2016 NASCAR Season - Television Ratings Thread

Skoalbandit33 said:
For perspective I looked back at the 2002 ratings and this race drew 4.2 on TNT and in 2007 on ABC it also drew a 4.2 or 6.7 million viewers. In 2012 the race was on ABC and delayed 2 hours due to rain and there was also a 1 hour red flag period but the race still got a more than respectable 3.3. and 5.1 million viewers. Two years ago the race was on ESPN and fell to 4 million viewers and now has seemed to settle in around the 3 million mark.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Richmond earned a 1.5 overnight rating on NBCSN Saturday night, down 12% from last year (1.7) and down 44% from 2014 on broadcast network ABC (2.7). The 1.5 is the lowest of the season for a Sprint Cup race. Keep in mind NASCAR faced unique competition from Saturday’s Virginia Tech/Tennessee college football game, which took place from the Bristol Motor Speedway racetrack (3.8).

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/201...-louisville-syracuse-us-open-espn-viewership/
 
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/09/nascar-ratings-down-chase-cup-chicago-nbcsn-overnights/

A rough stretch for NASCAR has continued into the Chase For the Cup.

NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Chicagoland earned a 1.5 overnight rating on NBCSN Sunday afternoon, down 15% from last year (1.8) and down 32% from 2014 on ESPN (2.7). Overnights even dropped from 2013, when the race was delayed multiple times and moved from ESPN to ESPN2 (1.6).

Excluding rainouts, the 1.5 overnight is tied as the lowest of the season for a Sprint Cup race, matching Richmond the previous week. Only one race all of last season had as low an overnight, coverage from Kansas that did not finish until after 1 AM ET due to rain.

The past eight Sprint Cup races have hit multi-year lows in the overnights, again excluding rainouts.
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NFL ratings and viewership are huge, but I'm not sure that I'd spend my energy worrying about the NFL if I owned Nascar.

When motorcycle sales tanked circa 2006, the Japanese big four redoubled their efforts to compete against Harley-Davidson. That failed, and the Japanese manufacturers still have not recovered to this day. Meanwhile, Ducati defined market segments that it called "relevant market" and focused its efforts there. Ducati's relevant market share has trended strongly upward, as have unit sales and revenues. Ducati has never been stronger. And Harley-Davidson has held its dominant share of *its* relevant market too.

Nascar dominates the motorsports market, which proves they are doing something right. Nascar's minor league Xfinity Series has triple (or more) the ratings and viewers of other racing series' top level.

NFL on CBS 12.2 rating / 21 million households.
NFL on Fox 11.0 rating / 19 million households.

Nascar Sprint Cup (NBCSN) 1.6 rating / 2.7 million.
Nascar Xfinity (NBC) 1.1 rating / 1.7 million households.
Nascar Trucks (FS1) ?? rating / 523,000 households.

IndyCar Finale Sonoma (NBCSN) 0.34 rating / 536,000 homes.
Formula 1 Singapore (NBCSN) 0.28 rating / 419,000 homes.

Global Rallycross Championship (NBC) 0.24 rating / 340,000.
NHRA at Charlotte (FS1) 0.17 rating / 272,000 homes.

IMSA sports cars at Austin (FS2) 33,000 viewers yikes.
World Endurance sports cars Austin (FS2) 23,000 yikes again.
 
still NFL is 8x viewership, alot is the public school system, no kids go kart derby
 
LewTheShoe said:
NFL on CBS 12.2 rating / 21 million households.
NFL on Fox 11.0 rating / 19 million households.
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CBS and Fox combined for 33.2 rating / 40 million homes. That means 66.8% of the TV's in use during that time slot were not watching either NFL game (80.5 million homes watching TV but not watching NFL). There is more than just NFL, even at 1:00 - 5:00 ET on Sundays in September.
 
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2016/09/nascar-ratings-record-low-chase-cup-nbcsn-chicagoland/

For the second straight year, NASCAR’s Chase For the Cup opened with its lowest rating ever.

NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Chicagoland, the first race in the Chase For the Cup, posted a 1.6 final rating and 2.7 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday afternoon — down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (1.9, 3.2M) and down 30% and 27%, respectively, from 2014 on ESPN (2.3, 3.7M).

