The television partner of the NTT IndyCar Series, NBC Sports, has released viewership numbers for the 2022 that show it was the most-watched season in six years.
The average viewership numbers were 1.30 million viewers in America for each one of the 17 races on the calendar, which includes the total for traditional television and streaming through the network’s Peacock service.
The numbers were a five percent increase over last season, and were the highest since NBC took over exclusive broadcast rights in 2018.
Over half of the races attracted over one million viewers, with the season-opener from St. Petersburg topping the non-Indy 500 numbers at 1.44 million.
14 of the season’s 17 races were broadcast on the network’s over-the-air station, which is considered prime real estate and helped to bring in more casual viewers that may not pay for traditional cable services.
The network’s push towards online streaming of the races was seen as successful as well, with nearly five times as many people tuning in online as the year prior.
Those numbers were helped by the fact that the race from the streets of Toronto was only available through the network’s streaming service, but other races saw promising streaming results as well.
A highly-competitive field and a talented roster of drivers that are well-known outside of just the IndyCar community helped to attract high viewership numbers right through to the title-deciding finale from Laguna Seca.
Last year, NBC extended its exclusive partnership with IndyCar for multiple seasons. The high ratings released today point to a successful relationship that is trending in the right direction.
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