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TV Ratings: Indy 500 beats Coke 600? UPDATE or does it?

June 2, 2004 at 12:00 AM
  • The Indianapolis 500 defeated the Coca-Cola 600 in preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings, despite enduring lengthy rain delays Sunday. ABC’s 4.7 rating for the Indy 500 fell from a 5.1 last year, but it edged out the 4.5 for Fox’s Coca-Cola 600, which declined 8 percent from 2003. Usually, the Indy 500 is over by the time the Coca-Cola 600 begins, but rain delays caused them to compete for two hours. In each half-hour segment from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern, the Indy 500 won, ending with a 4.8 rating from 7 to 7:30, compared with a 4.0 for the Coca-Cola 600. Each overnight ratings point equals 754,274 television households. Viewership did not plummet during the Indy 500’s rain delays, which actually pushed it into a later time period with more viewership. The two rain-delay segments, the first from noon to 2 p.m. and the second from 2:45 to 4:30, rated a 3.6 and a 3.7.(New York Times – need to register)(6-2-2004)
    UPDATE OR? NASCAR’s Coke 600 Overpowers Indy 500 by Widest Margin Ever:
    Sunday’s heated TV viewership rivalry between the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR Nextel Cup’s Coca-Cola 600 produced the widest ratings disparity since 2000. That year however, it was the Indianapolis 500 that topped the Coca-Cola 600 by a margin of +61% (5.5 on ABC vs. 3.4 on TBS). This past Sunday produced an entirely different result. In a further indication of NASCAR’s surging national appeal, the Coca-Cola 600 fired a 5.0 national rating and captured its third consecutive ratings victory over the Indianapolis 500, which posted a 4.1 national rating. The +22% gap over Indy represents the widest margin of victory favoring the Coca-Cola 600 in the history of both events. From a viewership standpoint, NASCAR’s victory was even more impressive as the Coca-Cola 600 generated an average audience of 8.4 million over a 4.5-hour broadcast, while the Indianapolis 500 drew 6.1 million, a difference of + 38%.
    Facts and figures:
     Coca-Cola 600 vs. Indy 500
    HH Rtg – +22% – (5.0 vs. 4.1)
    M18-34 – +200% – (3.0 vs. 1.0)
    M18-49 – +110% – (4.4 vs. 2.1)
    M25-54 – +86% – (5.2 vs. 2.8)
    P2+ – +38% – (8.4 mill vs. 6.1)
    (FoxSports)(6-2-2004)