International interest on the rise

[luke]

Full article at Champcar-racing

The international flavor and diversity of the Champ Car World Series has never been as evident as it has been this season. Drivers from 13 different nations have competed in this year’s championship, attracting strong interest from around the world as demonstrated by international television ratings at the midpoint of the 2005 season.

In Canada, where Champ Car has three broadcast partners in Global, RDS and TSN, the 20th running of the Molson Indy Toronto, earned a 6.6 share on Global. In addition, the French-language broadcast on RDS attracted another 2.2 share for the Toronto event. One week later, the inaugural West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton earned a combined share of 6.3 on Global and RDS. The result was that nearly a half-million households tuned in throughout Canada for the two events.

Television audience numbers in Mexico have been encouraging as well with live broadcasts as well as one-hour highlight versions of Champ Car races also airing on TV Azteca. The Champ Car broadcasts averaged nearly 250,000 households and over 1 million viewers per event on Azteca 7 through the first half of the season with the live races drawing nearly 1.5 million viewers per event.

[Snrub]

Thanks luke, those are interesting numbers. The Mexican numbers were for the season, but it would be interesting to see Canadian numbers for the season. There's always a jump in viewers for the Canadian rounds. Interesting that Quebecers are 3x less likely to watch a Canadian race than other Canadians (they see it on RDS). Nice to see that the Sweds are increasing their viewership. For an earlier race they had a 2.2 or something.

[Electrocuted]

Originally Posted by Snrub

Thanks luke, those are interesting numbers.

ONLY as info........

Canada used to average 80,000 viewers per non-Canada event. This year, without hockey, the viewers have increased to 140,000 per non-Canada event.

Mexico used to have twice that many viewers. The Mexican drivers and sponsors leaving the series hurt.

Heck, take Brazil for example, used to be everyone in the entire country was a fan,,,,
now there isnt any coverage at all..

[BootsOntheSide]

The thing is, the only truly solid ChampCar markets historically are the US, Canada and Australia. All the others are dependent upon having local drivers challenging at the front. Quoting figures form Denmark and Sweden, as the article does, is a bit of a fallacy.

[Xpunk75]

I think the Champ Car article is just trying to say that people out of North American are enjoying Champ Car Racing.

Since F1 has no passing and has turned into quite a diffrent sport then it use to be Champ Car has in a way taken its place. Champ Car is what F1 use to be in the 1990's with lots of passing, slick tires, and they even have something F1 cars dont have and thats push to pass.

I think it the racing seems exciting to them, not that F1 is not exciting sometimes but usually and lately it has not been. This Season and the 2003 season have been the best in f1 for the last 7 or 8 years. So I think Champ Car is winning fans all over.

[Snrub]

Originally Posted by Electrocuted

Mexico used to have twice that many viewers. The Mexican drivers and sponsors leaving the series hurt.

Heck, take Brazil for example, used to be everyone in the entire country was a fan,,,,
now there isnt any coverage at all..

I didn't know that about Mexico. Presumably Fernandez was the catalyst?

I didn't realize that Brazil STILL has no coverage. One would think with CDM and Junky in the series they could have lined something up.

Xpunk, no offense, but did you watch F1 in the 90s? Other than in the early 90s there was probably less passing than there has been in the last couple of years.

[Tim Northcutt]

Share numbers reflect how many Canadian or Swedish or Mexican television sets that are turned on are tuned in...

So how many TV's does a nation with a population of 33 million (Canada) have...or 9 million people (Sweden)....

Or even 106 million (Mexico), when there is a large class that are impoverished???

I'm not throwing water on this....but comparing ratings and shares from other nations on a standard consistent with Arbitrons or Nielsen Ratings does not reflect how many people actually watched....

Example...

If every man, woman and child in Sweden owned their own individual TV Set, and all 9 million TV sets in the Nation were turned on during the Champ Car telecast, a 2.2 Share would be 198,000 TV sets tuned in for the race....

I doubt that everyone has their own individual sets...and of that 9 million in population, I wonder how many actual households there are in Sweden....

Thus this is a miniscule number of viewers....

I don't know how many TVs or households thee are in Canada, either...but just keep in mind that with 33 million people, a 6.6 share for a telecast may not be that many households or TV sets that are on...

[Snrub]

Tim see above for the Canadian viewers for non-Canadian events. I recall seeing the figures Electrocuted mentioned early in the season so they may have changed by now. The biggest reason that they're up from last year is that Canadians have been able to see the races at a reasonable time. Last year had a lot of races late at night or at night a day later! Blame TSN.

