Key Daytona Speedweeks Events on FS1 Score Major Viewership Increases in 2017
FOX SPORTS’ DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS COVERAGE: FOX Sports programming and FS1 combined during Speedweeks for a +14% average viewership increase over 2016 (463,000 vs. 405,000). FS1’s average audience was up +28% (276,000 vs. 215,000) over last year, marking the highest average audience for Daytona Speedweeks in FS1 or SPEED history.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race on FS1 scored a +6% increase in average viewership (2,253,000 vs. 2,120,000) and a +8% bump among A18-49 (513,000 vs. 474,000) over the 2016 race. The NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race propelled FS1 to the top spot for total viewership among all cable channels during the time period. FS1’s post-race show was the second most-watched post-event show in network history with 2,130,000 viewers, behind only the Oct. 22, 2016, National League Championship post-game show.
NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY: Saturday’s NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY, FS1’s dedicated pre-race show for the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES, was up +8% in average viewership over last year (1,175,000 vs. 1,090,000).
NASCAR RACEDAY: DAYTONA 500: NASCAR RACEDAY, FS1’s pre-race show that aired Sunday before FOX NASCAR SUNDAY assumed pre-race coverage on the FOX broadcast network, enjoyed a +30% increase in average viewership (1,094,000 vs. 841,000) and a +42% increase in A18-49 over 2016 (324,000 vs. 228,000). Sunday’s NASCAR RACEDAY was the most-watched in FS1 history that did not immediately precede a race on FS1, and was the seventh most-watched NASCAR RACEDAY episode overall.
FOX NASCAR SUNDAY ON FOX BROADCAST NETWORK: Sunday’s FOX NASCAR SUNDAY pre-race show, airing immediately before FOX broadcast network coverage of the DAYTONA 500, posted 6,141,000 viewers, up +16% over last year’s delivery of 5,290,000 viewers.
DAYTONA 500 ON FOX SPORTS GO: The 2017 DAYTONA 500 was the most-streamed NASCAR event ever on FOX Sports GO, followed by the 2016 season opener. Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 scored a +88% increase over 2016 in streams, a +97% increase in average minute audience, a +107% bump in minutes streamed and a 59% increase in unique streamers.
|
Daytona 500 |
2016 |
2017 |
YoY % |
|
Streams |
131,840 |
247,403 |
88% |
|
Minutes Streamed |
3,720,968 |
7,719,933 |
107% |
|
Unique Streamers |
67,218 |
106,802 |
59% |
|
Avg. Min Audience |
18,605 |
36,587 |
97% |
CAN-AM DUEL AT DAYTONA: Thursday’s DUEL AT DAYTONA, the pair of qualifying races that set the starting order for the DAYTONA 500, drove FS1 to the top spot among cable sports networks in prime time, with an average of more than 2.5 million viewers. While average viewership was off 2% over 2016, an increasingly younger audience tuned in for the Duel, with Adults 18-49 up +7% over 2016 (738,000 vs. 689,000).
NASCAR RACEDAY: THE DUEL AT DAYTONA: Thursday’s NASCAR RACEDAY pre-race show scored 604,000 viewers, up +15% from 2016 (527,000) and up +7% among Adults 18-49 (149,000 vs. 139,000).
NASCAR RACE HUB: NASCAR RACE HUB, television’s most-watched NASCAR news and information program, averaged 214,000 viewers among its regular episodes during Daytona Speedweeks, up +15% percent over 2016’s Speedweeks (186,000), and scoring some of the most-watched episodes in series history. This year’s Speedweeks marked NASCAR RACE HUB’s most-watched during the two weeks preceding the DAYTONA 500 since 2013, when the program aired on FOX Sports’ SPEED.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Despite an -8% decline in average viewership (1,314,000 vs. 1,435,000) year-to-year for Friday’s NCWTS race, FS1 posted positive trends in the younger demographics year-over-year, up +37% in viewership among A18-34 (108,000 vs. 79,000) and +56% among M18-34 (67,000 vs. 43,000) over 2016.
REFUSE TO LOSE: Thursday’s REFUSE TO LOSE documentary, a look back at Jeff Gordon’s first Daytona 500 win in 1997, which debuted on FS1 following the network’s coverage of the DUEL AT DAYTONA, was the most-watched documentary in FS1 history with 829,000 viewers.
SOCIAL: The DAYTONA 500 was the second-most talked-about event on social media Sunday, trailing only the Academy Awards, with 443,000 people posting about the race on Twitter or Facebook. Two million people posted or engaged socially regarding the DAYTONA 500.
FOXSPORTS.COM: NASCAR was the most popular section on FOXSports.com on Sunday, with 450,000 unique users, a +13% increase over 2016 (450,000 vs. 409,798). Page views for the DAYTONA 500 were up +81% (4,832,941 vs. 2,669,555) over 2016, while page views for the entire week leading into the race were up +80% (12,822,233 vs. 7,131,747). One in three visitors to FOXSports.com consumed NASCAR content on Sunday, with users averaging 9.2 minutes on the site.