Excluding rainouts, the race ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Chase For the Cup telecast ever (118 races dating back to 2004). The previous lows were a 1.8 and 2.9 million for last year’s New Hampshire race. The six lowest rated and least-watched Chase races have aired on NBCSN, which is only in its second year broadcasting NASCAR.
.....
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Also notes that there's been a big slump ever since Joonya was sidelined.
 
LewTheShoe said:
CBS and Fox combined for 33.2 rating / 40 million homes. That means 66.8% of the TV's in use during that time slot were not watching either NFL game (80.5 million homes watching TV but not watching NFL). There is more than just NFL, even at 1:00 - 5:00 ET on Sundays in September.
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That's the share you're talking about.
 
I completely understand the view from fans that watch all the races and attend as many as they can and don't worry about what the TV ratings are or how many people are in the stands. That sort of thing is out of their control and they support and enjoy the series even though it has its flaws and that is that. Members like DPK, TRL and Johali came to mind when I wrote the above and in my estimation they have a great handle on things.

I do have an issue when people attempt to rationalize or puppy paw the drastic decline Nascar has experienced in fan support over the years as you can't put enough lipstick on that pig. Blaming the losses on fad fans or essentially saying that out of American motorsports Nascar has a bigger ship but is taking on water at a slower rate is daft, daft, daft!

The blurb below is 10 years old and says that the first race of the chase did not have great viewership with 4.8 million viewers. Since the spring Martinsville race there have only been 6 races this year that have had more than 4.8 million viewers and that includes the big throwback shindig at Darlington earlier this month that was broadcast on NBC! Ten years ago the Labor Day weekend race at California was broadcast on NBC and pulled in a healthy 8.4 million viewers compared to only 4.6 million this year on the same network. There has been only one race this year that exceeded 8.4 million viewers and that was the Daytona 500.

The bottom line is a person can attempt to obfuscate by comparing other racing series, motorcycles or the goings on at the local bingo parlor in a feeble attempt to justify where Nascar is today compared to 5-10-15-20 years ago today but it doesn't pass the smell test.


http://www.jayski.com/pages/tvratings2006.htm

TV Ratings down at all but 2 races in 2006: TV ratings from NASCAR's first championship chase race weren't impressive - the Loudon race pulled a 3.1 rating on TNT (which Neilsen said translates to 4.792 million viewers), down 12% from the 2005 race. In comparison, NBC's Labor Day Sunday prime-time coverage of the California 500 pulled a 5.1 (8.4 million viewers); and NBC's NFL Sunday prime-time game Sept. 17 pulled an 11.9 rating (18.4 million viewers). ESPN, which will return to major coverage of NASCAR next summer, also scored big with the NFL, an 8.2 rating (12.570 million viewers) and 7.1 (10.495 million viewers) for its two Monday-night games on Sept. 11. Only two of the year's 27 races have had gains, the Daytona 500 and Martinsville.(Winston Salem Journal)(9-23-2006)
 
Ratings that go lower and lower every year is not a bad thing for NASCAR. There will always be the faithful hardcore fan, but these races are just awful to watch for a lot of people. They are sending a strong message by turning their TVs to another channel or turning them off entirely.

  1. Seemingly endless commercials
  2. Bland driver personalities
  3. Cautions that don't make any sense
  4. Boring tracks.
  5. A death march of a schedule
  6. A bizarre playoff system that defies logic
I could go on and on but you get the idea. Nothing is going to change for the better until enough fans walk away and everyone starts losing money.
 
sloggie said:
Ratings that go lower and lower every year is not a bad thing for NASCAR. There will always be the faithful hardcore fan, but these races are just awful to watch for a lot of people. They are sending a strong message by turning their TVs to another channel or turning them off entirely.

  1. Seemingly endless commercials
  2. Bland driver personalities
  3. Cautions that don't make any sense
  4. Boring tracks.
  5. A death march of a schedule
  6. A bizarre playoff system that defies logic
I could go on and on but you get the idea. Nothing is going to change for the better until enough fans walk away and everyone starts losing money.
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I don't know how commercials in Nascar stack up against those from sports programming but it wouldn't surprise me if there are more due to the TV contracts. Originally Nascar programming was supposed to enhance the value of NBC sports and FS1 by allowing them to charge cable/satellite programmers more for carrying their channel and therefore making the networks some big bucks. After almost 2 years I cannot find any information indicating this has happened and I am sure if it had Nascar would be crowing about it somewhere.

