As posted on Jayski

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old fan

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TV Ratings for Martinsville down: Overnight ratings hit a season-low for NASCAR on FOX. Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 500 from Martinsville earned a 3.8 overnight rating on FOX, down 5% from last year (4.0), and down a tick from 2012 (3.9). Excluding rainouts, the 3.8 is the lowest ever for the spring Martinsville race on FOX (2001, 2003-present). The 3.8 is also the lowest for any Sprint Cup telecast this season, falling below the previous mark of 4.0 set the previous week at Fontana. So far this season, all six NASCAR Sprint Cup races have had declines in overnights compared to last year. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR was easily the top non-NCAA Tournament draw of the weekend on broadcast.

Maybe Fox should really look into the their choice of commentators and pre-race hosts???
 
Not exactly sure what's going on, I think the first 6 races this year have as a whole been much more exciting than the first 6 of last year, but it's just not taking with viewers. I wonder if the new Chase format has anything to do with the decline?
 
Maybe the less "exciting" races of the past few years and constant rule changes turned enough people off that they don't care anymore (like gordon), and just haven't given it a chance this year.

If the races continue as they have this year, maybe people will come back or new fans will be born. Idk.

Honestly though, those numbers aren't too terrible, are they? I mean, it's about what I expect this day and time.
 
old fan said:
TV Ratings for Martinsville down: Overnight ratings hit a season-low for NASCAR on FOX. Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 500 from Martinsville earned a 3.8 overnight rating on FOX, down 5% from last year (4.0), and down a tick from 2012 (3.9). Excluding rainouts, the 3.8 is the lowest ever for the spring Martinsville race on FOX (2001, 2003-present). The 3.8 is also the lowest for any Sprint Cup telecast this season, falling below the previous mark of 4.0 set the previous week at Fontana. So far this season, all six NASCAR Sprint Cup races have had declines in overnights compared to last year. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR was easily the top non-NCAA Tournament draw of the weekend on broadcast.

Maybe Fox should really look into the their choice of commentators and pre-race hosts???
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BINGO.
 
I read an article the other day about how pro bowling was one of the top sports back in the 70s. The bowlers made more than NFL players, and it was on tv all the time drawing huge numbers. It was the NASCAR of its day, and then tapered off for various reasons. It's still popular, just not at the huge mega numbers like it used to be. NASCAR seems to be going through the same thing. Waning back to where it once was after an impressive rise to the near top. I'm ok with that as long as I can find it on TV, and there is enough of a crowd to keep the tracks open.
 
The old bitter fans left bc of the changes... the changes haven't run their process and brought the new fans in yet.... either that or..... aaaaah who am I kidding?! I don't care... its still on tv right? good enough for me!
 
lisa said:
It would really help if they's stop cutting out for commercials. I know the need commercials but holy hell, we miss most of the action. They need to figure out something.
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Yeah they have a nasty habit of cutting to commercial at the worst times....

"Okay folks back from commercial and theres a caution on the track for... Oh.. wait... time for another message from our Fox affiliates"
 
old fan said:
TV Ratings for Martinsville down: Overnight ratings hit a season-low for NASCAR on FOX. Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 500 from Martinsville earned a 3.8 overnight rating on FOX, down 5% from last year (4.0), and down a tick from 2012 (3.9). Excluding rainouts, the 3.8 is the lowest ever for the spring Martinsville race on FOX (2001, 2003-present). The 3.8 is also the lowest for any Sprint Cup telecast this season, falling below the previous mark of 4.0 set the previous week at Fontana. So far this season, all six NASCAR Sprint Cup races have had declines in overnights compared to last year. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR was easily the top non-NCAA Tournament draw of the weekend on broadcast.

Maybe Fox should really look into the their choice of commentators and pre-race hosts???
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Or shoot the producer who can't change to the right camera until the pass is complete. Or maybe people are sick of the random debri cautions. Or cautions brought out by some dude scraping the wall and paint becomes debri.

Other times it takes 4 guys hitting the darn wall for the yellow to come out. Consistency is key. Ask MLB or NFL.
 
I don't think last year's race went up against regional finals in the NCAA tournament like this year's race did.
 
lisa said:
It would really help if they's stop cutting out for commercials. I know the need commercials but holy hell, we miss most of the action. They need to figure out something.
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I have a feeling that's only going to get worse with the new TV contracts. We'll get to see snippets of racing between KFC and Sprint Framily Plan commercials.
 
