Season TV-Ratings, Versus 16% up

[Lousada]

http://www.sportsmediawatch.net/2010/10/2010-indycar-season-up-16-on-versus.html

Versus averaged 366,000 viewers for 12 IndyCar races this season, up 16% from 11 races on the network last year (315,000), but down 53% from 11 races on ESPN and ESPN2 in 2008 (778,000).

Of course, last year the last few races were blocked by DirectTV so of course the viewership for those races improved.

[Scotty G.]

I doubt most sponsors or potential sponsors give a crap how "up" this PR piece says they might be.

The fact is, we didn't hear a peep about Indy Car ratings for the last 2 months of the season. That tells you everything you need to know.

An average of 366,000 per race? Ted Nugent's hunting show and Classic Women's bowling is laughing at that.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Scotty, even if they are THAT low, hearing that they ticked up at the end of the season is a glimmer of hope..

This series has to start somewheres...

[EagleEye]

I doubt most sponsors or potential sponsors give a crap how "up" this PR piece says they might be.

The fact is, we didn't hear a peep about Indy Car ratings for the last 2 months of the season. That tells you everything you need to know.

An average of 366,000 per race? Ted Nugent's hunting show and Classic Women's bowling is laughing at that.


1 billion gazillion % X 0 is still zero. JJ does not even track that low, I believe...

AR1 loves to report the NASCAR ratings drop, but their delta is still bigger than the Indycar number!

[Enjun Pullr]

EagleEye, JJ numbers... I was under the impression from reading posts here that you were a tech.

Since the JJ numbers are so low as to be irrelevant, can I fire some questions at you?

[SarahFan]

The # coming from SMW have been suspect since the first race(s) of the year....

I suspect this one is also

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I doubt most sponsors or potential sponsors give a crap how "up" this PR piece says they might be.

The fact is, we didn't hear a peep about Indy Car ratings for the last 2 months of the season. That tells you everything you need to know.

An average of 366,000 per race? Ted Nugent's hunting show and Classic Women's bowling is laughing at that.

So what are you saying? That IndyCar ratings suck? Oh my god, I didn't know that.

[Enjun Pullr]

Hi SarahFan,

Isn't there also a lot of confusion about what the Versus numbers actually represent? I thought there was a notion that they were adding in total views of re-broadcasts and other Indycar air time to bump up this year's calculations.

I don't have facts on that, just questions. The absence of hard numbers surely means there is nothing to boast about, it would seem.

[Jag_Warrior]

Isn't there also a lot of confusion about what the Versus numbers actually represent? I thought there was a notion that they were adding in total views of re-broadcasts and other Indycar air time to bump up this year's calculations.

That may be why the article discusses viewership and not the actual ratings. I'm really not sure.

BTW, welcome to the board, Enjun.

[Enjun Pullr]

Cheers for that, Jag.

And I agree, the numbers focus is hocus-pocus. EagleEye's view of the actual meaning looks right on target.

By the way, we appear to have similar affinities for road cars. What's the genesis of your screen name?

[SoCalPVguy]

Quote Ross Perot, about 1989...

"If you've got a nickle in your pocket and you find a dime, you've doubled your money all right - But you still don't have enough to buy coffee !!!"

Apropos to the Versus ratings. This isn't even a blip on potential major sponsor's radar.

[Enjun Pullr]

You mean whuppin' Comcast with a voodoo stick won't help? ;}

[Jag_Warrior]

By the way, we appear to have similar affinities for road cars. What's the genesis of your screen name?

Jaguar has been my favorite marque since I was a teenager - though I dearly hate the styling of the new ones. The other part was a "gift" from an (ex)girlfriend who claimed that I had some sort of personality defect revolving around "confrontational aggression" (whatever the hell that is). She was a psychology major in college and had this annoying habit of trying to analyze people. But it seemed a catchy moniker, so I adopted it about 12 years ago on various message boards. Kept the name... dumped the girl. It all worked out for the best. :)

[Enjun Pullr]

"confrontational aggression"...that's rich, I think we all need that printed on our chatroom membership cards. Maybe a TOS requirement? ;}

Funny parallel about the Jag styling to ICS: fans of the traditional form and function dropped like flies. We love the cars they could no longer find people to buy. So they changed.