From what I have read Nascar features a lot of the same commercials and sometimes the same commercial in the same break and I asked a buddy of mine at a TV station what that was all about. He said it is an indication that all the spots didn't sell out for the broadcast and a deal was struck with a current advertiser to pay a small amount extra to get all the commercial spots filled. He told me that depending on the programming, the time of day and the demographic of the audience the price of a 30 second spot can be relatively high or if the programming or audience demo is off a 30 second spot is not worth a lot.

As far as driver personalities go I like the good old boys of yesterday better but that is probably more to do with my age. I would much rather have boring drivers than people like Shrub Busch, Yap Yap, Truex the diva or Denny who always sounds like he has just lost his hunting dog. I don't hear anything of Danica anymore but when she used to get interviewed every other word was ah or um and that drove me crazy.

IMO there are not enough tracks that promote good racing like Martinsville

The schedule is a killer for me as it is about 10 races to long but there are others that would like to see 2 or more races every week of the year.

You should try and explain Nascar's playoff system to a sports fan at some point as it is hilarious. I have got comments like "Wait, wait, wait are you saying that the playoff cars race with the other cars not in the playoffs?" "Did you really say that the playoff cars are not scored separately." "So what happens if a guy has won a bunch of races before the playoffs but has a bad race in the playoffs or gets in one of those big crashes?" "Are you for real? Does anyone like this?"
 
I try to not get too worked up about the ratings or attendance these days. There's very little that I can do about it other than watch or buy a ticket to a sport that I love. Even if I had all the answers about how to increase ratings and attendance, it would do very little good. NASCAR's not listening to what I have to say anyhow. I've been complaining to them about the Chase since its inception, yet it still exists. I can only guess that they have me on their 'ignore list'. They ask me each and every week about my excitement level in regards to the Chase. I tell them the same thing week after week. The only result has been for the Chase to be added to all three series. Something that they first claimed would only be part of the Cup level. I'd really like to know what they use to measure the interest level in regards to the Chase. Ratings and attendance can not be a factor in that equation.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I try to not get too worked up about the ratings or attendance these days. There's very little that I can do about it other than watch or buy a ticket to a sport that I love. Even if I had all the answers about how to increase ratings and attendance, it would do very little good. NASCAR's not listening to what I have to say anyhow. I've been complaining to them about the Chase since its inception, yet it still exists. I can only guess that they have me on their 'ignore list'. They ask me each and every week about my excitement level in regards to the Chase. I tell them the same thing week after week. The only result has been for the Chase to be added to all three series. Something that they first claimed would only be part of the Cup level. I'd really like to know what they use to measure the interest level in regards to the Chase. Ratings and attendance can not be a factor in that equation.
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Well said and that is why I think you have a perfect handle on things as you are a race fan that enjoys Nascar even though there are some things you don't care for. You have voiced your opinion to Nascar but they have not listened and that and other things the series does are not in your control.

One thing I appreciate about you and others is you don't come up with ****amamie excuses or rationalize away Nascar's flagging fortunes but instead faithfully watch and attend races and get enjoyment from it.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The bottom line is a person can attempt to obfuscate by comparing other racing series, motorcycles or the goings on at the local bingo parlor in a feeble attempt to justify where Nascar is today compared to 5-10-15-20 years ago today but it doesn't pass the smell test.
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Your condescending tone is unsurprising. My post made no attempt to obfuscate nor to justify. My point is that obsessing about the NFL is counterproductive. You and some others have said Nascar should not conduct races during football season, which is an example of what I'm talking about. Please tell me how it would be better for Nascar if other motorsports were booming while Nascar was not.
 