Sweden may not be a big market, but if it means that there's sponsorship on a car in the field and another sponsors signs on in some capacity in part because they want to reach the Swedish market, then it's good. Presumably Canada and Sweden have a similar number of TVs per capita as the US. Someone said in an earlier thread that while a "1" in the US is typically about 1M viewers, a "1" in Canada doesn't scale to 100k in Canada (Canada has 1/10th the population of the US).

[SALEEN S7R]

Anyone got any idea as to how many people tune in throughout Europe? I would imagine Eurosport get a few million viewers per event at least, Champ cars is fairly popular here in the UK at the moment IMO thanks in part at least to strong showings by Justin Wilson. I'd be very interested to see just what sort of viewing figures Eurosport get.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Snrub

Tim see above for the Canadian viewers for non-Canadian events. I recall seeing the figures Electrocuted mentioned early in the season so they may have changed by now. The biggest reason that they're up from last year is that Canadians have been able to see the races at a reasonable time. Last year had a lot of races late at night or at night a day later! Blame TSN.

Sweden may not be a big market, but if it means that there's sponsorship on a car in the field and another sponsors signs on in some capacity in part because they want to reach the Swedish market, then it's good. Presumably Canada and Sweden have a similar number of TVs per capita as the US. Someone said in an earlier thread that while a "1" in the US is typically about 1M viewers, a "1" in Canada doesn't scale to 100k in Canada (Canada has 1/10th the population of the US).

What I am trying to say is that "Shares Numbers tell as small portion of the story....you can take one figure and work it to suit your needs....

2.2 percent of the TV's turned on is Sweden is not a good number of people....

I don't pay attention to "Share Numbers"....The rating and the Number of people it reaches are the two most importnat numbers...

Shares only tell you how it competed with other shows that aired at the same time....

I worked in politics for many years....One candidate I worked for had a 2% support in the first poll taken in his race...the next poll two months later showed 4%....Thus he "doubled his support" in just two months!!!

However, three other candidates were in double-digits.... so he was just a blip on the radar screen....

Stats can show whatever you choose them to show in relation to the poijt you need to make.....

Tell me the Rating and the actuall people reached based on the data....

Champ Car could have a 40% share of all of the TVs in Wyoming...but if they
only have 20 TVs, you were watched on 8 TV sets....

[Liz]

And by all means we have to pour lots of cold water on all good news and tell everyone that it doesn't mean anything and Champ Cars is really dying. :roll: Don't you guys ever get tired of coming to a party to tell people that for their own good they ought to quit celebrating? Couldn't we once have good news without YABBUT?

Are you really saying that unless a country has as many people in it as the United States, whatever they do has no merit? Or is your point that the only numbers that count are the ones in the USA, and therefore Champ Cars is dead? I confess I don't have any idea what your point is, if it's not simply pouring cold water and handing out crying towels.

[indycool]

Liz, I did NOT read any posts in this thread that said: A) The figures don't mean anything; or B) Champ Car is really dying. And I don't have anyone on ignore.

I see a legitimate, thoughtful discussion here about television numbers. I find it interesting what Electrocuted points out that Canada viewers increased significantly without hockey. I find it interesting what Tim points out about what the figures might mean in a Sweden.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by Liz

And by all means we have to pour lots of cold water on all good news and tell everyone that it doesn't mean anything and Champ Cars is really dying. :roll: Don't you guys ever get tired of coming to a party to tell people that for their own good they ought to quit celebrating? Couldn't we once have good news without YABBUT?

Are you really saying that unless a country has as many people in it as the United States, whatever they do has no merit? Or is your point that the only numbers that count are the ones in the USA, and therefore Champ Cars is dead? I confess I don't have any idea what your point is, if it's not simply pouring cold water and handing out crying towels.

You don't get it, do you????

No one said anything of the kind....

But a 2.2 share of TV sets in Sweden is a miniscule number of TV sets tuned into a race....

Sorry, but that is a fact....

and if a 6.6 share of sets in Canada amounts to less than 200,000 households, those numbers are worse than what Speed gets in the USA....

I wouldn't be crowing about a 2.2 share of sets in Sweden...

The rating and the approximate households reached are the important TV numbers....

The Share numbers only relect how that telecast fared against other shows that are on TV during that time slot...

The announcement is nothing more than spin by CCWS....

