The NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Darlington returned to Labor Day weekend for the second straight year, and the audience on NBC was down sharply. NBC on Sunday night, up against ABC’s Notre Dame-Texas matchup, drew 4.64 million viewers, down from 5.92 million viewers last year. In ’14, ESPN carried the Labor Day weekend race from Atlanta, drawing 5.21 million viewers. This is likely the lowest Labor Day Sprint Cup race in at least the last decade.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| College Football: Notre Dame-Texas |
9/4
|
ABC
|
730-11:52pm
|
6.4
|
10,945
|
| College Football: USC-Alabama |
9/3
|
ABC
|
8:07-11:44pm
|
4.6
|
7,944
|
| College Football: LSU-Wisconsin |
9/3
|
ABC
|
3:35-7:07pm
|
4.6
|
7,832
|
| College Football: Houston-Oklahoma |
9/3
|
ABC
|
12:01-3:35pm
|
3.5
|
5,713
|
| College football: Clemson-Auburn |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
9:21pm-12:37am
|
2.6
|
4,742
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Bojangles' Southern 500 (Darlington) |
9/4
|
NBC
|
6:32-10:30pm
|
2.8
|
4,637
|
College football:
Georgia-North Carolina |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
5:24-9:21pm
|
1.9
|
3,529
|
| College football: UCLA-Texas A&M |
9/3
|
CBS
|
3:30-7:48pm
|
1.9
|
3,107
|
FIFA World Cup qualifier:
El Salvador-Mexico |
9/2
|
Telemundo
|
9:55pm-12:14am
|
1.2
|
2,551
|
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank
Championship: Final Round |
9/5
|
NBC
|
1:30-6:00pm
|
1.5
|
2,298
|
| "College GameDay" |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
9:00am-12:01pm
|
n/a
|
2,147
|
| College football: Hawaii-Michigan |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
12:01-3:19pm
|
n/a
|
2,135
|
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank
Championship: Third Round |
9/4
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.3
|
1,984
|
College football:
South Carolina-Vanderbilt |
9/1
|
ESPN
|
7:55-11:28pm
|
n/a
|
1,942
|
| "A Football Life: Brett Favre" |
9/3
|
CBS
|
8:00-9:00pm
|
1.2
|
1,843
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series: VFW Sport
Clips Help a Hero 200 (Darlington) |
9/3
|
NBC
|
3:45-5:30pm
|
0.9
|
1,396
|
| College football: Kansas State-Stanford |
9/2
|
FS1
|
8:59pm-12:34am
|
n/a
|
1,358
|
| U.S. Open (early rounds) |
9/4
|
ESPN2
|
11:00am-7:10pm
|
n/a
|
1,089
|
College football:
Colorado State-Colorado |
9/2
|
ESPN
|
7:55-11:25pm
|
n/a
|
1,073
|
| NFL preseason: Patriots-Giants |
9/1
|
NFL Net
|
7:00-10:08pm
|
n/a
|
1,071
|
| U.S. Open (early rounds) |
9/4
|
ESPN2
|
7:10pm-12:23am
|
n/a
|
979
|
| NHRA: Chevy U.S. Nationals |
9/5
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:00pm
|
0.7
|
n/a
|
| "NASCAR Countdown to Green" |
9/3
|
NBC
|
3:00-3:45pm
|
0.5
|
802
|
| "College Football Today" |
9/3
|
CBS
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
0.5
|
765
|
PBR: Winstar World Casino
& Resort Invitational |
9/4
|
CBS
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.5
|
740
|
| "World of X Games: Trail of Missions" |
9/4
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
647
|
| "World of X Games: Real Moto" |
9/4
|
ABC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
0.4
|
628
|
| AVP Championships (Chicago) |
9/4
|
NBC
|
1:00-2:30pm
|
0.4
|
532
|
| "Road to the Ryder Cup" |
9/4
|
NBC
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
509
|
| Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (taped) |
9/4
|
CBS
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
0.3
|
507
|
| "College Football Special" |
9/3
|
CBS
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
477
|
| "Mecum Auto Auctions" |
9/3
|
NBC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
374
|