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29-4 said:
Perhaps we've reached the point where people's aversion to the Chase is actually leading them to tune out rather than complain. NBC seems to be even more on the Chase hype train than the previous broadcasters, and the vast majority of fans who couldn't care less about the artificial Chase lottery may be getting tired of it.
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The first chase race had 4.8 million viewers 10 years ago and dropped to 3.7 in 2015 and now is down to around 2.5 million, How soon will it be before we see viewership dip below the 2 million mark for certain races? Next year or the year after? I think the chase has something to do with it but I also think Nascar fatigue and better viewing options contribute to the decline.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Your condescending tone is unsurprising. My post made no attempt to obfuscate nor to justify. My point is that obsessing about the NFL is counterproductive. You and some others have said Nascar should not conduct races during football season, which is an example of what I'm talking about. Please tell me how it would be better for Nascar if other motorsports were booming while Nascar was not.
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I owed ya one lol!

Sometimes the argument is made that stick and ball sports teams are losing attendance and viewers like Nascar is but that is very misleading as which stick and ball team has reduced seating from 25 to 50% and lost half its at home audience? I have not looked at any numbers but I can't think of any stick and ball sport that has been pummeled with punishing punches as Nascar has.

IDK who on these boards is obsessing about the NFL as I haven't seen it however there seems to be a correlation between Nascar's plummeting interest and the beginning of the NFL season.

It is always better when companies in similar fields are doing well as it indicates and overall health. With respect to auto racing what has happened to Indy car should serve as a cautionary tale for Nascar as it shows what can happen to a once robust series and provides a likely road map to where Nascar is heading. To paint a word picture why do all the car dealerships like to be next to each other and why do women's clothing and shoe shops like to be on top of each other? Because the more healthy businesses that are present means the more people that will come in to see what you have to offer and likely purchase something.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The first chase race had 4.8 million viewers 10 years ago and dropped to 3.7 in 2015 and now is down to around 2.5 million, How soon will it be before we see viewership dip below the 2 million mark for certain races? Next year or the year after? I think the chase has something to do with it but I also think Nascar fatigue and better viewing options contribute to the decline.
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I think you also have to consider that Nielsen has adjusted their method of collecting their data in the past few years. Note that viewership of everything is down including the NFL by 13% according to this article.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/are-athlete-national-anthem-protests-costing-nfl-viewership/

I think you also have to consider that people are cutting the cord in a big way and it is getting much more difficult to get an accurate reading on the number of people watching. How do they account for the number of people watching at a bar? Or watching using OTA antenna? or stealing the broadcast from an online stream?

I'm not saying that NASCAR hasn't lost fans, but I think the numbers aren't an exact science. I also think the economy has a lot to do with people going to the races. I think those fans are still watching, just not from the race track.

"which stick and ball team has reduced seating from 25 to 50% and lost half its at home audience?"
Have you been to a baseball game lately? Half the stadium is empty unless you live in boston, ny, or chicago. This is a direct result of the tv contracts that these teams have signed. The teams get multi-millions of dollars from a tv channel and then crank up ticket prices because they can and don't care about people in the stands because they have already made their money from the tv contract. NASCAR has done the same thing. The problem is, I think it affects NASCAR more than it does baseball teams just due to the economic status of the fans of each sport.

As for the chase, I'm a fan. It adds drama to races that otherwise would not be talked about. The playoffs of any sport put everything on the line. Nobody cares who won the regular season of the NFL last year, or baseball, or hockey. Lower seeded teams beat the favorites all the time, i.e. march madness. That's why the game is played and not just on paper. I think the chase is the least of NASCAR's problems and that it stems more from the paper mache cars and cookie cutter tracks. People enjoy watching drama and NASCAR has lost it's drama the past decade. I think they are making steps in the right direction (not the caution clock) but it takes a while to right the ship.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
You should try and explain Nascar's playoff system to a sports fan at some point as it is hilarious. I have got comments like "Wait, wait, wait are you saying that the playoff cars race with the other cars not in the playoffs?" "Did you really say that the playoff cars are not scored separately." "So what happens if a guy has won a bunch of races before the playoffs but has a bad race in the playoffs or gets in one of those big crashes?" "Are you for real? Does anyone like this?"
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I had this exact thing happen this past weekend. A buddy of mine that I play music with asked "What's the deal with this chase thing?". He's a big sports fan, especially football and baseball. His questions were right in line with what you've written. The best explanation I could give him was that they've tried to copy the brackets/seeding of football or basketball playoffs.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
... I have not looked at any numbers but I can't think of any stick and ball sport that has been pummeled with punishing punches as Nascar has.