If someone can post the Ratings and the approximate households reached, please do so...because those are the numbers that actually mean something...

Period

[Tim Northcutt]

As far as "Champ Car is Dying" goes, I think that the attendance at Toronto, Edmonton and San Jose would refute that....

All three events had excellent attendance, IMO....

[rustyfan]

I can't understand why Sweden is included in the first place - Eurosport isn't available in all homes (and even less when it comes to Eurosport2), and the casual fanbase for motorsport is pretty small, still trying to recover from 1978 (the year it became political correct to dislike motorsport in this country).

So, do us all a favor and drop Sweden from any reports, as any numbers involving Sweden are irrelevant and completey useless.

The UK, on the other hand, would be more interesting, considering they actually care about motorsports over there.

[Roninho]

Originally Posted by Liz

And by all means we have to pour lots of cold water on all good news and tell everyone that it doesn't mean anything and Champ Cars is really dying. :roll: Don't you guys ever get tired of coming to a party to tell people that for their own good they ought to quit celebrating? Couldn't we once have good news without YABBUT?

Are you really saying that unless a country has as many people in it as the United States, whatever they do has no merit? Or is your point that the only numbers that count are the ones in the USA, and therefore Champ Cars is dead? I confess I don't have any idea what your point is, if it's not simply pouring cold water and handing out crying towels.

No offence, but those ratings are worse then they were a couple of years ago. Mexico is down, brazil evaporated, even the network races in the us are down. It is a great news-item pr-wise, but really there is no rise compared with a couple of years ago.

As for the smaller countries: it's not about the size of the country, it's about the nr. of viewers. 10 countries with 100k viewers each will result in less-sponsored cars then 1 country with 1 million viewers. Why? 1 country with a million viewers each race means one big & similar market in which a large part of the population knows the series, which means more recognition. That's why a decent deal in mexico is way more important than a eurosport-deal.

[Snrub]

I see it somewhere in the middle. With the US ratings the shares are fairly consistant and the number of viewers seems to vary +/-10% when it comes to ratings relative to the series. Presumably the international ratings follow the same pattern.

I don't think anyone is under the illusion that a "2" in Sweden or somewhere like that is anyway comparable to a "2" in the US. That doesn't mean it's bad news or insignificant. The difference with the political example is that the primarly measure of success is beating everyone. CC doesn't need to beat everyone and their isn't a looming expirary date. It needs steady positive progress. It looks to me that the series is slowly consoladating the peices of a foundation.

[Electrocuted]

Originally Posted by Snrub

The difference with the political example is that the primarly measure of success is beating everyone. CC doesn't need to beat everyone and their isn't a looming expirary date. It needs steady positive progress. It looks to me that the series is slowly consoladating the peices of a foundation.

Darn Snrub,,, a great post.
I've tried for years attempting to convey those thoughts.. Never could do it.

I believe it was roninhol that also had the same thoughts as I have had, for years. I'm sure/positive/loud,,, that it WOULD be much better for CC to focus on smaller bites and do it right. A dozen countries with 200,000 semi-fans does very little for sponsors. But,, if there were close to a million fans in 1 country,, and then grow another 1 million fans somewhere else,, and another million somewhere else, then there would be sponsor involvement.

Thats one of the reasons why lack of tv in Brazil doesnt bug me much,,, the pool of sponsors from Brazil or corporations focused on the Brazil market isnt deep. Sorry Ron, but Holland and Sweeden have a relatively shallow sponsorship pool and not that much focus from corporations. (those didnt come out excately right, but please get the drift) Many other countries have kiddie pool sponsorship opportunities. Which is why it makes NO SENSE, for CC to have "turned their backs" on the USA and Mexico. Mexico sponsors saved the series last year. They didnt come back this year. USA sponsors wont get an ROI with the 330,000 (individual/different) people that have attended a CC race this year added to the tv numbers. I'm not sure the exact cause of the Mexico decline, maybe it is the sudden loss of drivers and sponsors? But man, the 2 biggest sponsor supporting countries ya just cant "do it cheap." Ya have to buy all CBS tv, hire more than 2 American and 1 Mexican driver, and pay for a great Mexican channel. Without spending the money on it now, it takes double the money and double the time to build a fan base large enough for sponsor interest.

