NASCAR - Television Ratings Thread

"But it was sunny in Daytona."

This race is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Daytona doesn’t even want the date anymore. It was a great tradition, and Daytona on Independence Day weekend had a fantastic aura, but times change. The track and NASCAR love that it’s the regular season finale and the city loves having an additional tourism weekend.
 
I read on Jayski that last year’s race had 4.8 million viewers and this year’s had 3.87 or about 23% less. Almost 4 million viewers is really good and could end up being the NBC networks highest rated race all year.
 
I read on Jayski that last year’s race had 4.8 million viewers and this year’s had 3.87 or about 23% less. Almost 4 million viewers is really good and could end up being the NBC networks highest rated race all year.
Stern said it was tracking closer to down ~10% before the red flag. It’s natural to have a drop from year 1 to year 2 I think, but will still comfortably be the top audience of the season for NBC in all likelihood.
 
Stern said it was tracking closer to down ~10% before the red flag. It’s natural to have a drop from year 1 to year 2 I think, but will still comfortably be the top audience of the season for NBC in all likelihood.

I imagine the Brickyard 400 revival will be a big draw too. Especially since, next year, that's going to be NBC's marquee race. (Chicago will be on TNT most likely.)
 
Stern said it was tracking closer to down ~10% before the red flag. It’s natural to have a drop from year 1 to year 2 I think, but will still comfortably be the top audience of the season for NBC in all likelihood.
That is good to know and I thank you very much for the clarity.
 
I imagine the Brickyard 400 revival will be a big draw too. Especially since, next year, that's going to be NBC's marquee race. (Chicago will be on TNT most likely.)

I thought the Chicago race would remain on NBC due to its popularity but I don’t know what the ins and outs are.
 
I thought the Chicago race would remain on NBC due to its popularity but I don’t know what the ins and outs are.

First 14 races on FS1 (9) and Fox (5).
Next 5 races on Prime Video.
Next 5 races on TNT Sports.
Final 14 races on USA (10) and NBC (4).

We already know Prime Video's coverage starts with the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend, and we already know TNT's coverage starts with Atlanta on June 28. So, with all that known, we know Chicago (July 6) will be on TNT.

I would expect NBC's coverage to start on August 3 with Indianapolis, but you never know. NASCAR might decide to run the Brickyard 400 on July 20th or July 27th on TNT, and NBC might be boxed into starting their schedule with something like Pocono or Michigan on USA.
 
First 14 races on FS1 (9) and Fox (5).
Next 5 races on Prime Video.
Next 5 races on TNT Sports.
Final 14 races on USA (10) and NBC (4).

We already know Prime Video's coverage starts with the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend, and we already know TNT's coverage starts with Atlanta on June 28. So, with all that known, we know Chicago (July 6) will be on TNT.

I would expect NBC's coverage to start on August 3 with Indianapolis, but you never know. NASCAR might decide to run the Brickyard 400 on July 20th or July 27th on TNT, and NBC might be boxed into starting their schedule with something like Pocono or Michigan on USA.

Really good information and thank you. I have all the networks needed to see every race next year so I’m happy I don’t have to change things. I’m older so I get tangled up sometimes when things change 😅
 

Indianapolis Xfinity Series, Truck Series races see ratings increase​


July 24, 2024 at 12:05 AM

A return to the traditional oval format boosted NASCAR Brickyard 400 ratings to a four-year high — despite major breaking news competition.
In other NASCAR action, Saturday’s corresponding Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, averaged a 0.65 (+14%) and 1.16 million (+13%) on USA, the network’s most-watched Xfinity Series race since 2022.
Friday’s Truck Series race (on the Indianapolis Raceway Park short track) pulled a 0.24 (-4%) and 432,000 (+7%) on FS1, the network’s top sportscast of the week.
 
It is increasingly difficult to find TV ratings (I’m guessing the networks/Nielsen continue to stamp out sources) but I was able to find some for the weekend.

Cup/Darlington - 2.4M (highest for event since 2021)
Xfinity/Darlington - 712k

F1/Italy - 1.078M (event record)
IndyCar/Milwaukee #2 - 735k (top 5 for cable in the NBC era)
 
Like with all sorts of figures, they just need the appropriate context. The methodology is consistent, and using lead-ins/-outs to maximize eyeballs on another program has been a strategy for many years.

When FS1 had "Fox Sports Live," it became a common tactic for them to brand postrace or postgame coverage under the Fox Sports Live banner and have Jay and Dan (I miss those guys) come on briefly. Because of that, Fox Sports Live frequently topped SportsCenter in ratings.

NASCAR's benefitted from this a few times.

While ratings were generally up this year as a whole, one of the NASCAR pre-race shows on Fox had a significant boost because of lead-in freight from the Caitlin Clark Experience.
 
I sure hope there will be lots of viewers for Bristol as I know it will be entertaining. However if there is another overtime I’m going to need to be committed lol.
 
Kansas

Cup - 1.794M (1.76M)
Xfinity - 772k, CW (1.325M, NBC)
Truck - 335k (483k)

Comparisons are to Kansas last year, which aren’t exactly 1:1 since it was a few weeks earlier in 2023. Texas was the first race of the Cup R12 last season.
 

It really doesn't. Roku advertises that it has CW, but all it is are recorded programs and I couldn't find anything live covering the race. I had to switch to the higher paid YouTube for a channel named TulsaCW. It makes me wonder if overflow stick and ball will be a problem covering up racing on TulsaCW. Time will tell, but I don't trust the TV weasels. They are a bunch of cut throats IMO.
 
It really doesn't. Roku advertises that it has CW, but all it is are recorded programs and I couldn't find anything live covering the race. I had to switch to the higher paid YouTube for a channel named TulsaCW. It makes me wonder if overflow stick and ball will be a problem covering up racing on TulsaCW. Time will tell, but I don't trust the TV weasels. They are a bunch of cut throats IMO.
They said the live races won’t be available on their digital platforms until next year. So if you’re trying to stream directly through the CW app whether it be on your phone, Roku TV, Fire TV Stick, etc. you just won’t be able to until next year. It’s a weird transition period where neither NBC nor CW are actually streaming the Xfinity events.
 
They said the live races won’t be available on their digital platforms until next year. So if you’re trying to stream directly through the CW app whether it be on your phone, Roku TV, Fire TV Stick, etc. you just won’t be able to until next year. It’s a weird transition period where neither NBC nor CW are actually streaming the Xfinity events.
Yeah, in other words not everybody has that channel.
 
Yeah, in other words not everybody has that channel.
Yes, as it is now, you need a TV package of some form and the CW is available in about 15% fewer homes than the other broadcast networks (ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC) through that method.
 
Not sure why NASCAR would want the X series being shown in fewer homes during the playoffs. Since everything goes back to money, I presume NBC was losing money on the X races and was happy to let CW start paying the bills early.
 
Not sure why NASCAR would want the X series being shown in fewer homes during the playoffs. Since everything goes back to money, I presume NBC was losing money on the X races and was happy to let CW start paying the bills early.
If you can make sense out of what the TV weasels do, more power to ya lol.
 
Talladega

Cup - 3.127M (the best figure in several years; the 2020 event averaged 3.1M on NBC before the finish was pushed to NBCSN, while the 2018 running averaged 3.5M)

Xfinity - 917k (not run in 2023; 1.019M on USA in 2022)

Truck - 343k (626k)
 
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