2017 NASCAR Season - Television Ratings Thread

FLRacingFan said:
Eldora averaged 644K and 696K on FS1 the last two years, and FS1 and FBN are virtually in the same number of homes so I don't think it was really that consequential. FS2, certainly, but it's in only 50M homes so that's a given for any program that gets punted to that.
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Interesting, thanks. I've seen ratings for other events plummet when moved from FS1 to FS2, so I figured the bizarre move to FBN had to have a substantial effect, if only because nobody ever tunes to that channel expecting motorsports. Perhaps not in this case, and the audience for an event like the trucks at Eldora is so loyal that they'll find it anywhere.
 
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gnomesayin said:
Interesting, thanks. I've seen ratings for other events plummet when moved from FS1 to FS2, so I figured the bizarre move to FBN had to have a substantial effect, if only because nobody ever tunes to that channel expecting motorsports. Perhaps not in this case, and the audience for an event like the trucks at Eldora is so loyal that they'll find it anywhere.
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I know that the only time that I may have possibly tuned into FBN in the past is if I mashed the wrong buttons on the remote.

It doesn't really matter to me one way or another. I'll watch the race regardless of what channel it's on. Food Network, Oprah Network, HGTV, etc..... I'm there or I'm recording it when the race comes on. If others can't get the obscure network covering the race then I guess they are SOL. Me, I'm probably already paying for another channel that I don't watch anyhow.

Someday, when this current television package is retired, FOX & NBC may simply be a part of NASCAR's history. In some form, the sport will still be here and it'll be available to view it. I'll be watching. I'm okay with that.
 
That's the way I feel,NASCAR will survive in some form.I will enjoy whatever comes,much like tonight when I'm back home again.I never realized how Asian car manufacturers have taken over the rental car market.Nissan and Toyota's everywhere,I guess they have to sell cars somehow with most buyers picking crossovers/SUVs.
 
darlingtonfan said:
That's the way I feel,NASCAR will survive in some form.I will enjoy whatever comes,much like tonight when I'm back home again.I never realized how Asian car manufacturers have taken over the rental car market.Nissan and Toyota's everywhere,I guess they have to sell cars somehow with most buyers picking crossovers/SUVs.
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For me finding programming is no biggie as if for some reason I can't figure it out on my own there are several sources available. Like you, I believe Nascar will always exist in some form, but it will be a much smaller operation than it is now and it is quite possible that a smaller series could be much more entertaining than today. Even though I don't expect much from the Brickyard I will tune in and give it a shot but this time of years represents a difficult time of the schedule to me.
 
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gnomesayin said:
Streaming is the future, but it is apparently the present for very few. Even for a race in which many, many potential viewers didn't have access to the correct cable network, the average online audience was that tiny?

I don't think the head-to-head comparison between the race and Gold Cup game are that useful. The race would have had a larger audience on FS1, and the soccer game would have had a smaller audience on FS2 or FBN. How much so is anyone's guess. I personally believe the race might have won by more total viewers if they'd flipped networks. However, the caveat is that I bet the demo breakdown is more favorable for soccer.
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I agree about streaming being the future and I think that some Nascar fans really want to believe that streamers are seriously augmenting viewership but the numbers tell a different story. Nascar has a traditional audience and as such it is my opinion that most of them prefer to sit down in front of a TV and turn it on and flip to a channel. That doesn't mean that some are not casting broadcasts to a TV or that they are not watching on smartphones or tablets but I don't see it as making up man people overall.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Adam Stern‏ @A_S12
On the Fox Sports Go streaming service last night, the #DirtDerby @EldoraSpeedway averaged about 4,300 people streaming the race per minute.
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gnomesayin said:
Streaming is the future, but it is apparently the present for very few. Even for a race in which many, many potential viewers didn't have access to the correct cable network, the average online audience was that tiny?
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It's tiny if it's the same people every minute.
 
FLRacingFan said:
11,920 uniques.