For the worse? Well, they're not Delta Wings...but they sure couldn't stay the same. At least they have a different product to show the world for 2011.

[Jag_Warrior]

"confrontational aggression"...that's rich, I think we all need that printed on our chatroom membership cards. Maybe a TOS requirement? ;}

Funny parallel about the Jag styling to ICS: fans of the traditional form and function dropped like flies. We love the cars they could no longer find people to buy. So they changed.

For the worse? Well, they're not Delta Wings...but they sure couldn't stay the same. At least they have a different product to show the world for 2011.

Yes, I've finally reached the point in my life where what I like is no longer cool/hip. My XK8 is a 2005. Because of my issues with the new styling, it's probably the latest Jag I'll ever have. Jaguar styling, sort of like life itself, seems to have finally passed me by. Oh well...

I was hoping that they'd produce this:
http://photos.autoexpress.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_764/car_photo_382030_7.jpg

I would likely buy that. But several people have referred to it as a "monstrosity". To me, the new ones look like Volvos... really nice Volvos and I like Volvos. But a Volvo is not a Jaguar. But judging by sales, many people don't agree with my objections.

As for the new Indy car, I liked this from the first time I saw it several years ago. And much like the Jaguar RD concept, I seemed to be alone in that boat.
http://www.autoracing1.com/Images/2005Misc/MenardsPrototype.jpg

[Enjun Pullr]

That's Ashmore's draft from a few years ago, I think it was about '05 but would have to look it up. I like it, it would be similar to the transition step of a turbo in the current chassis.

A dart with no airbox and different wings, with the wheel protection added, gets you to the same place. Then add a new chassis to race with them when finances permit. Allow the old sleds with V8's too. Instant variables in shape, sound and performance.

[Hoop-98]

Quote Ross Perot, about 1989...

"If you've got a nickle in your pocket and you find a dime, you've doubled your money all right - But you still don't have enough to buy coffee !!!"

Apropos to the Versus ratings. This isn't even a blip on potential major sponsor's radar.

I think if you have a nickel in your pocket and find a dime you have tripled your money, not enough for coffee so go look for a quarter :)

[EagleEye]

That's Ashmore's draft from a few years ago, I think it was about '05 but would have to look it up. I like it, it would be similar to the transition step of a turbo in the current chassis.

A dart with no airbox and different wings, with the wheel protection added, gets you to the same place. Then add a new chassis to race with them when finances permit. Allow the old sleds with V8's too. Instant variables in shape, sound and performance.


I'll do my best to answer. The IBJ used to post the JJ numbers, but they do not any more. Not a good sign, and I thought I read they do not go not track that low....

The Ashmore design was presented to IRL and Champcars teams near the end of the 2003 season. I actually was in a meeting with Bruce in Australia, when he was presenting this. There were some good ideas with this. I recall the Menard group (engines and tech) were involved, but then I can not recall all the details.

[Enjun Pullr]

Very cool EE, you've been hanging out with the bigs! Mr. Ashmore was kind enough to speak at length on the phone one day, and sounds like a great chap. You lap in good circles.

Jag, if you look at the first BAT renderings, the lineage is suggested. I was enthusiastic when that group surfaced, hoped the history with Ressler would earn them a fair shot. No idea if they got one.

So Eagle, the topic is chassis torsional stiffness. Let me know if that's a subject you can shed some light on, and if so it will make for a new thread.

[MDS]

Raw numbers by themselves are useless. You really need to see a demographic breakdown before making any judgments about the value of the league usefulness and attractiveness to advertisers, although from what I've heard about the demos they're not that good either.

