USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes ABC's 4.3 overnight
Nielsen rating for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 was the highest
since the event earned a 4.7 in '94. NASCAR's 5.1 average
rating -- not including the Daytona 500's 9.6 rating -- for
its seven Winston Cup races on ABC and CBS, "surpasses all
sports except the NFL." N.Y.-based media buyer Paul
Schulman: "NASCAR certainly has caught the public's
interest. While other sports are going down, NASCAR's
ratings are even or going up." BBDO's Steve Grubbs: "ESPN
has done a great job promoting NASCAR" (USA TODAY, 8/10).
MCGWIRE POWER: Fox Sports Net's "Baseball Thursday"
earned a 1.84 rating and was seen in 1.2 million HHs for
Thursday's August 5 Padres-Cardinals telecast in which Mark
McGwire hit his 500th HR. After 17 weeks, "Baseball
Thursday" is averaging a .97 weekly rating, up 21.3% over
the .80 rating in the same period of '98 (FSN).
FIGHTIN' PHILS: The Phillies' cable ratings on Comcast
SportsNet are up 29% over the same period in '98 and 85%
over the same period in '97 (Comcast SportsNet).
PAN AM GAMES: CBC drew an average audience of 576,000
viewers for its two hours of Pan Am Games coverage per
evening. In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich wrote that the
viewership "is impressive ... considering those numbers
match the average Blue Jays game." Zelkovich also wrote
that TSN's average of "better than" 100,000 viewers for its
"varying blocks" of afternoon Pan Am Games coverage was a
"solid daytime ratings number" (TORONTO STAR, 8/9).
PURELY CANADIAN: Zelkovich also reports that the CFL
"is enjoying a ratings boom," with viewership up 58% over
last season. The first eight CFL games on TSN have averaged
251,000 viewers, compared with a 158,000 average during the
same period a year ago (TORONTO STAR, 8/10).