IDK who on these boards is obsessing about the NFL as I haven't seen it however there seems to be a correlation between Nascar's plummeting interest and the beginning of the NFL season.
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Well, golf and tennis come to mind, both former juggernauts of live attendance and participation, TV ratings, and corporate sponsorships that have dwindled to a shadow of their former stature. Perhaps it's relevant that both are like racing in that there is no home team to spark allegiance of the casual fan... just a guess.

Of course it is true that some springtime race viewers move on to football in the fall. One possible response would be to not compete in the fall, shorten the season by nearly three months as suggested by some here (including you IIRC). I believe that would be a mistake as the financial implications for the race teams and tracks would be severe, and it would devastate much of the core (not casual) fan base. Also, the current structure of year-round employment of thousands of industry members would go tilt. At the end of the day, there are many more people wanting to attend and view Nascar races in the fall than the number wanting more bowling tournaments or rodeos.

I have no desire to minimize Nascar's dire outlook nor to rationalize it. There are some very dark clouds on the horizon. I am interested to understand them because (a) I am a fan, and (b) I am curious about how things work in business. One thing I know about accountability is this... If I go out to the strip where all the car dealers are, and I see that all of them are suffering steep long-lasting declines, I am certainly wrong to conclude that it was all caused by one braindead CEO at one of the auto companies. So yes, I do think how Nascar trends compare to other forms of motorsports is relevant and important to understanding how Nascar got here and which way forward.
 
LouieLouie said:
I think you also have to consider that Nielsen has adjusted their method of collecting their data in the past few years. Note that viewership of everything is down including the NFL by 13% according to this article.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/are-athlete-national-anthem-protests-costing-nfl-viewership/

I think you also have to consider that people are cutting the cord in a big way and it is getting much more difficult to get an accurate reading on the number of people watching. How do they account for the number of people watching at a bar? Or watching using OTA antenna? or stealing the broadcast from an online stream?

I'm not saying that NASCAR hasn't lost fans, but I think the numbers aren't an exact science. I also think the economy has a lot to do with people going to the races. I think those fans are still watching, just not from the race track.

"which stick and ball team has reduced seating from 25 to 50% and lost half its at home audience?"
Have you been to a baseball game lately? Half the stadium is empty unless you live in boston, ny, or chicago. This is a direct result of the tv contracts that these teams have signed. The teams get multi-millions of dollars from a tv channel and then crank up ticket prices because they can and don't care about people in the stands because they have already made their money from the tv contract. NASCAR has done the same thing. The problem is, I think it affects NASCAR more than it does baseball teams just due to the economic status of the fans of each sport.

As for the chase, I'm a fan. It adds drama to races that otherwise would not be talked about. The playoffs of any sport put everything on the line. Nobody cares who won the regular season of the NFL last year, or baseball, or hockey. Lower seeded teams beat the favorites all the time, i.e. march madness. That's why the game is played and not just on paper. I think the chase is the least of NASCAR's problems and that it stems more from the paper mache cars and cookie cutter tracks. People enjoy watching drama and NASCAR has lost it's drama the past decade. I think they are making steps in the right direction (not the caution clock) but it takes a while to right the ship.
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I agree that TV ratings are an inexact science but they should give a reasonable indication of where a program is trending and to the best of my knowledge they use the same process in determining what the ratings are each program. Everyone has a reason(s) as to why Nascar is not as popular as before and most of the reasons likely have some element of truth to them but no one knows how to fix it including Nascar. IMO the worst thing that happened to Nascar was when the series became really popular as some very poor decisions were made especially in building soulless behemoth cookie cutter tracks that cannot even squeeze in half the people they used to.

I think the economy hurt Nascar for a number of reasons other than just the obvious. I know the recession has been over for some time but the results and devastation are not over for many people that got hurt by it. Also when you stop going to anything whether it is church, a race or the fitness center it is not uncommon to drift away and not go back. Rather than spend stupid money to travel a long distance for something that may or may not be entertaining the resources can be used elsewhere.

