Regarding Ratings, Moaning, etc...

[stewart1100]

Hi there.

First of all I live in europe, but Im huge indycar fan, for the past 30 years or so.

My main problem is I cannot watch races. Tv channels that I have do not have indycar. And I have eurosport 1,2, MotorsTv, Sport1

On that four channels combined I can watch; Wtcc, ALMS, GrandAm, ELMS, WEC, Nascar Nationwide, V8 Supercars, MotoGP, WSBK, LeMans24hrs, V8 Superstars

So I can watch almost every series that Indycar could compete with -but no indycars

What puzzles me is that indycar obviously went "european route" with tracks (road, street) and drivers (filippi, mann, franchitti, bourdais...) but didnt offer its product to europeans -to viewers that can actually relate to above mentioned drivers.

Its no brainer really -but it just doesnt seem to happen.

Instead they offer their product to people who could relate to the likes of Kyle Larson -and ofcourse they moan.

On the other side of the planet people who could relate to franchitti, wilson, bourdais -moan too, because they do not have the means to follow the sport.

I have to admit I watch Indycar on one youtube channel. Because thats the only way. That youtube channel uploads the race cca 4 hours after it finishes. In the first hour it has about 150 viewers, by the end of the week more than 2.000 viewers watch the uploaded race race -and thats just that one channel -that I found by accident, because youtube search engine can not find it. (deliberately I suppose)

So there are viewers -they do exist. And they usually post comments like this

"man, thank you for uploading, what a cracking races -shame this is the only way for me to watch them"

So people would watch. But they are just not able.

I suggest that whoever is responsible for indycar broadcast contacts this television http://www.motorstv.com/

because this tv channel has a lot of european viewers. also that channel broadcasts, all ALMS, GrandAM and Nascar Nationwide races -so all the races from american continent. And it has a lot of viewers. Is is cheap and accesible to lot of people. And thats what indycar needs.

Thank you.

[jkeener24]

Seems like this should be an easy problem to fix. Are the overseas rights somehow a big expense for IndyCar that they don't think is worth it? If there's an audience, wouldn't one of those providers be willing to pay IndyCar SOMETHING to televise the races? If so, why are we not doing it?

I ask these as legitimate questions, not to be snarky in any way.

[stewart1100]

Seems like this should be an easy problem to fix. Are the overseas rights somehow a big expense for IndyCar that they don't think is worth it? If there's an audience, wouldn't one of those providers be willing to pay IndyCar SOMETHING to televise the races? If so, why are we not doing it?

I ask these as legitimate questions, not to be snarky in any way.

Maybe nobody offered them their product. Maybe they are not aware that the audience exist

In CART heyday in mid and late 90s, CART was broadcasted on eurosport -and it had huuge following.. I guess I could have again -those viewers are still here and are still interested

[Lis]

I also live in Europe and haven't missed a live race this season despite not subscribing to the PPV channel it's on this year. It's not the best but there are ways, without which I would now see nothing after decades of being a fan spending thousands to attend races.

This is the first year since the early 1990's I've not watched (payed to view) AOWR (CART/CCWS/IC) live on TV, be it Eurosport, Motors or Sky. It used to in the main have fabulous coverage back then. In recent seasons Sky gave great live coverage, coupled with its excellent F1 channel this was one of the must have channels for a race fan! Unfortunately this year the IndyCar rights moved to a different, smaller audience PPV channel, I couldn't justify the added expense to shell out for yet another channel with a different supplier simply to watch IndyCar, when it offered me nothing else of interest, unlike all the others in the past & Sky with F1 now. IndyCar also used to be highlighted on 'terrestrial' TV at some ungodly hour of the morning several days after the event, not any more.

It's a shame it doesn't get wider coverage anymore, especially given the enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds that turned out when CART/CCWS raced in Europe. I attended every race at Rockingham UK, Brands, Lausitz, Zolder & Assen, meeting people from across the Continent who'd traveled to watch the events, everyone I encountered said how fantastic it was, the access, the on track action, the openness, etc. Having spent a lot of time at races in the US I actually found on many occasions the European fans to be more excited than those stateside! I'm pretty sure these large European audiences wont have just fizzled out, but like me they have to actively seek out ways to watch the races, as just like in the US it's not easy to be an IndyCar fan, plus its not so possible to actually attend an event when it's a long and expensive plane ride away just to get to the Country of the race! jmo

[Deutsch]

Yep, it's not necessarily straightforward to watch these races, and now one has to be a bit more proactive. No danger of a casual viewer tuning in. But there are ways to watch them, and I do my best when the timezones align. Otherwise I usually catch up on the races a little later on.

