If a race is good TV is all over it. If it sucks the assumption is TV screwed up. However, the production is not yet where it needs to be either. CART TV isn't capricious. Every bit of coverage is carefully thought out.
Ratings come from what's on the screen.
What's on is CART racing. When it's good, TV is too. While the gross CART ratings are down, they follow a general downturn in all TV ratings. The advertisers don't count gross as much as the demographic rating. Here CART is solid.