Since TV ratings are all the rage these days, how about a look at the UK TV figures across the BT Sport platforms (1, 2 and ESPN). You can find a breakdown of the figures from 2014 here. But in summary, Indy 500 was popular, so was Mid-Ohio (as always?) and that was that.
Figures are sourced from BARB, the TV audience data collection company here in the UK, I am, to be fair always dubious over how accurate they are, but I have been told... fairly.
A summary of 2014 first.
Figures are sourced from BARB, the TV audience data collection company here in the UK, I am, to be fair always dubious over how accurate they are, but I have been told... fairly.
A summary of 2014 first.
Moving onto 2015, for those keen to see more eyes on the series and growth in interest and support in Indycar, you will probably like what you see...
And in graphical form...
...and '14 v '15...
A few notes. These are recorded from TV only, not online players and app viewers. I did get a lot of tweets about the quality of the Indy 500 coverage, in that viewers lost coverage on some platforms. NOLA was on the red button therefore recorded no figures. Mid-Ohio drew a usual season high and Fontana was up 1800% on last year, yes it was a crazy race but starting at 9pm rather than 1am probably helped.
So why the jump? The producers at BT got in touch with me last winter asking for opinions on the coverage, and it going forwards, man, many people obliged, these were all forwarded. One common theme was improving promotion ans that is something that we saw throughout the year on the BT channels. A dedicated Indycar advert which promoted the current DW12 cars (plus bolt-ons) as well as a dedicated advert for the Indy 500 which encapsulated the speed, drama and danger of the event, although unlike last year, there was no UK based studio providing coverage and analysis.
Mainly because we didn't look for them last year, I have now included the highlights figure too given that Indycar can be on at the most unsociable of times, as well as getting in the way of Downton Abbey and such other visual delights.
Since most other series still have a couple months left on their season, I have not included those as a point of interest / comparison as with last year.
In Summary, UK TV viewership of Indycar doubled on live broadcasts on 2014, and if you add in re-runs and highlights, trebled. Indycar would often top the weekly top 10 on BT:ESPN. So one final note, 2016 through 2022, BT Sport will continue to provide UK TV coverage of Indycar. (Google crawlers, check)
N.B. BT Sport now has a channel 'BT Sport Showcase' where they show selected football games for free, next May, go on...
So why the jump? The producers at BT got in touch with me last winter asking for opinions on the coverage, and it going forwards, man, many people obliged, these were all forwarded. One common theme was improving promotion ans that is something that we saw throughout the year on the BT channels. A dedicated Indycar advert which promoted the current DW12 cars (plus bolt-ons) as well as a dedicated advert for the Indy 500 which encapsulated the speed, drama and danger of the event, although unlike last year, there was no UK based studio providing coverage and analysis.
Mainly because we didn't look for them last year, I have now included the highlights figure too given that Indycar can be on at the most unsociable of times, as well as getting in the way of Downton Abbey and such other visual delights.
Since most other series still have a couple months left on their season, I have not included those as a point of interest / comparison as with last year.
In Summary, UK TV viewership of Indycar doubled on live broadcasts on 2014, and if you add in re-runs and highlights, trebled. Indycar would often top the weekly top 10 on BT:ESPN. So one final note, 2016 through 2022, BT Sport will continue to provide UK TV coverage of Indycar. (Google crawlers, check)
N.B. BT Sport now has a channel 'BT Sport Showcase' where they show selected football games for free, next May, go on...
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