Honestly, my best guess is that in order to get to a point where the teams have enough sponsorship to choose the drivers they want and have young driver development programs we'd probably have to see ratings consistently in the 1.1 range for races a 4.5 or more for the 500 and have at least one or two other events get close to the 2.0 mark with strong attendance at events across the board. The demos would need to be fairly strong, I think you'd need to have about 55 percent of your demo in the 18-49 bracket, with 15 to 20 percent in the under 18 demo.

Unless NBC gets behind the league during the offseason, put more races on broadcast and promote ICS races we're not going to get there. In order to be a viable sport you have to have a network and ESPN working for you.

We lost at least 200,000 fans in the move from ESPN/ABC to ABC/Versus, and still haven't gotten them back.

[Enjun Pullr]

MDS, that's a pretty high degree of specificity. I don't know much about ratings or pitching them, are your best guesses based on expertise?

[MDS]

MDS, that's a pretty high degree of specificity. I don't know much about ratings or pitching them, are your best guesses based on expertise?

I work in marketing, so its an educated guess, one scenario that could get the sport where we would like to see it.

The way I see it if you had a million or so viewers, 60 percent of whom were under 48 you'd have some blue chip sponsors coming to you. There some other ways to get there. NASCAR for example is still strong in key southern markets where they draw an 8 share in places like Nashville, Charlotte, Jacksonville and a few other places, and that's valuable to sponsors as well.

Ratings are also only part of the picture, likeability of drivers, like Danica and other things track in as well.

[Enjun Pullr]

This part confuses me:

"...in order to get to a point where the teams have enough sponsorship to choose the drivers they want and have young driver development programs we'd probably have to see ratings consistently in the 1.1 range".

That sounds like you are talking like a fat stack of cash, generated from a less than huge ratings increase.

AA needs roughly $7M per car to fund the entry, pay the driver, and throw a bone to F2000 as you suggest. It would seem unlikely to me that a 1.1 average on Versus is going to get a primary sponsor to invest $5M for the exposure.

Even with the caveats you added about ratings spikes, it seems like too wide a gap to bridge. Accumulating a number of associate sponsors seems the better solution, and I believe that is the direction many underfunded Nascar teams are adopting now.

As for all the Comcast/ NBC Universal/ Versus talk circulating, there is a common denominator. Indycar is almost never mentioned in the potential transfer of sports properties. Maybe fans think the big pond is a welcome environment, but I'd like to read some of the industry experts say so.

[MDS]

People look at ratings as kind of the end all be all of ROI, and as someone who has worked with major sports sponsorships I can tell you that's just a part of it. It's not just ratings but a whole host of factors like B2B, credibility, cool factor, fan support, loyalty, attendance.

[SarahFan]

People look at ratings as kind of the end all be all of ROI, and as someone who has worked with major sports sponsorships I can tell you that's just a part of it. It's not just ratings but a whole host of factors like B2B, credibility, cool factor, fan support, loyalty, attendance.



Which are all currently low also

[Enjun Pullr]

Yes, thanks for that MDS. The b2b case is apparently the only strong suit to play, as I'd have to agree with SarahFan about most of the other inducements.

I'm trying to figure out, with the current set of factors, what you walk in with as ammunition. If the b2b expansion that Apex-Brazil claims is accurate, that's one bullet.

The PVH boss thew around some positive numbers, but Kelly's "good vibe" interviews don't add any specifics. In a world where the numbers matter the most, it takes good ones to load up on.

The vague increase in TV ratings doesn't look like nearly enough to make a dent.

I think the cool factor works great for those inside the hospitality tents, and walking a crowded grid before a race. It gets frigid when you turn around and look at the grandstands.

[Jag_Warrior]

Ratings are important to sponsors. Attendance is important to sponsors. But going by the comments I heard at a sponsorship conference in Charlotte several years ago, one of the key metrics that sponsors look at is "sponsor exposure value", as indicated by the Joyce Julius measurement system. And even more than the JJ numbers, most large companies perform an internal analysis on the value of their sponsorships, comparing the cost of sponsorship to objective (real/hard) return measures: incremental sales increases, increased website traffic, etc. As late as the 90's/early 2000's, you could (really!) prop up the sales price or value of your business by claiming things like "good will". Just like "coolness", good will was totally subjective. When revenue and profit couldn't justify a sales price, you'd throw in "good will" to make up the difference. These days, it's MUCH more difficult to get away with that.