I admit I know nothing about baseball or basketball but I have heard baseball is trending downward and basketball is trending upward. Still I have not heard of any stadiums ripping out seats to enhance the fan experience.....yet.

None of what I think may be feasible but I believe Nascar should allow the teams more latitude in car setup and implement other things like speeding the race up by not having a 10 minute caution for a hot dog wrapper and they also need to be consistent in the applications of the rules regarding cautions. It is often times like the Keystone Cops. It is highly unlikely that given the current slate of tracks that there will ever be any sustained racing that most people enjoy. It is time to get creative and maybe hold 2 shorter races the same day or use a different layout already at a lot of tracks. The nice thing for Nascar is when you have a lottery championship and things like the caution clock you really are limited in how far you can stray from a traditional sport.
 
CamelPowered said:
I had this exact thing happen this past weekend. A buddy of mine that I play music with asked "What's the deal with this chase thing?". He's a big sports fan, especially football and baseball. His questions were right in line with what you've written. The best explanation I could give him was that they've tried to copy the brackets/seeding of football or basketball playoffs.
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You did much better with you answers then I did and I am going to copy what you said with the bracket explanation because trying to explain it as it really is just confuses people.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
they use the same process in determining what the ratings are each program.
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Yes they use the same process for each program, but they do not use the same process year to year. Meaning 3.6 rating last year is not equal to a 3.6 rating this year. The method of calculation has changed. I believe that method has caused all of television ratings to drop by some amount. In addition to this, 5 years ago it was common for almost everyone to have cable tv. Today that is not the case and this muddies the waters of their method of calculation even further for today's programs.
 
LouieLouie said:
Yes they use the same process for each program, but they do not use the same process year to year. Meaning 3.6 rating last year is not equal to a 3.6 rating this year. The method of calculation has changed. I believe that method has caused all of television ratings to drop by some amount. In addition to this, 5 years ago it was common for almost everyone to have cable tv. Today that is not the case and this muddies the waters of their method of calculation even further for today's programs.
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I can't speak to your first concern, but as to your concern about people no longer having cable: this is an across-the-board problem, and probably effects NASCAR less if anything given the older skew of it's demographics (the least likely cord-cutters). The NFL may have seen a 13% decline in ratings, but NASCAR's ratings have been cut in half in many instances.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Well, golf and tennis come to mind, both former juggernauts of live attendance and participation, TV ratings, and corporate sponsorships that have dwindled to a shadow of their former stature. Perhaps it's relevant that both are like racing in that there is no home team to spark allegiance of the casual fan... just a guess.

Of course it is true that some springtime race viewers move on to football in the fall. One possible response would be to not compete in the fall, shorten the season by nearly three months as suggested by some here (including you IIRC). I believe that would be a mistake as the financial implications for the race teams and tracks would be severe, and it would devastate much of the core (not casual) fan base. Also, the current structure of year-round employment of thousands of industry members would go tilt. At the end of the day, there are many more people wanting to attend and view Nascar races in the fall than the number wanting more bowling tournaments or rodeos.

I have no desire to minimize Nascar's dire outlook nor to rationalize it. There are some very dark clouds on the horizon. I am interested to understand them because (a) I am a fan, and (b) I am curious about how things work in business. One thing I know about accountability is this... If I go out to the strip where all the car dealers are, and I see that all of them are suffering steep long-lasting declines, I am certainly wrong to conclude that it was all caused by one braindead CEO at one of the auto companies. So yes, I do think how Nascar trends compare to other forms of motorsports is relevant and important to understanding how Nascar got here and which way forward.
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You brought up some great points regarding shortening the season and at the end of the day if the networks don't mind lower ratings after Labor Day then it should not really matter to anyone else. It is unique to Nascar that the season starts off with a bang and then goes out with a whimper instead of the season building on something finishing up with the grand finale. I think Nascar has a glut of product but that doesn't make it so and I am in control of what I see and don't see. Regarding the rest of this season all I know for sure is that I will watch the Martinsville race if I am traveling and I will not under any circumstances watch the last race of the year.