Cup races usually get between 25-50,000 uniques. Probably 10-20,000 average audience. Still a ways to go before streaming regularly get 1% of the TV audience.
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Thanks for the info and the perspective as streaming may one day make up a huge part of how fans view Nascar content but for right now it redefines the word "negligible." IDK how many fans of stick and ball sports stream or what the age group streaming is most prevalent in but I am going to see if I can get a little info on it. It would be interesting to see if Nascar is ahead, behind or about even with sports leagues in terms of content delivery.
 
neilsons-declines2.png



Nielsen Declines: Shrinking Audience or Measurement Issues?
A Cowen & Co. survey in December 2016 sought to get a sense from ad buyers as to where they laid the blame for fading TV ratings, which don’t seem to be reversing anytime soon.
– 35%: I think the declines are largely due to measurement issues, and partially due to declining TV- show audience
– 23%: I think the declines are largely due to declining TV- show audience, and partially due to measurement issues
– 23%: I think both TV-audience declines and measurement issues are roughly equally important
– 13%: think the declines are totally due to declining TV- show audience
– 6%: I think the declines are totally due to measurement issues
Source: Cowen Proprietary Ad Survey. several respondents who allocated 100% of ad spend to digital are excluded..
 
CJ Bennett said:
If you look at the demo of nascar watchers these aren't really "tech savvy" people. Not buying a huge increasing in any streaming numbers.
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The various numbers @FLRacingFan has posted over the course of time shows that all manners of consuming Nascar content are minuscule compared to the traditional method of plunking down in front of a TV watching on cable or sat.
 
With this race going over into prime time on NBC the ratings should be really, really good. Wouldn't it be great if Nascar picked up a bunch of new fans who tuned in to see normal programming but saw the strangest race in some time?
 
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-sunday-july-23-2017/

Best ratings for Indianapolis since 2013.

Skoalbandit33 said:
With this race going over into prime time on NBC the ratings should be really, really good. Wouldn't it be great if Nascar picked up a bunch of new fans who tuned in to see normal programming but saw the strangest race in some time?
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Looks like NASCAR delivered for NBC, at least at 7pm. "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly" has been a ratings disaster.
 
always been my contention that if the networks would run all the races on over the air TV and advertise, the numbers would be much higher. But that isn't the point, they both are making sure their cable sports networks do well and Nascar is most watched for the weekends many times. I wouldn't have cable if all of Nascar was shown on over the air TV, not going to happen though.
 
StandOnIt said:
always been my contention that if the networks would run all the races on over the air TV and advertise, the numbers would be much higher. But that isn't the point, they both are making sure their cable sports networks do well and Nascar is most watched for the weekends many times. I wouldn't have cable if all of Nascar was shown on over the air TV, not going to happen though.
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Agree. The numbers would be highly respected in today's tv ratings if all races were on main network channels... I just wish the networks could understand there are many areas where a cable package doesn't even give us the channels like FS1 or NBCS... maybe they know and just don't care.

Just seems to be a misconception across the country that some don't want to pay for cable so that's why they don't get to tune in... not the case for everyone. I think it would surprise many if they saw how many cities truly don't have regular access to it from their providers. I don't know why there would be such differences around the country but there are. I'm seeing it first hand in an area.
 
Yeah I don't get CBSSN or Fox 2, I noticed many races on CBSSN are lesser races that the old Speed network used to carry.
 
JohnHill said:
Agree. The numbers would be highly respected in today's tv ratings if all races were on main network channels... I just wish the networks could understand there are many areas where a cable package doesn't even give us the channels like FS1 or NBCS... maybe they know and just don't care.

Just seems to be a misconception across the country that some don't want to pay for cable so that's why they don't get to tune in... not the case for everyone. I think it would surprise many if they saw how many cities truly don't have regular access to it from their providers. I don't know why there would be such differences around the country but there are. I'm seeing it first hand in an area.
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So much goes into what makes a rating good including the total number of viewers, the age of the viewers plus education level and household income. Then there is the business of how much a sports network can charge a cable or satellite company for carrying their network plus how much can be charged for a 30 second commercial in addition to the production costs and the money the network has to pony up to Nascar. Lots of moving parts and lots of things go into whether a program is worthwhile or not.
 