Liz,, if we ever tag up somewhere,,, I'll bring the towell and a cup of hot chocolate.
I do understand. there can be some posts with the wording so it purposely reads negative towards CC... I spot those the same as you.
There can also be good discussion of topics, with everyone adding value to the thread. But,,, sometimes the posts "correct" the fluffy PR piece's. Frustrating,, gets old after years and years,, wish everything was smelly as a fresh cut rose in Holland, Michigan ( got ya Roninho ),,,, the bottom line is, if CC would stick to "accurate reporting" there wouldnt be anything to "correct."

[Robert Ryan]

Those figures are a little bit of a "beat up" . But that is understandble, any good news is reported by any racing Organisation. Overall there has been a little more awareness of CCWS in Australia...but not vast followings, considering the main organiser is an Australian and their is a "Team Australia" running. CCWS still manages to get reruns shown about 2pm in the morning , ratings are very poor.(Better than NASCAR though!!) The Surfers Race is an anomaly..more a giant street party with a lot of V8Supercar gearheads following their favourite brand of car in the V8Supercar "shared events"

[Tenoch]

The decline in Mexican sponsorship is more correlated with the slump that the American economy is having. But the most importent factor to the decline of interest in Champ Cars is the Americanizing of Mexico. Down here a lot people watch the NFL and nascar simply because its from the United States and they dont have a clue about the actual sport.
Champ Cars came to Mexico in 2000 or 2001 that was nearly five years ago since then there has been a huge lost in interest in Open Wheel Racing in Mexico, while Stock car racing has made huge leaps, if you look at NASCAR Mexico, the series that emerged from the combination of Desafio Corona and the copa Mustang, you'll see all the old Cart Sponsors running cars there. even at the Mexican events all of the support series that run are either stock car racing or touring car racing. There simply is no more open wheel development in Mexico like the one that produced Adrian, Michel, Mario and the rest of the bunch.

[Robert Ryan]

Sedan dominance in racing started here in the 1970's and has been gathering strength ever since.

[Electrocuted]

To add to the NASCAR and Canada topic,,,, CC has the 140 or 160 thousand average (cant remeber) non-Canada event viewers, while NASCAR has over 200,000 average Canada viewers.

I admit,, I dont know what channel it's on, what time of day/night either is on..... But to have NASCAR outdraw CC in Canada just isnt right.....

[Omega99]

NASCAR is on live in Canada on the same NETWORK channels as in the US. We get all the major US networks, so that certainly plays a huge factor in it's availability, and promotion.

Also, the correlation between the lack of hockey and improved for champ car numbers in Canada is probably nonexistant. The schedules do not really conflict in a normal year. Hockey is a winter sport. And it's so different from auto racing that I doubt there's too many people that tuned in looking for another sport. The NBA was the real winner in Canada thanks to the NHL lockout/strike.

[mountainstar]

Compared to the beginning of 2004, there has been a huge increase in numbers internationally. We've had our usual friends visit us to tell everyone that we should stick our head in the sand. Why? All I've seen this year is constant improvement in every area.

When people say that countries like Sweden and the Netherlands don't matter, they do. Many companies that can afford sponsorship in the seven figures are international companies. If you take the Netherlands for instance, increasing the presence of champcar may attract the attention of an international company based there that can't afford an F1 level sponsorship.

At the end of the day, all I care about is results. As long as more watch, the more attend races, the more sponsors that sign up, the better.

[Roninho]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

When people say that countries like Sweden and the Netherlands don't matter, they do. Many companies that can afford sponsorship in the seven figures are international companies. If you take the Netherlands for instance, increasing the presence of champcar may attract the attention of an international company based there that can't afford an F1 level sponsorship.

I'm not saying these countries don't matter, they for sure can matter (look at holland, having 2 pay-drivers in F1). But for any market to matter ratings have to be a lot higher than a few 100k per race. There is simply no sponsor willing to put up $5 million because cc draws 200k in sweden, 150k in holland and 150 k in canada.

Just to put the ratings into perspective:
For autosport the sponsorship-value of a race shown on US-tv with 1 million viewers is said to be $110.000 per car, with 70.000 for the main sponsor and 40.000 for the other sponsors. (i read it once somewhere on the internet, a former CART pr-guy claiming this in an interview. Sorry no link).

With a 5 million budget and 15 races a year each race this would translate in a minimum of 3 million viewers a race in the us for CC to be at the level for companies to have the sponsorship a wise business decision. (15x3.0x110000= $ 5 million).
For comparison, A top drive in nascar busch costs also +-$5 million. The busch series drew 52 million households for the 2004 season which results in a good ROI for sponsors (52x110.000 = $5.7 million) & big fields.