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All My Rowdy Friends: NBC Draws 4.2 Overnight For Busch's NASCAR Title Win

The first year of NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series finale airing on NBC proved beneficial for the network. NBC drew a 4.2 overnight rating for race coverage of the Ford EcoBoost 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway yesterday, which saw Kyle Busch win his first NSCS title. The event's start was delayed around 90 minutes by rain and did not begin until just before 5:00pm ET, with the finish coming during NBC's allotted time for "Football Night in America." NBCSN took over coverage a short time after Busch crossed the finish line, around 8:00pm. NBCSN had been airing a simulcast of the race, focusing on the four drivers eligible to win the championship. ESPN drew a 2.9 overnight last year for Kevin Harvick's first Sprint Cup Series championship and a 2.7 for Jimmie Johnson's win in '13. ESPN had aired the Cup Series finale since '10. ABC earned a 3.2 overnight for its last airing of the season finale in '09 (Josh Carpenter, Assistant Editor). 

WATCHING IT THROUGH THE END: USA TODAY's A.J. Perez noted NBC endured "nearly an hour of criticism" on social media from football fans for "sticking with racing over the network's usual NFL coverage" last night. NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus earlier in the day said that the race "would move" to NBCSN if it "wasn't finished" by around 7:20pm ET. However, the race was still on NBC as Busch "crossed the finish line" a few minutes before 8:00pm. NBC Sports President of Programming Jon Miller in a statement said, "We felt it would be a disservice to viewers to move the race as long as its conclusion did not threaten the kickoff of 'Sunday Night Football.' ... As soon as the race concluded, NBC shifted to 'Football Night in America' and provided roughly 35 minutes of pre-game coverage" (USATODAY.com, 11/22). SI.com's Richard Deitsch writes NBC "made an excellent decision" to stick with coverage of the race. NASCAR fans had "significantly invested in the network prior to this race and they were owed not to have the season-finale moved to NBCSN as the race was concluding." It is "important to note NBC lost viewership with its decision," as the football pregame would "surely have rated higher for the first half hour, so props to NBC Sports" (SI.com, 11/23). But SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy asks, "What was NBC Sports thinking when it preempted Football Night in America to stay with the conclusion of the Ford EcoBoost 400?" NBC could have moved the race to NBCSN and "aired Football Night in its entirety." McCarthy: "I get that we're comparing a championship race to a pregame show. But it didn't have to be an either/or." He adds, "The combination of Football Night in America/Sunday Night Football is the gold standard of all TV programming, not just sports programming. ... There's no reason to mess with success, especially when viewers are smart enough to just switch to another channel" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/23).

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