Severe weather caused severe problems for NBC’s Indy 500 broadcast Sunday, as the network lost its signal for about 10 minutes.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials, race teams, fans and everyone else had been watching a storm approach the speedway. NBC signed on for its coverage, but during an interview with David Letterman, the network’s feed suddenly stopped.
Rain so heavy it took out the NBC satellite uplink from the Indy 500. Severe storm over the track right now. pic.twitter.com/A9DNdIPYoX
— Kevin Lighty – WCIA 3 Chief Meteorologist (@KevinLighty) May 26, 2024
A lengthy commercial break followed.
Brad Panovich, longtime meteorologist with NBC’s WCNC affiliate in Charlotte, shared the ominous weather radar over Indianapolis at the time of the technical difficulties.
Severe thunderstorm right over #Indy500 took the NBC signal out. #inwx pic.twitter.com/bdrDLVTFFf
— Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) May 26, 2024
The storm forced a delay in the race’s scheduled start time, and NBC filled the time with its broadcast from the 2023 Indy 500.
Race fans dropped a few jokes and memes on X about the NBC broadcast issue.
Wow. The storm knocked out NBC’s coverage #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/px4HcaIfUy
— Scott Braveboy 🦖 (@TScottBrave) May 26, 2024
David Letterman gets cancelled from NBC tv for the second time! 🤦♂️ #indy500
— Uncle Bill 🌎 (@UBtalkin) May 26, 2024
Once a weatherman, always a weather producer. Bring the rain. David Letterman. Indy 500.
— Del Mar Dennis (@DelMarDennis) May 26, 2024
Oh, dear. When the storm is powerful enough to knock out NBC’s #Indy500 broadcast, that can’t be good. pic.twitter.com/H6loTWBJ3y
— David Lerner (@davidpaullerner) May 26, 2024
[Brad Panovich WCNC; Photo Credit: NBC Sports]