Even the Joyce Julius numbers are somewhat suspect, because they don't reflect anything other than a value based on "in focus" views and mentions. But still, when they're good, you can expect to see a series talking about it, like this 2005 IRL PR piece (http://www.indyracing.com/news/archive/show/55-izod-indycar-series/28510-companies-see-growth-in-value-br-of-indycar-series-sponsorship/). When they're not so good, you can expect to hear crickets chirping... a situation we seem to have had more recently. If the key metrics were headed in the right direction, 7-11 and others wouldn't be leaving, IZOD wouldn't mind sponsoring Hunter-Reay for another season and The Captain wouldn't be struggling to find sponsors for his legendary team.

IMO, here is an excellent article, which deals with the question of why sponsors make the decisions they make... in this case, NASCAR vs. IRL. This author just uses basic viewership to assign values. And from what we see and hear, he seems to be close to the mark.

IndyCar Price and Market Value - August 10, 2009 (http://theindyidea.blogspot.com/2009/08/indycar-price-and-market-value.html)


14.688 million IndyCar viewers / 225.760 million NASCAR Cup viewers = .06506

The market, as a function of U.S. television viewership, values a championship caliber, full-season IndyCar team at approximately 6.51% of the total value of a similar NASCAR Cup team. We rounded up.

Budgets for top NASCAR Cup teams are estimated to be between $18 million and $20 million per season. Having determined relative market value at 6.51%, we know that the correctly priced operating budget for a top IndyCar team for the season is approximately $1,302,000.

[Enjun Pullr]

Well Jag, I really have to thank you for the education. There are great lessons in the comments of one of Roggespiere's readers, and in comparing numbers from a few of the articles.

As for 7-11; The 2005 valuation of $14M had dropped to less than $5M in 2008...and that was before the trade-off to the limited exposure of Versus. Since their brand exposure efforts are dedicated to retail sales advertising, I think the "good will" and "cool factor" arguments are moot.

As for cool factor: this is the focus of RP's reader comment, who pointed out the sales advantages (b2b) of sponsorship participation. It reinforces my position that the essential priority is local promotion for each event, and IndyCar has to fill that void with the direct cooperation of their sponsors.

Cool factor is special-access garage tours, buffets in the hospitality tents and suites, hanging on the grid with the bigs before the green flag. How cool is it when you realize nobody else thinks it's cool enough to come watch?

I don't know about you guys, sometimes I feel like a rube for caring about this Series when most other people couldn't care less. Does a TV viewer feel the cool factor when he turns on a race with empty grandstands? Why should I watch, nobody else does....

I think that makes national advertising campaigns, or attempts to promote personalities, a side issue. Politicians build local bases of support, one community after another, until they begin to establish national recognition. Then they can show commercials of rallies with enthusiastic local supporters.
"Somebody's listening to this guy...we should too".

Filling the bleachers gets you started on that road. An array of local promotions and incentives for each race are essential: even if the ticket prices are drastically devalued, the fan-building investment must be made. At least you can sell four times the number of hot dogs and beers.

Without it, every potential fan, and sponsor, and race promoter, and race track owner see how cool this deal isn't. Promoters in Vegas saw lousy attendance at the SMI track in Kentucky, and no attendance at the finale in Homestead. So they can't wait to subsidize a cool event like that next year? Crickets.

[Lousada]

Five years ago the cable-ratings were at least twice the size as they are now. The ABC ratings, including the Indy500, were significantly higher then now. Ovals like Kansas, Chicago, Kentucky and basicly every other, were at least 90% full.
A LOT of people left since then. What has changed these 5 years? The cars are the same. The drivers are for the most part the same (Dario, Dixon, Helio, TK, Danica, Marco, Wheldon, Meira, Fischer, plus the Champcar guys...). The split is over. The carcounts are up. Why have these people left? Don't tell me it's because of a lack of promotion...