I know Nascar and golf have a geriatric demo and I believe baseball trends old too. I have no clue about tennis as the last time I watched a match Rod Laver won. I don't know anyone that plays tennis or watches it and I know when I driver around there are tennis courts everywhere but no one is ever playing on them. There are always people playing baseball/softball, basketball, soccer and I don't think I have ever seen a skate board place without at least one person in it.

Don't get me wrong as I believe people like Brian France and Tony George have irreparably damaged American motorsports but I also think that changing tastes may have as much to do with it as anything. IDK why baseball is suffering but I have heard everything from the pace is slow to there not being enough black and white guys but too many Hispanics.
 
LouieLouie said:
Yes they use the same process for each program, but they do not use the same process year to year. Meaning 3.6 rating last year is not equal to a 3.6 rating this year. The method of calculation has changed. I believe that method has caused all of television ratings to drop by some amount. In addition to this, 5 years ago it was common for almost everyone to have cable tv. Today that is not the case and this muddies the waters of their method of calculation even further for today's programs.
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I believe it was FLRacefan that posted info about streaming in Nascar and the numbers are very small at this point. I know what you mean about streaming though as about the only thing I don't stream is Nascar and sports like hockey and football. Just about everything I watch and enjoy is on Netflix.
 
Chicagoland Race 1/10

From Jayski:

Chicago TV Ratings UPDATE: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Chicagoland earned a 1.5 overnight rating on NBCSN Sunday afternoon, down 15% from last year (1.8) and down 32% from 2014 on ESPN (2.7). Overnights even dropped from 2013, when the race was delayed multiple times and moved from ESPN to ESPN2 (1.6). Excluding rainouts, the 1.5 overnight is tied as the lowest of the season for a Sprint Cup race, matching Richmond the previous week. Only one race all of last season had as low an overnight, coverage from Kansas that did not finish until after 1 AM ET due to rain.(Sports Media Watch), see race-by-race TV Ratings for 2016 and a comparison chart on the 2016 TV Ratings page.(9-20-2016)

UPDATE: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Chicagoland, the first race in the Chase For the Cup, posted a 1.6 final rating and 2.7 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday afternoon - down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (1.9, 3.2M) and down 30% and 27%, respectively, from 2014 on ESPN (2.3, 3.7M). Excluding rainouts, the race ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Chase For the Cup telecast ever (118 races dating back to 2004). Sunday's race also delivered the lowest rating and viewership ever for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland (dates back to 2001). In addition to those low marks, the 1.6 rating is tied as the lowest for any Sprint Cup race in at least eight years.(Sports Media Watch)(9-22-2016)
 
I could live with how much of a joke the Chase format is if it 'worked' at drawing interest. NOBODY F'ING CARES. And I'm aware that someone will post that the audience doesn't amount to nobody. Of course not. But broadly speaking, nobody who wouldn't be watching anyway is watching because of the trumped up Chase BS.

It's one thing to "sell out" to become more popular. Selling out to become enormously less popular?
 
LouieLouie said:
I think you also have to consider that Nielsen has adjusted their method of collecting their data in the past few years. Note that viewership of everything is down including the NFL by 13% according to this article.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/are-athlete-national-anthem-protests-costing-nfl-viewership/

I think you also have to consider that people are cutting the cord in a big way and it is getting much more difficult to get an accurate reading on the number of people watching. How do they account for the number of people watching at a bar? Or watching using OTA antenna? or stealing the broadcast from an online stream?

I'm not saying that NASCAR hasn't lost fans, but I think the numbers aren't an exact science. I also think the economy has a lot to do with people going to the races. I think those fans are still watching, just not from the race track.

"which stick and ball team has reduced seating from 25 to 50% and lost half its at home audience?"
Have you been to a baseball game lately? Half the stadium is empty unless you live in boston, ny, or chicago. This is a direct result of the tv contracts that these teams have signed. The teams get multi-millions of dollars from a tv channel and then crank up ticket prices because they can and don't care about people in the stands because they have already made their money from the tv contract. NASCAR has done the same thing. The problem is, I think it affects NASCAR more than it does baseball teams just due to the economic status of the fans of each sport.

