The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma earned 841,000 viewers on average on NBCSN - the highest viewership for a Verizon IndyCar Series race on a cable channel since Richmond in 2008 on ESPN. The viewership for Sonoma peaked at 1.048 million in the final full quarter hour.

These numbers are up 123 percent from last year (377,000) and up 115 percent from 2013 (391,000). Additionally, viewership was up 200 percent from 280,000 compared to last year's finale which was held at at Auto Club Speedway. While in both years the season ended on the west coast, last year's finale was a night race, going past midnight for viewers in the Eastern time zone. This year's finale, being an afternoon race, was more comfortable for many viewers, starting at 5 pm ET. 

The last six races of the season attracted the biggest viewership on cable in recent years. The MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway, this year as an afternoon race and not as a finale held at night, attracted 512,000 viewers on average. That was the highest viewership for the series on NBCSN since Texas 2010, and the following races yielded even bigger numbers.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was shown live on CNBC, yet the delayed telecast on NBCSN following a NASCAR race attracted 666,000 viewers, the biggest viewership for the series on the channel since starting to broadcast it in 2009. That number was later surpassed by Sonoma's viewership on the finale weekend.

The 11 telecasts on NBCSN averaged a 0.3 final rating and 507,000 viewers, up 36 percent in ratings and 34 percent in viewership from last year (0.25; 378,000). Since 2013 (282,000 viewers), the viewership has increased by 80 percent. This year's viewership was above NBCSN's previous highest of 402,000 in 2011 and the highest on cable since an average of 778,000 for ESPN and ESPN2 in 2008. NBCSN also reached the highest total audience ever for its coverage with 6.4 million unique viewers, a 47 percent increase from last year.

Viewership increases also on ABC

ABC broadcasted five races this year, including the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indianapolis 500. The ABC telecasts averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.4 million viewers, flat in ratings and up three percent in viewership from 2014 (1.5, 2.3 million). Compared to 2013 (2.1 million), the viewership has increased by 12 percent.

The Indianapolis 500 averaged a 4.2 final rating and 6.5 million viewers on ABC, up eight percent in ratings and seven percent in viewership from last year (3.9, 6.1 million). It was the second-highest rated Indy 500 since 2008, only behind 2012 with a rating of 4.3. Still, the viewership and ratings were sixth-lowest for the 500 since starting to broadcast the full race live in 1986, although for the first time in a decade it had a higher rating and viewership than NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 held on the same day.

The full Verizon IndyCar Series season averaged a 0.76 rating and 1.1 million viewers - up 15 percent in ratings and 16 percent in viewership from 2014, following a 20-percent increase in ratings and 19-percent increase in viewership from 2013 to 2014. The total increase in ratings and viewership over the past two years has been 36 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

(Numbers via INDYCAR, Sports Media Watch)

Follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter for comprehensive coverage throughout the offseason leading up to the 2016 season.


Kalle Tyynelä is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @FINdyCar.

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About the author
Kalle Tyynelä
Motorsports and alpine skiing writer. Also interested in tennis and sports business.