise, yes, do non-racing people know about the product? No. Right now do people care, not really.
We have to keep and improve the product, we have to advertise, and we have to keep it going for a ......couple of years. Easily said, hard to do.
Tell your friends, who don't watch racing, to watch, write sports illustrated, espn, and usa today and ask them question, and give them kudos on anything to do with indycar. Let them know there is an interested audience.


Are you seeing Versus advertising on other networks? I don't think I have yet. And, until they spend more money doing that, the ratings will continue creeping along!

[garyshell]

No you don't.


But when a Tape Delay race from the day before beats you then you do have some issues.

Got a solution, or just more whining?

Gary

[garyshell]

Are you seeing Versus advertising on other networks? I don't think I have yet. And, until they spend more money doing that, the ratings will continue creeping along!


Yep, I have seen ads on several cable channels. Discovery, History Channel are the two I noted, but have seen them on at least two others.

Gary

[jimispeed]

Yep, I have seen ads on several cable channels. Discovery, History Channel are the two I noted, but have seen them on at least two others.

Gary


Well, that's refreshing!!

[gofastandwynn]

No you don't.


But when a Tape Delay race from the day before beats you then you do have some issues.

When the tape delay race is on broadcast tv and you are on cable then it is not a shocker...

In other news http://thescore.ibj.com/blogshell.asp?p=904

IRL revs crowd at Long Beach
By all accounts the Grand Prix of Long Beach was a success for the Indy Racing League. The IRL, which signed a five-year deal to take over the former CART event following last season, was greeted by larger crowds (than 2008), increased corporate hospitality activity and strong retail sales, according to several sources at the weekend event this past Friday through Sunday.

All this despite 11.5 percent local unemployment. Long Beach Grand Prix President Jim Michaelian said attendance was up considerably from 2008. He said 10 percent seating capacity was added over last year, but still more is needed to reach the capacity of the race&#8217] schedule and has the potential to be a top 5 race in our series.”

[jarrambide]

Got a solution, or just more whining?

Gary
Gary, we can't complain if we don't have answers then?, 99% of the world population could never complain then, this is a forum, we are fans, complaining is acceptable, ratings suck big time, did we know this would happen in Versus?, yes we did, that doesn't change the fact that it still sucks and that is OK to discuss and even to complain, after all, many here have suffered crappy seasons with CC and/or crappy seasons with IRL, we want a better product, thank God F1 has been so entertaining this year for a change or I would be having withdrawal symptoms, don't get me wrong, a lot of things are improving, I welcome those improvements but that doesn't change the fact that I want more, I want it know and I want it with a big smile.

[jimispeed]

Gary, we can't complain if we don't have answers then?, 99% of the world population could never complain then, this is a forum, we are fans, complaining is acceptable, ratings suck big time, did we know this would happen in Versus?, yes we did, that doesn't change the fact that it still sucks and that is OK to discuss and even to complain, after all, many here have suffered crappy seasons with CC and/or crappy seasons with IRL, we want a better product, thank God F1 has been so entertaining this year for a change or I would be having withdrawal symptoms, don't get me wrong, a lot of things are improving, I welcome those improvements but that doesn't change the fact that I want more, I want it know and I want it with a big smile.




Well, that about says it all.....

[Dr. Krogshöj]

No you don't.


But when a Tape Delay race from the day before beats you then you do have some issues.

You are talking about the Chinese GP I presume? What was the rating for that?

[F1boat]

Patience - things will improve. The IRL is cool :)

[DBell]

You are talking about the Chinese GP I presume? What was the rating for that?

I think he was referring to the ALMS race from LB.

[chuck34]

[url]


a increase over st pete for certain..... but 100K (25%) decrease in viewers from 08' on espn...



In the St Pete thread (the one you started) you said that by comparing season opener to season opener we were down 79%. Comparing St. Pete to St. Pete we were down 60%.

So now to be down only 25% seems like one heck of an improvement. Plus it was DOUBLE their last race. That is unheard of.

Where do you get that it was down from last year anyway? The article I'm reading says it was equal? Is that a difference between ratings share and actual viewers, some sort of math deal?

Let's hope it keeps going! :-)

[SarahFan]

When the tape delay race is on broadcast tv and you are on cable then it is not a shocker...

In other news http://thescore.ibj.com/blogshell.asp?p=904

I'm glad you posted that second article...so as we are now also talking about attendance and comparing not just Tv ratings... heres my take on the 'event' and 'attendance'

I flew in sun morn and rented car... rolled in right around 9:30....parked closer than i ever have..

bought a couple GA tickets and entered near turn 9/10...

place was a Ghost town...

stood right at turn 9... there were a total of 5 of us (9 if you count the coarse workers ) for the start of the lights race...

there used to be stands here... they were gone 3 years ago, replaced with a hospitality area... that is now gone....

then on the outside of turn 10 there were grandstands 2 years ago... gone..

and the grandstands on the inside of turn 10 are only 2/3 the size (height, there are photos floating arounf from a couple years ago that support/prove this)... they were empty (a couple hundred folks in them for the lights race)... maybe 1/2 full for the drifters and maybe (im being generous here )2/3 for the indycars..... GA looked decent, what it has been in years past...

the main grandstands were empty for the lights... 1/2 for the drifters and about 90% for the indycars.... GA along the fence looked comporable to years past...