FLRacingFan said:
4B5koUg.png
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You go golf! If I was given those 5 to put in the correct order I would have moved golf to the fifth position which is why I was put out to pasture and the smart people handle all this.

This chart helps take the mystery out of social content ratings as I can't remember if I read it here or elsewhere but someone was touting Nascar as a champion of social interaction.
 
Brian France at his briefing today...

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"Wait a minute...you mean when these races are on channels PEOPLE ACTUALLY GET viewership goes UP? Let's just ENHANCE NBCSN to make it more popular!!!"
 
Well thank god this thread of negativity has been brightened a bit. Awesome news to hear that ratings went up
 
Nascar has enough bad news going on that an uptick in ratings should be cause for champagne corks to be heard popping everywhere. NBC and Nascar are happy and Megyn Kelly is unhappy to have been preempted and don't look into it any further or risk disappointment.
 
NBC Proves its Allegiance to NASCAR Fans

While other networks have faltered in their coverage of NASCAR in challenging situations like rain delays, NBC doubled down and proved themselves.

Rain delays can prove to be the most challenging aspects of racing for television networks to handle. Not knowing exactly how long a delay may last, whether hours or days, some may choose to move to alternate programming, while others cover the time with additional analysis. But beyond rain delays, there are a plethora of challenges NBC faced in their NASCAR coverage on Sunday, but they rose to the occasion.

The many issues that the brass over at the peacock network had to balance began early, when coverage of golf’s Open Championship ran past its time slot. Instead of staying in lengthy post-match coverage on NBC, cutting into NASCAR’s time, they moved much of it over to Golf Channel. This came as a departure from other networks in the past, such as when ESPN prioritized the conclusion of a college football game over the beginning of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.

Read the rest here.....

https://beyondtheflag.com/2017/07/24/nbc-sports-proves-allegiance-to-nascar-fans/
 
"Instead, however, they chose to stick with the race, not abandoning their growing stock car racing fan base"

This was an interesting comment.
 
FLRacingFan said:
http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekend-sports-tv-ratings-7-22-23-2017.html

I find it odd that despite overall viewership going up 8%, the 18-49 dropped 12%?
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First of all congrats on smoking me in the guestimate of the number of viewers as I was light about a million but if you are going to miss you might as well go big!

Like you I don't understand the drop in the 18-49 viewership but my guess would be that the whole rating for the race is skewed due to its longevity and trip into prime time.That would translate to about 70% of the viewers being over 50 and while it seems high it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Another thing that seems off is that the viewership as a whole only got a boost of 400K from landing in prime time as I expected it to be at least double that.
 
BradBlaney said:
Agreed I don't get the cut the cord guys I looked into it and It's really not cheaper
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Do you live in a rural area or something? "Cutting the cord" saves me about $50 a month.

I guess it depends on whether you have internet and cable or just one or the other. Many see internet as required opposed to cable, so if you are just looking at the cost of cable versus the cost of internet plus a streaming service it might be close in price, but certainly not close in functionality (i.e I can't check my email through my cable subscription.)

Anyway, in my area, directv is offering $50 a month for 200 channels plus tax and equipment rental which usually puts it at $75 a month. This only lasts 12 months on a 2 year contract and as soon as the 12 months are up, the bill goes to $100.
For me, my internet connection costs me $65 a month and my streaming costs me about $35 a month (netflix and slingtv) for a total of $100 without any contracts, so if they raise prices I can look for something else and I'm not locked into paying whatever they dictate.
The other option is to "bundle" everything, which is cable and internet, which comes out to be about $55 for internet and still $50 for cable for 12 months. After 12 months both cable and internet go up $25 each for a total of about $150 a month.

Again, for me, internet is a requirement and since I can get my shows through the internet, cable is useless to me at the prices they offer.
 
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