The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had its first primetime race of the season Saturday on Fox, with the net earning a 4.0 rating for the Samsung Mobile 500 from Texas Motor Speedway. That figure is up 8% from a 3.7 rating for the comparable race from Phoenix last year. Through seven races this season, Fox is averaging a 5.5 rating for its Sprint Cup telecasts, up slightly from a 5.4 rating through the same period last year. Last season's numbers exclude the Martinsville race that was run on Monday due to a rainout.
SPRING IS HERE: Last weekend's first Yankees-Red Sox series of the season was a success for Fox, ESPN and MLB Network. Last Friday's non-exclusive telecast gave MLB Network its best weekday afternoon game audience ever. On Saturday, Fox earned a 2.6 rating for its regional MLB telecast, which featured Yankees-Red Sox in 84% of U.S. markets. That has helped give Fox its best start to an MLB season since '07. The series' Sunday night finale on ESPN marked the net's most-viewed game since the same matchup in August '09.
The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
| TELECAST |
DATE |
NET |
TIME (ET) |
RAT. |
VIEWERS (000) |
| The Masters: Final Round |
4/10 |
CBS |
2:00-7:15pm |
9.5 |
15,257 |
| The Masters: Third Round |
4/9 |
CBS |
3:30-7:00pm |
6.5 |
9,486 |
NASCAR Sprint Cup:
Samsung Mobile 500 |
4/9 |
Fox |
8:00-11:14pm |
4.0 |
7,036 |
| NBA: Celtics-Heat |
4/10 |
ABC |
3:38-6:14pm |
2.9 |
4,603 |
MLB: (regional)
(Yankees-Red Sox, 84%) |
4/9 |
Fox |
1:00-4:00pm |
2.6 |
3,891 |
| NBA: Bulls-Magic |
4/10 |
ABC |
12:56-3:38pm |
2.0 |
2,960 |
| Golf: "Phil at Augusta" (taped) |
4/9 |
CBS |
2:30-3:30pm |
1.2 |
n/a |
"Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta -
The 1975 Masters" |
4/10 |
CBS |
1:00-2:00pm |
1.0 |
1,435 |
| NHL: Red Wings-Blackhawks |
4/10 |
NBC |
12:30-3:02pm |
0.9 |
1,335 |
Monster Energy AMA
Supercross (taped) |
4/10 |
CBS |
12:00-1:00pm |
0.8 |
1,253 |
| "NBA Countdown" |
4/10 |
ABC |
12:30-12:56pm |
0.8 |
n/a |
PBR: Built Ford Tough
Invitational (taped) |
4/10 |
NBC |
3:02-4:30pm |
0.6 |
739 |
Golf: Harbor Shores
"Champions for Change" (taped) |
4/9 |
CBS |
2:00-2:30pm |
0.5 |
n/a |
| "ESPN Sports Saturday" |
4/9 |
ABC |
4:00-6:00pm |
0.4 |
n/a |
| TELECAST |
DATE |
NET |
TIME (ET) |
RAT. |
VIEWERS (000) |
| MLB: Yankees-Red Sox |
4/10 |
ESPN |
7:59-11:10pm |
2.9 |
4,697 |
NCAA Women's Basketball
Championship: Texas A&M-Notre Dame |
4/5 |
ESPN |
8:30-10:59pm |
2.4 |
3,831 |
| The Masters: Round Two |
4/8 |
ESPN |
3:00-7:30pm |
2.5 |
3,522 |
| NBA: Celtics-Bulls |
4/7 |
TNT |
8:16-10:42pm |
2.1 |
3,258 |
| The Masters: Round One |
4/7 |
ESPN |
3:00-7:30pm |
1.9 |
2,550 |
| NBA: Lakers-Warriors |
4/6 |
ESPN |
10:35pm-1:01am |
1.5 |
2,416 |
| NBA: Bucks-Heat |
4/6 |
ESPN |
8:06-10:35pm |
1.2 |
1,718 |
| NBA: Trail Blazers-Jazz |
4/7 |
TNT |
10:42pm-1:08am |
1.0 |
1,535 |
| MLB: Twins-Yankees |
4/4 |
ESPN |
7:00-9:54pm |
1.0 |
1,483 |
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 |
4/8 |
ESPN2 |
8:30-11:04pm |
0.9 |
1,466 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: Golf Channel averaged 143,000 viewers for Masters Week, marking the net's most-viewed week this year. The network drew 11.2 million total viewers last week, making it the third-most-watched week in Golf Channel history (
Golf Channel)....Versus posted a 0.2 U.S. rating for last Sunday's Izod IndyCar Series Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, which saw Will Power win after leading the entire race. That rating is flat compared to last year's race (
THE DAILY). IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard prior to the race said that he hoped the race would draw a "30% increase" from '10 (
INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/14).
