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- Long Beach scores TAD of 1.07m viewers
- IndyCar’s opening three races averaged 1.14m viewers
- 2022 ratings up 34% on last season’s average total
IndyCar’s recent Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was the most-watched edition of the race since US commercial broadcaster NBC took the rights in 2009, while viewership through open-wheel series’ first three events of the season is the best in 19 years.
The race, in which Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took the championship lead with his second consecutive victory, averaged a total audience delivery (TAD) of 1.07 million viewers on the NBC linear network and its Peacock streaming service.
Despite going directly up against The Masters on CBS, viewership for the IndyCar race peaked between 5.15–5.30pm ET with an audience of 1.25 million viewers.
This figure is a 13 per cent increase compared with the average per race for the 2021 IndyCar season (excluding the Indy 500).
Meanwhile, Peacock recorded an average minute audience (AMA) of 22,900 viewers, the second-highest streaming audience on record for an IndyCar race behind only this year’s season opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida.
For the season as a whole, the first three races have averaged a TAD of 1.14 million viewers, making it the best start to an IndyCar season since 2003. This is also up 34 per cent per cent versus last season, which saw an average TAD of 858,000.