Multiple IndyCar broadcasts shifted to early afternoon timeslot

The NTT IndyCar Series and television partner NBC have released the broadcast schedule for the upcoming 2022 season, revealing the approximate start times of the season’s 17 races.

The schedule shows that a handful of events have been shifted into earlier timeslots than last season, with two races scheduled to be run at least three hours earlier than they were in 2021.

TV viewership numbers have shown that recent races run in the early afternoon tend to draw in larger audiences, and it would have been a priority for both the series and NBC to try to get more races into the popular viewing time.

Of note, the race from Barber Motorsports Park will now be run at noon instead of 3:00 PM, and the race from the streets of Nashville will be run two hours earlier than its late afternoon debut last season.

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This year’s race from Texas Motor Speedway also shifts from an evening event to an early afternoon timeslot, likely on account of the race moving from the scorching mid-summer date to a Sunday in late March.

Despite having four races on tracks with lights, the season only has one evening race scheduled at World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as Gateway, and even that race is set to begin two hours earlier than last year.

The start times for races run on the west coast have not changed from last season due to the time difference to the east coast already placing the race starts at noon local time.

In addition, the release re-confirms that the first six races of the season will air on NBC, with 14 races total being shown over the air, giving extra viewership possibilities to the growing series.

The demise of NBC Sports Network means that the remaining races will be shown on USA and the broadcaster’s streaming service Peacock.

All races will continue to be shown live in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and Italy on Sky Sports, with a freshly-renewed deal lasting through 2024.