Central Indiana tuned in to live Indy 500 broadcasat

The first live television broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis since 1950 drew an overnight rating of 33.6, up from last year's delayed telecast of 12.9.

That means 33.6 percent of the Indianapolis market's household audience was watching the race, which aired on WRTV-6, an ABC affiliate.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials allowed the live local showing because all tickets were sold for the first time in event history. The estimated attendance was 350,000.

Not surprisingly, the Indianapolis market led all those metered by Nielsen.

Nationally, the overnight metered market rating on ABC was 4.1, down from 4.3 last year. The rating peaked at 4.8 during the 15-minute period starting at 3:15 p.m.

A full report, including statistics from the WatchESPN app, will be available Tuesday.

Follow IndyStar reporter Curt Cavin on Facebook and Twitter: @curtcavin.