Atlanta Ratings Down
Fox's broadcast of last Sunday's Golden Corral 500 Nextel Cup race wound up as the weekend's most-watched sports event but its 5.7 rating in final Nielsen Media Research figures was off 10.9 percent from last year.
The race drew the 5.7 rating and 14 share, up from the 5.3/12 in the overnight reports from the nation's largest markets but below last year's final 6.4/16. NASCAR notes that all four Nextel Cup races this year have been the most-watched sports events on their weekends. It says an average of 6,145,000 households and 8,489,000 viewers tuned in to the Atlanta race. The Daily says Fox's three-race Nextel Cup average is 6.1/15, off 9 percent from 6.7/16 through its first three non-Daytona races last year.
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Las Vegas TV numbers were also off sharply: NASCAR wants to know why
NASCAR is taking an in-depth look into why television ratings for the past two Nextel Cup races have dropped off significantly over last season.
Ratings for the March 7 race at Las Vegas on Fox were down 16 percent from 2003, while last weekend's race at Atlanta on Fox was down 10.9 percent.
"We're monitoring the TV ratings and trying to figure out what has caused the drop. We know that other sports are down as well in the last two weeks, but we want to figure out if it is more than what's our there in TV land, or if it is specific to the sport itself," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president for corporate communications.
At the track, attendance was up in the last two races. Las Vegas was a sellout and had additional seating this season and Atlanta had its largest attendance for the spring race date.
"There are so many factors that go into TV ratings that it is hard to pinpoint one or two things that affect that," Hunter said. "But we are going to look at the big picture and what happens here at Darlington.
Fox's broadcast of last Sunday's Golden Corral 500 Nextel Cup race wound up as the weekend's most-watched sports event but its 5.7 rating in final Nielsen Media Research figures was off 10.9 percent from last year.
The race drew the 5.7 rating and 14 share, up from the 5.3/12 in the overnight reports from the nation's largest markets but below last year's final 6.4/16. NASCAR notes that all four Nextel Cup races this year have been the most-watched sports events on their weekends. It says an average of 6,145,000 households and 8,489,000 viewers tuned in to the Atlanta race. The Daily says Fox's three-race Nextel Cup average is 6.1/15, off 9 percent from 6.7/16 through its first three non-Daytona races last year.
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Las Vegas TV numbers were also off sharply: NASCAR wants to know why
NASCAR is taking an in-depth look into why television ratings for the past two Nextel Cup races have dropped off significantly over last season.
Ratings for the March 7 race at Las Vegas on Fox were down 16 percent from 2003, while last weekend's race at Atlanta on Fox was down 10.9 percent.
"We're monitoring the TV ratings and trying to figure out what has caused the drop. We know that other sports are down as well in the last two weeks, but we want to figure out if it is more than what's our there in TV land, or if it is specific to the sport itself," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president for corporate communications.
At the track, attendance was up in the last two races. Las Vegas was a sellout and had additional seating this season and Atlanta had its largest attendance for the spring race date.
"There are so many factors that go into TV ratings that it is hard to pinpoint one or two things that affect that," Hunter said. "But we are going to look at the big picture and what happens here at Darlington.
