To avoid a replay of last year's dismal Indianapolis 500 ratings, ABC may have to manufacture the storyline on its own.
  The network found out last year what happens when there's no behind-the-scenes drama at the race. No one watches.
   The 2002 race set the record for lowest household viewers since 1973. There’s no reason to believe, at least so far, that this year will be any different unless longtime race broadcaster ABC manufactures a reason for viewers to watch.
   Practices for the May 25 race began in April, and the pole sitter was determined Sunday, two whole weeks before the actual race. When a race builds up for that long, no wonder viewers don’t always remember to watch when it finally airs.
   The most feted race in the Indy Racing League series drew its smallest audience ever last year, a 4.8 household rating.
   That seems surprising considering how hot other auto racing is right now. NASCAR ratings have exploded the past two years and, attendance-wise, Formula 1 racing is one of the world’s most popular sports. 
   IRL is not, and to make matters worse last year, the Indy 500 lacked a hook. Though this year's pole sitter Helio Castroneves was attempting, and succeeded in capturing, his second-straight 500 title, the sideline spectacles that really pull viewers in weren’t such spectacles last year.
   Tony Stewart attempted a same-weekend Indy 500-NASCAR double in 2001, which drove ratings because of Stewart’s popularity and the media’s love for the sheer ludicrousness of such feats. The race averaged a 5.8 household rating.
   Last year’s race featured Robby Gordon attempting the same feat, but popularity-wise, he’s no Tony Stewart.
   Although Gordon will try to do it again, the media was mainly interested in Stewart because of his reputation as a firecracker. Just think of the excitement if the notoriously prickly driver had a meltdown during his grueling day.
   No new barriers were broken in last year’s race. In 2000, Sarah Fisher became only the third woman to qualify for the Indy and the race averaged a 5.5 household rating, equal to the year before.
   By 2002, when Fisher entered for the third straight year, she was no longer a ratings pull.
   But never doubt the power of manufactured drama king ESPN. The race will be mega-hyped on “SportsCenter” and ESPN2’s “RPM 2Night.”
   And having the NBA postseason to play off of this year will definitely help. ABC can show commercials for the 500 during network and ESPN playoff game coverage, an audience exposure factor the network lacked last year when NBC had the NBA.
   The trends the past few years have shown that people are actually more interested in the build-up than the interminable race. The race-day average for Indy pre-coverage and the Indy itself was .4 higher last year than race-only numbers.
   Again, that shows that people are watching to get the behind-the-scenes stories.
  This year Castroneves will attempt a three-peat, which usually pulls people in to any sporting event. He’d be the first driver since at least 1973 to pull it off, a history-making line that ABC also can hype.
   The Kentucky Derby was the most-watched sporting event by far last week, averaging a 7.6 household rating. That marked a .5 improvement over the previous year, though it was down .5 from 2001.
   The race continued the trend of improved ratings on NBC. When ABC last broadcast the race, in 2000, it averaged a 5.8.
  This Derby was the second-highest-rated since 1992.

May 12, 2003© 2003 Media Life

-Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.

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