The Indianapolis 500 defeated the Coca-Cola 600 in preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings, despite enduring lengthy rain delays Sunday. ABC's 4.7 rating for the Indy 500 fell from a 5.1 last year, but it edged out the 4.5 for Fox's Coca-Cola 600, which declined 8 percent from 2003.
Usually, the Indy 500 is over by the time the Coca-Cola 600 begins, but rain delays caused them to compete for two hours. In each half-hour segment from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern, the Indy 500 won, ending with a 4.8 rating from 7 to 7:30, compared with a 4.0 for the Coca-Cola 600. Each overnight ratings point equals 754,274 television households.
Viewership did not plummet during the Indy 500's rain delays, which actually pushed it into a later time period with more viewership. The two rain-delay segments, the first from noon to 2 p.m. and the second from 2:45 to 4:30, rated a 3.6 and a 3.7.
meanwhile
LOW RATINGS
Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup final on ABC drew two of the lowest overnight ratings since broadcast networks began carrying the NHL final in 1998. Saturday's Game 3, won by Calgary 3-0, got a 2.2 rating, the lowest since 1998. Tampa Bay's 1-0 victory Monday night had a 2.8, which tied last year's Game 3 between New Jersey and Anaheim for the second-lowest since 1998.
Flyover country was a different story, because after the nonovernights came in, NASCAR outrated Indy nationally 5.0 to 4.1.
http://www.sportsline.com/autoracing/story/7384164
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