Fox Sports draws big numbers for IndyCar season debut. Most watched non-Indy 500 since 2011

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Fox Sports' debut IndyCar race drew 1.417 million viewers and was the most watched series event aside from the Indianapolis 500 on any network since 2011.

The mark for Sunday's opener on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg was a 45% increase over last year's event, which drew 974,700 combined viewers on NBC.

The Fox Sports viewership peaked with 1,820,000 viewers from 2:15-2:26 p.m. Local market ratings will not be available until later this week.

IndyCar this season ended it's 16-year relationship with NBC Sports for a multi-year deal with Fox Sports, which has promised high-quality production and promotion that began in January with glossy commercials featuring three of the series stars that aired during NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl.

IndyCar has a close relationship with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks, an Indiana native with a passion for both the series and the Indianapolis 500. He has vowed to push IndyCar back to the top levels of motorsports.

Despite the heavy promotion — which was also done during NASCAR's Daytona 500 and other Fox Sports programming — Shanks acknowledged to The Associated Press “there will still be people Googling on Sunday ‘What network is today’s IndyCar race on,'" — something he hopes to eliminate. All 17 races and both of the Indianapolis 500 qualifying sessions will be aired on Fox Sports this year, making IndyCar the only major motorsports series to air its entire schedule on network television.

The opener on Sunday, which was a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing with Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, was even more impressive in that NBC Sports uses the TAD (total audience delivery) metric that includes live streaming. FOX does not use TAD because it is not recognized by Nielsen Media Research data.

The race netted an audience increase of 425,300 viewers over NBC Sports and Fox Sports said it ranks as the most-watched IndyCar race on network television in 14 years not including the Indy 500. That race, in 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Dan Wheldon was killed in a fatal accident, drew 2,448,000 viewers on ABC.

Fox Sports also said Friday’s airing of the opening practice on its Fox Sports 1 cable channel drew 95,000 viewers.

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