Rounds 17 & 18, 2013 Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by JacobP

One thing I don't understand is how ALMS and Grand Am always managed to negotiate to have the best American road courses on their schedule, but IndyCar could not. I can't imagine the ALMS or Grand Am fan crowds being bigger than IndyCar. Despite the excellent Indy 500 events of the recent years, the championship has been in a free fall. They really need to rethink things because it's not getting any better.

I believe it has to do with sanction fees between the 2 series.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Franchitti out of Fontana.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110461

[HJJ]

10/09/13 Houston IndyCar TV Ratings Just when you thought it could not get any worse, it did. TV ratings on NBC Sports Network are killing IndyCar racing (the noose around its neck) and they reached all-time lows in Houston. And the series does not care as long as they are collecting their big check from NBC.

Houston Race 1 on Saturday only had 163,0000 viewers tuned in
Houston Race 2 on Sunday only had 161,000 viewers tuned in.

.

[mythoughtsareracing]

Houston Race I had to compete w/ college football. Many teams had homecoming, and there were a number of important conference games.
Houston Race II had to compete with NFL games.

NASCAR coming to NBCSN will help improve ratings, I believe.
NASCAR is what most Americans think of when they hear "auto racing". Fans will pay their cable provider extra for a channel package that includes the station where they can catch their NASCAR programming. It's why most cable operators offered Speed Channel in an additional programming package.

The fact that more people will want NBCSN for some other programming (NASCAR, NHL, F1) can only help expose them to IndyCar. If the racing continues to be as good as it has been since the introduction of the DW12, fans will start watching IndyCar. The big question is how many...

Those of us who want to see IndyCar succeed hope that NASCAR will be in a rain delay or have a boring Pocono race and see some fans switch over to IndyCar and see exciting racing.
Better yet, NBC will break in during NFL halftime to show an amazing pass on track to give a race update.

I think it's sad that networks (over-the-air or cable) choose to shun motorsports when covering sports in general. But they do. I think if they showed exciting on-track action during short breaks in other sports (during a timeout or halftime break), it could help draw viewers.