To counter the original point, I guess there just hasn't been the demand for it, even if there are people who would watch it. I'd guess this comes down to the casual viewers - those who'd watch if it was on, but don't feel strongly enough to write to Eurosport or whoever complaining when it's not. Or they have discovered that it's not so difficult to find alternative means of watching...

[stewart1100]

But shouldnt casual viewers and even accidental viewers be the core of the TV audience

[Unzerdog]

Which begs the question...Who at Indycar HQ is telling Baltimore and providence that their race will receive millions of viewers world wide? International attention my rebel butt. The ALMS race, maybe. Beyond that, they are being sold up the creek.

[Miguel]

International broadcasting rights are with ESPN. So even if IndyCar wanted to, they can't do a sweetheart deal with motors tv, leaving us in Europe unregistered as viewers even if we are exposed to all the brands in IndyCar because we do watch the races. Just a dumb stupid move to sell the international rights to ESPN without having a look at local markets first.

[Deutsch]

The core? Not really. The bulk, perhaps. Even that depends on the "product" being televised.

Generally it's a catch-22. Increased telecast would increase awareness, but one needs increased awareness to drive a demand for more telecast. Indycar (and probably motor racing in general) is not really an easy product to attract casual viewers to, in comparison to other sports. That's a product of many things - timing, frequency, availability.

The way to attract casual viewers would be on a motor sports channel - and perhaps this is the question. Why is IndyCar not on MotorsTV or the F1 channel in the UK? That's a little crazy (IMO).

I add that I don't really have a good feel for what drives media coverage, and particularly the demographics thereof, so I could be talking out my backside.

[Thorzdad]

There's an assumption here that Indycar isn't trying to get their races onto foreign networks. It's perfectly possible (even probable) that they do try, but the networks aren't buying it. I mean, the best Indycar could do in its home country was a contract with NBCSN, which isn't exactly available everywhere in the US. I suspect it's an even harder sell worldwide (excluding, of course, the 500, which gets worldwide play.)

[stewart1100]

Motors TV will buy everything if you offer them the right price. (And indycar is not in position to overprice its product)

Motors TV bought nationwide. They even bought tractor pulling .

[Lis]

There's an assumption here that Indycar isn't trying to get their races onto foreign networks. It's perfectly possible (even probable) that they do try, but the networks aren't buying it. I mean, the best Indycar could do in its home country was a contract with NBCSN, which isn't exactly available everywhere in the US. I suspect it's an even harder sell worldwide (excluding, of course, the 500, which gets worldwide play.)

'They' may way want you to think that but actually I can tell you in the UK/Europe the 500 doesn't get special/different treatment from any other Indy car race. It's certainly not aired on regular TV and PPV doesn't tend to just broadcast that one-off race, at least not in the UK that's for certain. It gets no more coverage nor viewers than a regular IC event.

[ICS001]

Sky seemed to be doing their best to bury Indycar behind secondary viewing options, and not promoting it alongside F1. Not surprised it moved to ESPN, especially if the latter actually wanted to pay for the rights.

[Lis]

Sky seemed to be doing their best to bury Indycar behind secondary viewing options, and not promoting it alongside F1. Not surprised it moved to ESPN, especially if the latter actually wanted to pay for the rights.

It's been hidden away on BT Sport for the latter part of the season... and not always shown live, and when it is it often gets shortened abruptly before the race is over! The coverage is garbage, who'd want to pay for something that isn't guaranteed, at least with Sky 99% of the time races were aired live & in their entirety!

[ICS001]

It's been hidden away on BT Sport for the latter part of the season... and not always shown live, and when it is it often gets shortened abruptly before the race is over! The coverage is garbage, who'd want to pay for something that isn't guaranteed, at least with Sky 99% of the time races were aired live & in their entirety!

Sky moved stuff behind the red button constantly. Most of the races were on Sky Sports 3 and 4 which are secondary (more expensive) channels.