NASCAR and Champ Car weekend TV ratings

UPDATE #2 The final TV rating for the Long Beach Champ Car race fell to a 0.6/1 share (from a 0.7 overnight) and the final TV rating for the NASCAR Texas Nextel Cup race last Sunday was a 5.6/12 share, up 3.7% from last year's final 5.4 rating.

04/17/07 The Spurs-Mavericks game Sunday averaged a 6.9 Nielsen rating (164,220 HHs), on WFAA-ABC in Dallas, while the NASCAR Nextel Cup Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway earned a 6.1/ (145,180 HHs) on KDFW-Fox.

04/16/07 The FOX broadcast of the Samsung 500 held Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway generated a 5.4 overnight national television rating according to Nielsen Media Research, making the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race the highest-rated sporting event of the weekend.

The Samsung 500 easily outdistanced Sunday’s NBA playoff game between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, which garnered a 2.9 rating on ABC and ranked second for the weekend in the overnights. Saturday’s regional Major League Baseball on FOX was third with a 2.6 overnight rating.

“A classic race and inclement weather in portions of the country combined to make the Samsung 500 a huge hit this weekend," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “The race offered a daring last-lap pass by Jeff Burton for the win, controversy on the track between competitors and two of the sport’s biggest stars – Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon – leading much of the day. ‘The Great American Speedway’ continues to be the success story for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing."

The 5.4 rating is a 13 percent increase from last year’s Samsung 500 overnight rating, which also was broadcast by FOX. The strong rating came despite the Samsung 500, which aired from 2-6 p.m. ET, competing in the same time slots as playoffs games for the NBA (Bulls-Wizards, 1-3:30 p.m. ET and Spurs-Mavericks, 3:30-6 p.m. ET) and National Hockey League (conference quarterfinal games, 1-4 p.m. ET).

The 5.4 already matches the final rating of last year’s Samsung 500, which is an extremely promising sign as NASCAR ratings traditionally see a modest to substantial gain from the overnights to the final ratings.

“The Samsung 500 has an opportunity to have a higher rating than the Mavs-Spurs playoff game and the regional major-league baseball games combined," Gossage said. “Considering the excitement surrounding the start of the NBA playoffs and the opening weeks of Major League Baseball, it would be quite an achievement. NASCAR racing continues to show its strength among the major sports."

Overnight Ratings For The Weekend’s Network Sporting Events

Event Network Day Rating
NASCAR: Samsung 500 FOX Sun 5.4 (Sport with Heroes)
NBA Playoffs: Spurs-Mavericks ABC Sun 2.9
MLB: Regional games FOX Sat. 2.6
PGA: Verizon Heritage CBS Sat. 1.9
NBA Playoffs: Bulls-Wizards ABC Sun. 1.9
U.S. Figure Skating Showcase ABC Sat. 1.4
PGA: Verizon Heritage CBS Sun. 1.4
NHL Playoffs: Conference quarters NBC Sat. 1.3
LPGA: Ginn Open CBS Sun. 1.3
NHL Playoffs: Conference quarters NBC Sun. 1.2
LPGA: Ginn Open CBS Sat. 1.0
Champ Car: GP of Long Beach NBC Sun. 0.7 (Sport with too few heroes) TMS PR