NASCAR - Television Ratings Thread



Last year's Iowa race was the lowest-rated Xfinity race of the season at that point. For those questioning the later starting time (5:00 pm Eastern this year vs. 3:30 pm in 2017), that probably helped. More televisions in use at that time on late Sunday afternoon, it's that simple.
 
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sloggie said:
The chart really calls it out.

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Larsonfan1995 said:
A bigger decrease than we've seen in several years due to no more Dale Jr, Matt Kenseth and Danica
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joe h said:
Not good, the casuals that only tune in for Daytona, have the olympics, and who knows what happens with jr nation disbanding. My guess 5% drop at the start of the season, but the closer we get to the end, that number could reach 20% or more vs last year.
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Congratulations to our leaders at the halfway point.

 
from sportsmediawatch.com

NASCAR Ratings Slump Resumes at Sonoma
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Sonoma 350 earned a 1.4 rating and 2.3 million viewers on FS1, down 30% in ratings and 28% in viewership from last year (2.0, 3.2M) and down 42% and 40% respectively from 2016 (2.4, 3.9M).

Martin Truex Jr.’s win ranks as the lowest rated edition of the race since at least 1998 and the least-watched since at least 2002.

Ratings and viewership were the second-lowest of the season, ahead of only Kansas on FS1 last month (1.2, 2.0M).
 
Part of the conversation about the All Star Package BS was some owners feeling that the sport needed promotion help--not constant rule changes. Amen to that. This sport is being run like a monkey ****** a football right now. I have been overly optimistic in the past. I am now very concerned.
 
It is always good when they can show a YoY increase for a race. Last year's race being the "playoff opener" means nothing in TV ratings terms. Minus Homestead and Talladega, the playoffs races are always among the lowest rated of the year due to football competition. Yesterday's race didn't face that. I'll be curious how the number compares to the same weekend last year and whether this any traceable Dale Jr. effect that NBC is banking on.
 
I hate to say it, but people are going to be disappointed and misunderstand if subsequent events don't post increases. The races were up vs. the Chicago races a year ago that took place in September up against NFL and college football. The Cup race got the same overnight rating as Sonoma, lower than Michigan (which aired on network TV).

The jury is out on the Dale Jr. booth effect, and will be for the foreseeable future. I did personally enjoy his presence.
 
gnomesayin said:
I hate to say it, but people are going to be disappointed and misunderstand if subsequent events don't post increases. The races were up vs. the Chicago races a year ago that took place in September up against NFL and college football. The Cup race got the same overnight rating as Sonoma, lower than Michigan (which aired on network TV).

The jury is out on the Dale Jr. booth effect, and will be for the foreseeable future. I did personally enjoy his presence.
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Yeah, I was happy about the numbers until this reality set in. How the hell do you compare a completely different event at a completely different time?
 
Revman said:
Yeah, I was happy about the numbers until this reality set in. How the hell do you compare a completely different event at a completely different time?
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They can't compare it to the same weekend a year ago, because that was Daytona. But yes, comparisons to the same track in September of last year are shoddy at best. Races during football season post lower numbers period. In this case there really is no good direct comparison. The best is probably the most recent 2018 races, and the Cup race posted 2.5 million total average viewers vs. Sonoma at 2.3 million, Michigan at 3.7 million (Fox network race), and Pocono at 2.6 million.
 
It was down about 20% from NBCSN's first Sunday afternoon race last year, at New Hampshire (3.2M). About in line with most declines we've seen this year. I can't fault them for trying to put a positive spin on things given that there's no direct comparison. That's how they earn their paycheck.
 
rd45usa said:
Sign him
They will come = https://racer.com/2018/07/03/tv-ratings-nascar-starts-higher-on-nbc/
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See the TV ratings thread for more detail on this, but no, this is easy to misread. The race was up vs. the Chicago race from September last year, which is not a good comparable. Down from NBC's first race last year, and essentially on par with recent 2018 races.

Many are going to misunderstand the supposed Dale Jr. bump as a one-race thing if this isn't understood properly. So far there is no real evidence that such a bump occurred at all. However, his presence could help over time, as it was certainly a more enjoyable telecast than without him.
 
