Richmond TV Rating

UPDATE The final TV rating for last weekend's Richmond NASCAR Sprint Cup race on FOX was a 3.7, down 7.5% from last year's 4.0 final rating.

NASCAR Sprint Cup telecasts on Fox are averaging a 5.1 Nielsen rating and 8.402 million viewers for eight telecasts to date. That average does not include two Sunday races which were rained out and run on the following Monday. Compared to the same time period last year (10 races), Fox is down 3.7% in ratings and 5.9% in viewership. Two races to date — Phoenix on April 10 and Talladega on April 25 — have seen ratings increases from '09. Last weekend's Crown Royal presents the Heath Calhoun 400 marks the lowest-rated and least-viewed spring Richmond telecast since the race moved to Fox from FX in '07. Saturday's telecast is also tied with the April 10 Phoenix telecast as the second lowest-rated NASCAR race ever on Fox, ahead of only last year's Subway Fresh Fit 500, which drew a 3.6 rating. The six lowest-rated NASCAR Sprint Cup telecasts on Fox have been during the last two seasons. THE DAILY

05/03/10 NASCAR ON FOX earned a 3.4/7 on Saturday night for racing from Richmond International Raceway. The 3.4/7 for the short-track race was down -8% compared to last year's 3.7/7. With the green flag coming a half-hour earlier this year, initial tune-in for the race was off slightly. Despite the overall decline, FOX's race earned a 3.5/7 in Primetime. That gave FOX a narrow win for the night in the metered markets over second-place CBS's 3.4/6, but that slim margin is set to expand when national ratings are tabulated and NASCAR gets its usual small-market bump. For the season-to-date NASCAR On FOX is now averaging a 4.6/10 in the overnights, down -2% compared to 2009's 4.7/10