As for the chase, I'm a fan. It adds drama to races that otherwise would not be talked about. The playoffs of any sport put everything on the line. Nobody cares who won the regular season of the NFL last year, or baseball, or hockey. Lower seeded teams beat the favorites all the time, i.e. march madness. That's why the game is played and not just on paper. I think the chase is the least of NASCAR's problems and that it stems more from the paper mache cars and cookie cutter tracks. People enjoy watching drama and NASCAR has lost it's drama the past decade. I think they are making steps in the right direction (not the caution clock) but it takes a while to right the ship.
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I would hesitate to say everything on TV is down.

The NBA posted viewership increases across all four platforms (ABC/ESPN/TNT/NBA TV) over the 2015-2016 season.

The NHL on NBCSN posted their highest (non-lockout) regular season cable viewership since the 1993-1994 season this past year.

FOX finally posted a viewership increase for MLB regular season coverage in 2015 after several years of declines. ESPN's 2015 MLB viewership was their highest since 2011. 2015 was the most-watched season on MLB Network ever, TBS posted an increase over 2014, and some of the RSN's (FS Kansas City, FS Midwest, Sportsnet) set all-time records.

Whether this is a fluke year or not remains to be seen.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I would hesitate to say everything on TV is down.

The NBA posted viewership increases across all four platforms (ABC/ESPN/TNT/NBA TV) over the 2015-2016 season.

The NHL on NBCSN posted their highest (non-lockout) regular season cable viewership since the 1993-1994 season this past year.

FOX finally posted a viewership increase for MLB regular season coverage in 2015 after several years of declines. ESPN's 2015 MLB viewership was their highest since 2011. 2015 was the most-watched season on MLB Network ever, TBS posted an increase over 2014, and some of the RSN's (FS Kansas City, FS Midwest, Sportsnet) set all-time records.

Whether this is a fluke year or not remains to be seen.
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[Citation needed]
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/10/08/Media/MLB-reg-season.aspx

http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2...watched-full-nhl-season-on-cable-in-22-years/

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/201...rship-up-warriors-regular-season-lebron-heat/
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
You should try and explain Nascar's playoff system to a sports fan at some point as it is hilarious. I have got comments like "Wait, wait, wait are you saying that the playoff cars race with the other cars not in the playoffs?" "Did you really say that the playoff cars are not scored separately." "So what happens if a guy has won a bunch of races before the playoffs but has a bad race in the playoffs or gets in one of those big crashes?" "Are you for real? Does anyone like this?"
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I don't get the complaint either. Top seeds with the most wins lose in their respective playoffs, the top two seeds don't always make the Super Bowl. Also the NFL doesn't have all teams playing at the same time, but they have 22 guys on the field on the same time and they're not all all-stars they don't take the 12 best players and only play with them. That's basically what people outside the sport are saying
 
JimmieGordon2448 said:
Also the NFL doesn't have all teams playing at the same time, but they have 22 guys on the field on the same time and they're not all all-stars they don't take the 12 best players and only play with them.
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True, but in a playoff game between the Broncos and Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger doesn't have to worry about getting sacked by a Ravens linebacker.
 
JimmieGordon2448 said:
I don't get the complaint either. Top seeds with the most wins lose in their respective playoffs, the top two seeds don't always make the Super Bowl. Also the NFL doesn't have all teams playing at the same time, but they have 22 guys on the field on the same time and they're not all all-stars they don't take the 12 best players and only play with them. That's basically what people outside the sport are saying
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Yeah, different people will see things in a different way but if you do get a chance to tell a sports fan about the chase and other things in the series do so as the reactions are priceless!
 
Every way that you can possibly look at the Chase it reveals its flaws. It's been changed now more ways than I care to remember and the only thing that it has produced is lower ratings. Brian France is willing to ride this dead horse until nothing remains. It's a ridiculous way to crown a Nascar champion. The ratings only magnify that.
 
Team Penske said:
Preach it.
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If I put my Larry Mc hat on and start looking at trends Loudon could be the first non delayed race that garners less than 2.7 million viewers in forever. Hopefully that won't be the case and it will retain the 3 million viewers it had last year but I wouldn't put a big wager on it.
 
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