[MDS]

Yes pretty much all the numbers are bad for the sport at this point at time. I don't get JJ numbers anymore because we've pulled out of that part of the business but my overall point is that the sport can improve without seeing massive ratings.

Look at the World Rally championship they don't have a particularly large demographic but its narrow, young, and because the cool factor of rallying is so large it can thrive. You don't have to have big numbers if you have good demos and overall appeal.

Honestly Indy needs a broadcast partner if its going to survive. I'm hopeful that NBC will take an in interest as part of the Comcast purchase, but that remains to be seen.

[Enjun Pullr]

Lou:

No promotion to attract new fans.

Not enough advertising to alert existing fans of upcoming events.

Not enough inducements to get existing fans to part with their reduced entertainment dollars.

Dead-end broadcast partner with guaranteed low ratings and no reach to promote upcoming events.

Two adversarial broadcasters who won't promote each others' events.

Generally predictable competition as variables in equipment have been diminished.

Career drivers who lack the personality and sponsored exposure to attract major fan bases. Motegi attendance rose 30% thanks to Sato.

Rally cars are a direct link from motorsports to retail products, the same way Nascar once was. Ford certainly believes in the connection. X Games exposure, and competition designed to resemble video games and satisfy short attention spans all sell the package.

[Otto-Matic]

This thread makes me think back to 2005, when Danica-Mania was exploding all over the country and the IRL had paparazzi like coverage of Danica's every move. They really dropped the ball on using this added coverage to promote the other drivers in the series. Look at Buddy Rice, Hornish, Wheldon, Meria, Herta, even Buddy Lazier...you cant tell me that there wasnt a compelling story to be played out in each of them. This period was probably the most extensive coverage the League has ever had, and you dont get that kind of PR everyday. Instead everything focused on the princess and once the fodder started to die out, the IRL went back to being third page news.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Five years ago the cable-ratings were at least twice the size as they are now. The ABC ratings, including the Indy500, were significantly higher then now. Ovals like Kansas, Chicago, Kentucky and basicly every other, were at least 90% full.
A LOT of people left since then. What has changed these 5 years? The cars are the same. The drivers are for the most part the same (Dario, Dixon, Helio, TK, Danica, Marco, Wheldon, Meira, Fischer, plus the Champcar guys...). The split is over. The carcounts are up. Why have these people left? Don't tell me it's because of a lack of promotion...

I was going to say, if the ovals were 90% full, it was because a few of those tracks made you take the IRL tickets to get the NASCAR tickets.....And THAT my friends didn't leave a good taste in anyone's mouth, and you can see what it did when Chicagoland dropped the requirement last year and you saw the empty spaces in the grandstand as a result.

The thing is, Indycar events are fighting to survive, but some are doing quite well so you sort of have to wonder where to go from here.

The thing is, we are all fans, we haven't given up. We still watch or try to watch. Why is the general public has lost interest? Racing is down as a whole, but has the economy been the whole reason for this drop? No..I don't think so; but when you see the miles of empty seats at places like Dover for the Cup boys, you start to wonder if racing isn't in a general decline right now....or evolving.

The IRL has its collective back against the wall, and I think the hardcore fan that used to really be enthusiastic about the sport is maybe watching the ALMS or NASCAR....and I think the new car might bring some of them back, but it will take a lot.

I do know that I think Danicafever actually in the long run hurt ratings...for people like me who got tired of the media frenzy stopped watching just to get away from the hype and maybe discovered we were not missing it....

Just a thought...

[MDS]

Five years ago the cable-ratings were at least twice the size as they are now. The ABC ratings, including the Indy500, were significantly higher then now. Ovals like Kansas, Chicago, Kentucky and basicly every other, were at least 90% full.
A LOT of people left since then. What has changed these 5 years? The cars are the same. The drivers are for the most part the same (Dario, Dixon, Helio, TK, Danica, Marco, Wheldon, Meira, Fischer, plus the Champcar guys...). The split is over. The carcounts are up. Why have these people left? Don't tell me it's because of a lack of promotion...

