A record-setting weather delay caused havoc with Fox’ ratings for the Daytona 500. The net averaged a 5.6 fast-national rating and 9.3 million viewers for two race windows that were separated by 6 hours and 22 minutes. The telecast from 1:30-2:17pm ET averaged a 6.3 rating and 10.1 million viewers before racing was halted due to heavy rain and a tornado warning. Following the delay, Fox drew a 5.5 rating and 9.1 million viewers for racing from 8:25-11:23pm. That period in primetime had direct competition with NBC’s Closing Ceremony telecast from the Sochi Games (15.1 million viewers from 8:33-10:36pm), as well as from AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” which drew 13.1 million viewers from 9:00-10:00pm. The last time the Daytona 500 was run in primetime was in ’12, when the race was rained out on a Sunday and run on a Monday with less competition. That telecast averaged an 8.0 rating and 13.7 million viewers for a race that included a two-hour delay due to a track dryer explosion. The race in ’10 also had a two-hour delay for its Sunday afternoon broadcast due to potholes on the track, with that race generating a 7.7 rating and 13.3 million viewers. Greensboro-Winston-Salem was the top market for Fox’ telecast with a 17.5 local rating, followed by Orlando-Daytona Beach (13.2) and Greenville-Spartanburg (13.0). Outside of football content, the Daytona 500 was Fox Sports Go’s top authenticated live event stream (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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DAYTONA 500 AUDIENCE TREND
|
|
YEAR
|
NETWORK
|
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
WINNER |
|
'14*
|
Fox
|
5.6
|
9,300
|
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
|
'13
|
Fox
|
9.9
|
16,700
|
Jimmie Johnson |
|
'12**
|
Fox
|
8.0
|
13,700
|
Matt Kenseth |
|
'11
|
Fox
|
8.7
|
15,597
|
Trevor Bayne |
|
'10^
|
Fox
|
7.7
|
13,294
|
Jamie McMurray |
|
'09
|
Fox
|
9.2
|
15,958
|
Matt Kenseth |
|
'08
|
Fox
|
10.2
|
17,800
|
Ryan Newman |
|
'07
|
Fox
|
10.1
|
17,530
|
Kevin Harvick |
|
'06
|
NBC
|
11.3
|
19,355
|
Jimmie Johnson |
|
'05
|
Fox
|
10.9
|
18,685
|
Jeff Gordon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: * = Had a record-setting delay of 6 hours, 22 minutes; race measured from 1:30-2:17pm and 8:25-11:23pm. ** = Rainout on Sunday; Monday night race had two-hour delay due to exploding track dryer. ^ = Race had two-hour delay due to potholes in track.
NUMBERS GAME: NASCAR Digital Media's platforms had record-setting traffic numbers dating back to when the governing body regained control of its digital rights from Turner Sports in '13. NASCAR.com had a 39% increase in unique visitors during the race, while NASCAR Mobile had a 61% increase in total visits to the platform, NASCAR Raceview Mobile had a 25% increase in video views and NASCAR Mobile's website had a 131% increase in page views (NASCAR).