MRM said:
I don't think last year's race went up against regional finals in the NCAA tournament like this year's race did.
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You are correct, the regional finals were on Easter weekend last year, which is an off weekend for Sprint Cup.
 
SlicedBread22 said:
The old bitter fans left bc of the changes... the changes haven't run their process and brought the new fans in yet.... either that or..... aaaaah who am I kidding?! I don't care... its still on tv right? good enough for me!
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Declining TV ratings are bad in the long run.
 
Just a guess but I'd say the new point system has a hand in the record low TV ratings.

I wonder when that 10% pick up of new fans will kick in.... probably never :cool:
 
lisa said:
It would really help if they's stop cutting out for commercials. I know the need commercials but holy hell, we miss most of the action. They need to figure out something.
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Even the race broadcast is littered with commercials. KFC Social Meda Pitstop this, AT&T Mid-Race Report that. Just show the cars on track.
 
FLRacingFan said:
If you're waiting for the huge influx of new fans like you said there would be in the offseason, don't hold your breath.
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If the new point system brings in any "new fans" it will probably be just for the last race of the year, and they'll probably just switch back to the race every now and then waiting till the final laps to see who wins the championship.
After that they'll go back to not giving a s#t about nascar again when the race is over.

Hooray for the "new fans"!
 
I used to worry about television numbers. Not anymore. Well, other than what channel the race is on. If there are 1 million people watching or 101 million I really don't care. Both FOX & NBC have signed long term contracts and will be bringing me races for a long time to come. If the numbers aren't there later when it's time to sign again and NASCAR moves to some obscure cable network, I'll watch it there. No big deal. Just another number to learn.
 
I think there are 4 reasons:
1) Commercials. Just too many of them.
2) Boogity
3) Boogity
4) Boogity


Seriously, I think the Waltrip(s) are so bad that they drive away new fans.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I used to worry about television numbers. Not anymore. Well, other than what channel the race is on. If there are 1 million people watching or 101 million I really don't care. Both FOX & NBC have signed long term contracts and will be bringing me races for a long time to come. If the numbers aren't there later when it's time to sign again and NASCAR moves to some obscure cable network, I'll watch it there. No big deal. Just another number to learn.
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Maybe things will get so bad the field will be full of drivers trying to feed their families. Wouldn't that be horrible?
 
Ratings are down, but it contiunes to be the most watched sporting event each weekend (obvisouly except for the NCAA tournament) so could it just be how ratings will be for the future?
Could it simply be more and more people DVR'ing the race, dropping high cable costs to get netflix/hulu?

It doesn't look good, but if they contiune to be the most watched sporting event on the weekends is it really that bad?
 
sloggie said:
I think there are 4 reasons:
1) Commercials. Just too many of them.
2) Boogity
3) Boogity
4) Boogity


Seriously, I think the Waltrip(s) are so bad that they drive away new fans.
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Yeah, having Foghorn Leghorn in the booth can't be too helpful.
 
EI2IC said:
Ratings are down, but it contiunes to be the most watched sporting event each weekend (obvisouly except for the NCAA tournament) so could it just be how ratings will be for the future?
Could it simply be more and more people DVR'ing the race, dropping high cable costs to get netflix/hulu?

It doesn't look good, but if they contiune to be the most watched sporting event on the weekends is it really that bad?
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There really aren't a lot of sports going on in the late winter/early spring. The ones they do compete against either have only two teams out of many competing on national TV in a certain time slot (NBA) or have a bunch of different games on at once on different channels (college basketball), so it's hard to compare TV ratings. NASCAR is one of the few sports where the entire fan base has a rooting interest every broadcast.
 
EI2IC said:
It doesn't look good, but if they contiune to be the most watched sporting event on the weekends is it really that bad?
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It's not about comparing one sport to another. It's about whether the sport is growing or shrinking. 900,000 fewer people watched Fontana this year compared to last year. Fans are losing interest in the sport.
 
mreed said:
If the new point system brings in any "new fans" it will probably be just for the last race of the year, and they'll probably just switch back to the race every now and then waiting till the final laps to see who wins the championship.
After that they'll go back to not giving a s#t about nascar again when the race is over.

