NASCAR Kentucky TV Rating (Update)

UPDATE NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Kentucky earned a 1.9 final rating and 3.2 million viewers on NBCSN Saturday night, down 5% in ratings and 1% in viewership from last year (2.0, 3.2M), down 17% and 11%, respectively, from 2014 (2.3, 3.6M), and the lowest rated and least-watched Sprint Cup race from Kentucky (dates back to 2011). Kentucky was the ninth race this season to hit a multi-year low in ratings and/or viewership (excluding rainout years), joining Michigan, Charlotte, Richmond, Bristol, Texas, Fontana, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Though low overall, Saturday's race was the most-watched program on NBCSN since last year's Martinsville race (3.4M) – topping Games 2 and 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (2.5M and 2.8M, respectively). Head-to-head, NASCAR on NBCSN topped competing coverage of Major League Baseball on FOX (2.1M) but trailed the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials on NBC (3.4M). Sports Media Watch

07/11/16 NBCSN on Saturday night drew a 1.8 overnight for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Kentucky Speedway, down slightly from a 1.9 for the same race last year. It was NBCSN's first Cup race of the '16 season. A 1.8 rating for a race is bad for NASCAR. Low TV ratings on NBCSN will reduce sponsorship in the NASCAR paddock.