I bought a King Taco Burrito for breakfast during the lights race... I always get one for breakfast becuase the line can be long.... this was the first time i have never waited period...

crossing the the Bridge near pit entrance..... Never waited either way period... first time ever.... I can remember it taking up to 30 minutes to cross in years past.... this year crossed 10 minutes before the green and walked right over..

no line for the paddock..... same as last time I was there in 06'... but a few years prior (and the entire decade prior) the line was 1000 long...

concourse was a ghost town...never saw a line at a food vendor all day

expo center was decently packed... not near what it was back when.... but there were folks around inside (air conditioning)



bottom line is I have been 13 of the past 16 years...and I watched this event decline from 03-06 to the point i chose not to go the last couple of years for CC....

this years event was the smallest crowd i have seen since I started going....

the expo seemd to have bit more going on than 05/06... so that was encouageing....

the IRL had a decent swag area.... but it was tucked away in the back of the expo instead of out on the concoarse (dumb!)....

bottomline is this new series has a ways to go in many areas to get anywhere close to where CART of the 90's was

[SarahFan]

In the St Pete thread (the one you started) you said that by comparing season opener to season opener we were down 79%. Comparing St. Pete to St. Pete we were down 60%.

So now to be down only 25% seems like one heck of an improvement. Plus it was DOUBLE their last race. That is unheard of.

Where do you get that it was down from last year anyway? The article I'm reading says it was equal? Is that a difference between ratings share and actual viewers, some sort of math deal?

Let's hope it keeps going! :-)

IRL TV rating improved
April 21, 2009
Posted by aschoettle , trackback

The Grand Prix at Long Beach last Sunday scored a .5 TV rating for the Indy Racing League, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research. That’s the same rating the race earned last year on ESPN 2 when it was the swan song for CART.

Since the Versus cable channel isn’t carried in as many U.S. households as ESPN2, viewership was down slightly from last year. This year, 388,864 households tuned in, compared to 485,604 in 2008. Still this year’s Long Beach rating is a dramatic improvement over the .3 rating (233,000 households) the IRL earned for its debut on Versus April 5 at St. Petersburg. The TV rating for the St. Petersburg race was down 60 percent from the same race a year ago.

[anthonyvop]

Got a solution, or just more whining?

Gary
Actually I do but that would be the topic of another thread.

[chuck34]

IRL TV rating improved
April 21, 2009
Posted by aschoettle , trackback

The Grand Prix at Long Beach last Sunday scored a .5 TV rating for the Indy Racing League, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research. That’s the same rating the race earned last year on ESPN 2 when it was the swan song for CART.

Since the Versus cable channel isn’t carried in as many U.S. households as ESPN2, viewership was down slightly from last year. This year, 388,864 households tuned in, compared to 485,604 in 2008. Still this year’s Long Beach rating is a dramatic improvement over the .3 rating (233,000 households) the IRL earned for its debut on Versus April 5 at St. Petersburg. The TV rating for the St. Petersburg race was down 60 percent from the same race a year ago.


Ok so the share is the same, but since VS is not in as many households the number of "eyeballs" is lower. Thanks.

But it's still very encouraging that we went from a 0.3 rating to a 0.5. Maybe it has something to do with a lot of people saying to their friends "hey there was a race last weekend, but I didn't see it. What channel was it on?" The their friend (us) say VS. So they tune in to the next race. Maybe?

[SarahFan]

Ok so the share is the same, but since VS is not in as many households the number of "eyeballs" is lower. Thanks.

But it's still very encouraging that we went from a 0.3 rating to a 0.5. Maybe it has something to do with a lot of people saying to their friends "hey there was a race last weekend, but I didn't see it. What channel was it on?" The their friend (us) say VS. So they tune in to the next race. Maybe?

could be..

or it may have been the case of no nascar, no golf... and the NBA playoff game that was on the time of the race was a blowout..

time will tell.....

[chuck34]

could be..

or it may have been the case of no nascar, no golf... and the NBA playoff game that was on the time of the race was a blowout..

time will tell.....

Indeed, time will tell. But I'm on the optimistic side of this one.

[NickFalzone]

Last year's Long Beach race also had good press, as it came just after Danica had won in Japan and there were lots of news articles and press about that. So danica win/helio acquitted, actually a fair comparison. Lack of NASCAR may be a more significant factor, however.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I think for anyone to get all bent out of shape one way or the other for any race this season rating's wise is short sighted. We are in a 2 to 5 year fight to get this series back to a point where they are SECOND to NASCAR events on TV. Being on VS wont help short term, but may in the long. The broadcast of LB was well produced from what I saw, and even Jack Arute seemed a little more tolerable.

Ken is right on one thing tho. This series is a shadow of what CART was in the early 90's. That said, it is in the past and we cant go back there so lets just keep supporting the racing, supporting the series, and enjoy what we have. With this economy, they are in limping in survival mode but I did see 23 cars with sponsors for the most part out there. THAT is a good start....

[F1boat]

I think for anyone to get all bent out of shape one way or the other for any race this season rating's wise is short sighted. We are in a 2 to 5 year fight to get this series back to a point where they are SECOND to NASCAR events on TV. Being on VS wont help short term, but may in the long. The broadcast of LB was well produced from what I saw, and even Jack Arute seemed a little more tolerable.

Ken is right on one thing tho. This series is a shadow of what CART was in the early 90's. That said, it is in the past and we cant go back there so lets just keep supporting the racing, supporting the series, and enjoy what we have. With this economy, they are in limping in survival mode but I did see 23 cars with sponsors for the most part out there. THAT is a good start....

Great post!