TV ratings for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series were flat this season compared to ’12, while viewership saw a slight increase. NASCAR averaged a 3.6 rating and 5.8 million viewers for 35 Sprint Cup telecasts across Fox, TNT, ESPN and ABC. Excluded from the average was the Chicagoland Speedway race, which suffered a long rain and ended up finishing a large chunk of the telecast on ESPN after 1:00am ET. Viewership for the first half of the NSCS season on Fox (-1%) and TNT (-6%) was down, but picked up in the second half for ABC (+6%) and ESPN (+3). The ’13 season also saw a bounce among males 18-34 (+4%) after a big decline last season.
PLAYOFF PUSH: The nine races in the ’13 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup averaged 4.5 million viewers, up 6% from 10 races last year. The Chase also saw a 7% increase among males 18-34. The Nov. 17 season finale on ESPN at Homestead-Miami Speedway averaged 5.1 million viewers for Jimmie Johnson clinching his sixth title, up 7% from last year, when Brad Keselowski took home the title. The ’11 finale, which saw Tony Stewart win the race to take the season title, drew 6.8 million viewers.
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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES AUDIENCE TREND
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SEASON
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NETWORKS
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RATING
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VIEWERS (000)
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'13
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
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3.6
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5,796
|
|
'12
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
3.6
|
5,760
|
|
'11
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
3.8
|
6,451
|
|
'10
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
3.6
|
5,992
|
|
'09
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
4.0
|
6,440
|
|
'08
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
4.3
|
6,917
|
|
'07
|
Fox+TNT+ESPN+ABC
|
4.4
|
7,116
|
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'06
|
Fox+TNT+FX+NBC
|
4.9
|
7,855
|
|
|
|
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AVERAGE VIEWERS FOR NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TV PARTNERS
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NET
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'13
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'12
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'11
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'10
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'09
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'08
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'07
|
|
Fox
|
7,702
|
7,900
|
8,600
|
7,836
|
8,680
|
9,325
|
9,307
|
|
TNT
|
4,677
|
4,980
|
5,125
|
4,990
|
5,098
|
5,722
|
5,693
|
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ESPN
|
4,552
|
4,398
|
5,100
|
4,803
|
5,777
|
5,452
|
6,069
|
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ABC
|
5,664
|
5,366
|
5,600
|
5,484
|
5,493
|
5,986
|
6,156
|
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|
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GUEST PASS: ESPN averaged 931,000 viewers for last Tuesday night’s 6:00pm ET “SportsCenter,” which was co-hosted by Johnson. That figure was up 22.5% from an average of 760,000 viewers for the program in that time slot this fall to date. Data from Joyce Julius showed that Johnson’s “SportsCenter” appearance, which was a first for a pro athlete, provided $32,565 worth of exposure for his sponsors, including Lowe’s, Kobalt Tools and Chevy.
