NBC’s broadcast of the INDYCAR Grand Prix on Saturday – the first NTT IndyCar Series race to air on the NBC network – was the most-watched event from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course since the inaugural race five years ago.

The broadcast averaged a total audience delivery (TAD) of 1.072 million viewers, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, for the race won by Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud in constantly changing weather conditions. It provided a 37 percent increase in TAD from the 2018 broadcast on ABC.

NBC Sports Group is in the first of a multiyear deal with INDYCAR to serve as the exclusive media rights holder in the United States.

The TAD of 1.072 million viewers for the sixth INDYCAR Grand Prix was the best since the inaugural race in 2014 (1.244 million viewers). Viewership for Saturday’s race peaked with a TV-only audience of 1.414 million viewers during the final laps of Pagenaud’s exciting victory (5:45-5:52 p.m. ET). Indianapolis led all markets with a 6.65 local rating.

Through five races, the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series has averaged a TAD of 536,000 viewers across four races on NBCSN and one on NBC, up 51 percent versus the first five races of 2018 on NBCSN (354,000).

NBC Sports now looks ahead to its first broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 26. Race day will see eight hours of programming, starting with a prerace show on NBCSN at 9 a.m. ET, race coverage beginning at 11 a.m. ET on NBC and a postrace show at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

NBC, NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold will combine to provide 13 hours of Indy 500 qualifying coverage on May 18 and 19. INDYCAR Pass subscribers can view the first-day qualifying from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday before NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass simulcast the final hour at 5 p.m. ET, when the first 30 positions in the field are locked in. The second qualifying day, which will determine the last three qualifiers and the run for the pole position, airs from noon-3 p.m. Sunday on NBC. A practice open to the 33 qualifiers then airs from 4-6 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN.

INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold is NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer livestreaming subscription service offering 60 hours of INDYCAR content this month. A special $15 discount is now being offered, reducing the season-long subscription price to $39.99. INDYCAR Pass has exclusive coverage of the first four days of Indy 500 practice, running from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.