Indianapolis 500 struggles in television ratings

According to the Nielsen ratings , ABC earned a 4.6 overnight TV rating for live coverage of last years  rain-delayed Indianapolis 500. That's down 8.0% from a 5.0 in 06. 

I live in the Indianapolis area however was out of town and had the first opportunity to watch the race live. 

The race is delayed in Indianapolis until 7PM race t night.

i turned on my television  at the  beginning of the pre-race  activates and was totally delighted to watch it live. 

it was totally exciting to watch the start of the race live laying on my bed in a motel room. i have attended over 35 indianapolis 500s in person and really like this was a lot better.

however  after the lengthy rain stoppage, I got  bored and began to watch something else.

ABC did a good job of having race stories to combat the delay however enough was enough after about an hour and a half.

i channel surfed between an Nba playoff game and the 500 and when the race was restarted i was once again glued to the race

i laughed when Michael Andretti tried to convienxe the nation they should stop it  at lap 112 with three of his four drivers in the top 5..

It was like he was using the national audience to convince the Speedway to call the race

One thing I really liked about ABC's coverage was the split screen during commercialsl breaks continuing the coverage when the green flag was out..

I didn't miss a moment of action and sponsors likely got more exposure because their spots ran during the commercial breaks.

 I'd love to see more sports events go this route.

Fox’ coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, earned a 4.5/9 overnight, down 4.3% from a 4.7/10 last year. I watched most  of this race, won by Casey Mears.

TV ratings are notorously low on holiday weekend's - especially during the summer - when people would rather be outside enjoying the weather than inside watching TV.

Hooters Pro Cup Driver Jeff Agnew and Myself at Salem Speedway

Web site Publisher Terry Daniels with a few of his friends

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