Uhm, in the last five years we've experienced a once-in-a-life recession followed by a mismanaged recovery.

[Enjun Pullr]

I would imagine that by this time tomorrow, Danica Patrick will have been blamed for that, too.

[Otto-Matic]

I would imagine that by this time tomorrow, Danica Patrick will have been blamed for that, too.

just to clarify my post, i'm not blaming Danica (obviously) for the IRL not capitalizing on her initial media mania and exposing more of the drivers and sport. I'm blaming the IRL managment and PR dept.

But I think Obama would love to blame the economy on the Princess, would certainly take the heat off.

[Enjun Pullr]

As bad as the picture is now, TV ratings, attendance, international recognition, and merchandise sales would all suffer without the Danica factor comprising a nice chunk of the totals.

The better question to consider is why haven't the ten other active drivers who started the 2005 season not managed to attract any substantial following of their own. Perhaps that's DP's fault too?

[Easy Drifter]

I do not think the Princess is much of a draw in most markets now. Possibly an at track draw but not getting people to the track or watching on TV.
Very hard to tell though.

[Otto-Matic]

As bad as the picture is now, TV ratings, attendance, international recognition, and merchandise sales would all suffer without the Danica factor comprising a nice chunk of the totals.

The better question to consider is why haven't the ten other active drivers who started the 2005 season not managed to attract any substantial following of their own. Perhaps that's DP's fault too?

Dude you're completley missing the point. Danica really has nothign to do with the negative numbers or lack of sponsorship. she's just another driver.
In 2005, her presence in the IRL gave AOWR a massive shot of adrenaline. This huge amount of positive pr/media usually takes a long time to build, but the IRL got it overnight when she joined the league. All of a sudden ESPN, USA Today, even Sports Illustrated gave more focused coverage to the IRL and especially the Indy 500 that it ever had post split. Danica's arrival was A GREAT thing.
The fault only lies with the IRL managment. They failed to grab this momentium and keep it moving. once the novelty of Danica wore off, so did the casual fan who only cared because the "hot chick" was racing. any potential new hardcore fan was never cultivated because they never got past DP. This is obviously not her fault, again she's just another driver (for the most part). It IS the league's fault for not aggressivley working that angel and reaching out to those interested people on the fringes and pulling them in. DP in Indycar is still a good thing in the big picture.
Enjun, if you cant understand that than I dont know what to tell you.

[Enjun Pullr]

My statement about Patrick, although it reads as exaggerated, is valid and was made to counter Mark's premise that Danicamania chased a lot of people away. I disagree.

IRL management was never competent at promotion, although I can tell you that I have seen Buddies Rice and Lazier on Series TV spots in the past. The other valid point I made was that those drivers, and others that Patrick raced against in her rookie year and to this day, earned no public appreciation in their own right.

Anyone who has watched IndyCar racing for the last six years who didn't cultivate an interest for Wheldon, Castroneves, Dixon, Franchitti, Scheckter, Carpenter, Briscoe, Meira, Fisher, et al had plenty of opportunity to do so. None of then developed a significant fan base.

If you think that a lack of exposure was the reason, and not a lack of personality, then IRL management is one of several entities you can blame.

[Enjun Pullr]

Back to Lou's original post and comment, the percentage increase looked kinda familiar.

If I am reading the article correctly below, once the "freebies" expired there were 64M Versus households during the carraige dispute which continued through the 2009 IndyCar season.

With the DTV dispute resolved, the increase to 75M households served to benefit IndyCar's 2010 ratings. The broadcasts were available to 15% more home viewers.

Which means that promotion or continuity were not responsible for any increase in viewership on Versus. This was purely an increase in availability.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/439726-Versus_Sub_Count_Takes_9_Million_Hit_As_Previews_E nd.php