NASCAR Talladega TV rating (2nd Update)

UPDATE #2 NASCAR Sprint Cup series racing on FOX posted a 4.6/10 with 7.3 million viewers on Sunday afternoon for the Aaron's 499 which was impacted by rain. While that's off -10% from last year's 5.1/12 (8.3 million viewers) it managed to rank as the highest-rated and most-watched event of the day, beating the NBA Playoffs on ABC by +18% (vs. a 3.9/8 for the Pacers and Knicks).

Sunday's rating excludes the rain interrupted portion of the race as it opened with a 4.1/11 (6.4 million viewers) at 1:10p and rose to a 4.4/10 (6.9 million viewers) at 3:15p before the rain delay. The race resumed at 6:54p with a 4.0/8 (6.2 million viewers) which was below the initial tune-in of the telecast, spiked to a 4.7/9 (7.9 million viewers) at 7:30p, and peaked with a 6.0/10 (10.3 million viewers) at 8pm. The 6:54-8:17p portion of Sunday's race averaged a 4.9/9 with 8.1 million viewers, off -14% from last year's 5.7/13 (10.0 million) for the final 75 minutes of the telecast while the rain interrupted portion averaged a 3.6/8 with 5.5 million viewers.

To put that rating in better perspective, Sunday's nearly four hour rain delay easily outdelivered most sports events for the entire weekend, including the three NHL Postseason games on NBC. Season-to-date, NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on FOX is averaging a 5.0/11 with 8.2 million viewers. That's flat with last year's season-to-date performance of a 5.0/11 with 8.4 million viewers. NASCAR on FOX currently ranks as the highest-rated and most-watched sport in season.

05/07/13 Even with rain delaying the finish into primetime, overnights for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race from Talladega were the lowest since FOX began televising the race in 2001.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 from Talladega (AL) earned a 4.4 overnight rating on FOX Sunday, down 6% from last year (4.7), and down 4% from 2011 (4.6). The 4.4 overnight is the lowest for the race since it moved to FOX in 2001.

Sunday’s overnight only includes race action from 1:15-3:15 PM ET and 7:00-8:15 PM. Rain-delay coverage was excluded.

As one of the higher-profile races on the Sprint Cup calendar, it should be no surprise that Talladega earned NASCAR’s highest overnight in six weeks — since the Auto Club 500 from Fontana in late March (4.5).

Overall, the 4.4 overnight is tied as the fourth-highest of the season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, trailing only Fontana, Phoenix (5.3) and Daytona (10.0).

NASCAR earned the third-largest overnight of the weekend for a sporting event on broadcast, trailing only a Pacers/Knicks NBA playoff game on ABC (4.9) and the Kentucky Derby on NBC (10.4).

05/06/13 Despite a 3.5-hour weather delay on Sunday, Fox finished with a 4.4 overnight for its coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Series Aaron’s 499 from Talladega Superspeedway.