In a sense there was a trade off in the schedule....with Chicagoland moving earlier and the Brickyard moving later. I say wait and see what the Brickyard's comparative numbers are. Or another way of looking at it is, is combine Chicagoland & the Brickyard this year and compare it to the combined number for those 2 races from a year ago. Would think the gain made by Chicagoland moving from September to July will be offset by the Brickyard moving from July to September. How much, though, we'll have to see.
 
MikeInIllinois said:
In a sense there was a trade off in the schedule....with Chicagoland moving earlier and the Brickyard moving later. I say wait and see what the Brickyard's comparative numbers are. Or another way of looking at it is, is combine Chicagoland & the Brickyard this year and compare it to the combined number for those 2 races from a year ago. Would think the gain made by Chicagoland moving from September to July will be offset by the Brickyard moving from July to September. How much, though, we'll have to see.
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Good point, because the Brickyard was up considerably last year after returning to broadcast from cable. It has multiple factors working against it this year, foremost the move to September. A big decline there will be spun inaccurately also.
 
I keep seeing posts about declining ratings and the fall of NASCAR i can't help but wonder: Are low rating enough to completely kill NASCAR?
 
Look at IndyCar and you'll see the answer is no. They regularly get a .2-.3 rating outside of Indianapolis.
 
So glad TRL moved that thing here. Who knows what the future is. Sure wished I did. But if I was a worrier, I could find way more important things to worry about. FWIW ISC reported some pretty high earnings this quarter.
 
furredracer88 said:
I keep seeing posts about declining ratings and the fall of NASCAR i can't help but wonder: Are low rating enough to completely kill NASCAR?
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Maybe, if they ever lost Daytona in a bankruptcy or fire sale. The 500 is all that is keeping Indy on life support.
 
furredracer88 said:
I keep seeing posts about declining ratings and the fall of NASCAR i can't help but wonder: Are low rating enough to completely kill NASCAR?
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It would depend on the amount of revenue the networks are willing to pony up in the next round of talks to broadcast the sport.
 
This is way I see it and heard some people talking at the race track a few years ago. A lot of fans left with the passing of Earnhardt, retirement of drivers Elliott, mark Martin, Ricky Rudd and this whole generation of drivers. The play off is a joke to some fans. Also some don’t like Toyota in the sport. I have to admit I didn’t watch as much cup series until Chase Elliott moved up.
 
Maybe we can put to rest early the "Dale Jr. in the booth is going to increase the ratings" theory. If "Watch NASCAR with Dale Jr. at Daytona" of all places produced 800k fewer viewers than a year ago, where else is his draw going to be greater? He's a very likeable dude and a good presence on the broadcasts. Let him be that. People no longer interested in the racing aren't going to watch for an announcer.

Also, Daytona and Talladega races mostly continue to decline at about the same rate as the season at large. Still no evidence that "plate racing" elsewhere is some kind of elixir.
 
Nice, led prime time w/ 4.2 million viewers

NBC’s 3-hour-long broadcast of the annual NASCAR Coke Zero 400 race in Daytona easily won the top spot of the night with a 0.8 average rating in adults 18-49 and 4.22 average million viewers.

 
StandOnIt said:
Nice, led prime time w/ 4.2 million viewers

NBC’s 3-hour-long broadcast of the annual NASCAR Coke Zero 400 race in Daytona easily won the top spot of the night with a 0.8 average rating in adults 18-49 and 4.22 average million viewers.

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Last year's race had 5.01 million viewers, and the 2016 race had 5.7 million viewers. I don't think that is a good trend.
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from sportsmediawatch.com

No Dale Jr. Bump at Daytona, Again
Saturday’s NASCAR Daytona 400 earned a 2.7 rating and 4.4 million viewers on NBC, down 16% in ratings and 18% in viewership from last year (3.2, 5.4M) and down 21% and 22% respectively from 2016 (3.4, 5.7M).

The 2.7 rating is tied as the lowest on record for the race, excluding rainouts (dates back to 1997).
 
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