... and onto the somewhat thorny issue of TV ratings, with thanks to Tom Firth for trawling through endless BARB pages and statistics. Here are your ratings for the 2014 Indycar season. On average they are still below where they were with Sky Sports but are on the up compared to the first year with ESPN and BT Sport. There are some very good figures, understandable the Indy 500, Houston and Mid-Ohio, and some lowish ones, overnight races will always be low and when maybe you don't have control of the remote and somehow Im Strictly X-Factor Get Me On Ice wins over (why, just why?!).
Indycar had a very settled and long term home on Sky and switching channels, include a name change 6 months in, has knocked it somewhat but the good think to take into 2015 is that BT Sport and the producers are very keen on motor sport and developing their coverage. The non 500 races used to be around 15-20,000 and are on the up from 2013.
Here's the disclaimer, I do not work within any TV organisation, data collecting or anything other than plonked on the sofa on a Saturday or Sunday evening, how accurate these figures are is sometimes debated, but that's what is out there!
Indycar had a very settled and long term home on Sky and switching channels, include a name change 6 months in, has knocked it somewhat but the good think to take into 2015 is that BT Sport and the producers are very keen on motor sport and developing their coverage. The non 500 races used to be around 15-20,000 and are on the up from 2013.
Here's the disclaimer, I do not work within any TV organisation, data collecting or anything other than plonked on the sofa on a Saturday or Sunday evening, how accurate these figures are is sometimes debated, but that's what is out there!
Following Indycar in the UK does come at an extra cost, anything up to £16 per month, especially if Premier League football or Rugby isn't your thing...
Worthy side note - These figures are for live coverage only. Sometimes at unsociable hours, up against competition, like Downtown or something, looking back at some of the highlights ratings, Milwaukee pulled a 6 live, but 13 highlights the day after.
Every month during the race season, I would estimate around 80-85% of the search terms that bring people to this site are about Indycar coverage in the UK, how, when, where and more.
So for those finding this blog by asking... Yep, Indycar is on BT Sport 1 / BT Sport 2 / ESPN this year (2015). I know the possibility of growing the coverage here is on their radar, but can't promise anything, so to ensure Indycar stays live on UK TV, each race day just tweet about it, it helps!
Also good promotion helps, twitter, facebook, actual advertising on the channel, there is no coincidence that the Indy 500 was as high and better than when on Sky Sports after BT Sport aired their own commercial in the weeks prior to the race.
A good blog to follow is F1 Broadcasting, if TV news and stats are your thing, mainly concentrates on F1 and Moto GP but does cover other series from time to time.
Worthy side note - These figures are for live coverage only. Sometimes at unsociable hours, up against competition, like Downtown or something, looking back at some of the highlights ratings, Milwaukee pulled a 6 live, but 13 highlights the day after.
Every month during the race season, I would estimate around 80-85% of the search terms that bring people to this site are about Indycar coverage in the UK, how, when, where and more.
So for those finding this blog by asking... Yep, Indycar is on BT Sport 1 / BT Sport 2 / ESPN this year (2015). I know the possibility of growing the coverage here is on their radar, but can't promise anything, so to ensure Indycar stays live on UK TV, each race day just tweet about it, it helps!
Also good promotion helps, twitter, facebook, actual advertising on the channel, there is no coincidence that the Indy 500 was as high and better than when on Sky Sports after BT Sport aired their own commercial in the weeks prior to the race.
A good blog to follow is F1 Broadcasting, if TV news and stats are your thing, mainly concentrates on F1 and Moto GP but does cover other series from time to time.
And onto a couple other series show on Pay TV...
Moto GP - Live on BT Sport.
Moto GP - Live on BT Sport.
NASCAR Sprint Cup - Live on Premier Sports
N.B. Premier did not list figures with BARB prior to June 2014. Where any statistic is listed at 900, this is unregistered so is between 0 - 999.
And finally, Formula 1 - Sky F1 only (BBC is around 75% of the normal total figure)
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