Hooray for the "new fans"!
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I doubt we'll even see significant ratings increases for Homestead, given it's going up against the NFL. If it winds up going against a marquee matchup, like say, Denver vs. New England, we may even see a year-over-year decrease at Homestead.
 
Yeah, FLRacing and Sloggie i'd agree.

I'm gonna have to take the DP approach and just be happy its on TV for the 10 years so hoping it stays on there after that!

I hope we dont end up with Sky Sports or whatever F1 has where you need to pay to watch the races.
 
I don't care about ratings but I'm not sure there is one anwser for the decline. It's not black and white. The competition could be great..Some sports have great games and still can't get a huge boost.. Like Hockey can have an epic game but that boost in viewers doesn't last.

I honestly think more and more people are less interested in cars and by proxy less interested in motor racing. Whereas more and more people in this country are either playing football, basketball or training in MMA and their ratings or ppv buys have gone up accordingly.
 
@jeff_gluck

NASCAR qualifying was Fox Sports 1's top show last week with 771k viewers. Seems like a lot just for qualifying.
 
FLRacingFan said:
If you're waiting for the huge influx of new fans like you said there would be in the offseason, don't hold your breath.
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LOL Oh you guys c crack me up.... when did I say I expect an influx of new fans... or anything like that? I said that I follow NASCAR's line of thinking... never said I agree with it...
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
@jeff_gluck

NASCAR qualifying was Fox Sports 1's top show last week with 771k viewers. Seems like a lot just for qualifying.
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And the truck race had 200 k less viewers then Qualifiying. No one cares about the lesser series in the sport even though some say they would watch if their were no cup guys in those series..funny lol.
 
sloggie said:
I think there are 4 reasons:
1) Commercials. Just too many of them.
2) Boogity
3) Boogity
4) Boogity


Seriously, I think the Waltrip(s) are so bad that they drive away new fans.
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I think for a casual viewer, It's hard to take the racing seriously when they have to listen to the high pitch squealing of the Waltrip brothers.. I see it with my family time and time again.

Darrell Waltrip literally gives my dad a headache and he changes the channel.
 
EI2IC said:
Ratings are down, but it contiunes to be the most watched sporting event each weekend (obvisouly except for the NCAA tournament) so could it just be how ratings will be for the future?
Could it simply be more and more people DVR'ing the race, dropping high cable costs to get netflix/hulu?

It doesn't look good, but if they contiune to be the most watched sporting event on the weekends is it really that bad?
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One thing to consider, yes Nascar usually is the most highly watched sporting event of the weekend, but keep in mind that every single team competes against each other at the same time, at the same place, and on the same channel.

Compare that to say baseball, there are 30 teams, so there could be up to 30 games in a weekend if all 30 teams played on both Saturday and Sunday. How do you compare those numbers when only 2 baseball teams can play each other at a time, as opposed to racing against 42 other cars at the same exact time?

It's like comparing apples to oranges. If you're a Nascar fan, then you're tuning at the drop of the green flag for one race during the weekend. If you're a baseball fan, then you're tuning into 1 of 15 games, or 2 of 30 if they are all played at the same time. Basically in "ratings", Nascar gets the whole pie, with baseball and other sports, you only get a slice of the pie. If you add up all those slices, I bet the pie is bigger for sports like baseball, basketball, and football.
 
MOEJOE said:
Or shoot the producer who can't change to the right camera until the pass is complete. Or maybe people are sick of the random debri cautions. Or cautions brought out by some dude scraping the wall and paint becomes debri.

Other times it takes 4 guys hitting the darn wall for the yellow to come out. Consistency is key. Ask MLB or NFL.
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Welcome Moe , are you new here ? Where ya been ?
 
The nfl and nascar have "destination" tv. All other sports have to much inventory to compare to them. Nascar fans run all over the Internet thinking this means nascar is 2nd to nfl in popularity. It isn't. It's behind the nba and mlb but I'd say it's more popular than the nhl. All other racing on tv is small time. It's comparable to euro soccers tv numbers on high end and mls figures on the low end.

In all the yrs I surveyed viewers and still today somewhat things like on air talent or on screen graphics aren't reasons for viewership ups and downs
 
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