NASCAR Fontana TV ratings continue downward slide

UPDATE #2 That 3.6 final rating is the lowest TV rating for a NASCAR race at California's Auto Club Speedway in several years. But the good news is the California ratings are the best in the first four chase races, following a 3.2 at Loudon, NH, a 3.1 at Dover, Del., and a 3.2 at Kansas City.

However all those ratings are down from 2008 and 2007. This year's chase TV ratings are averaging 3.3; the first four chase races last year averaged a 3.6 TV rating, and the first four chase races in 2007 also averaged 3.6. So this year's chase on TV has ratings down are down nearly 10 percent from last year.

That 3.6 last Sunday at California may perhaps not directly comparable to the 2008 race, which was run Labor Day weekend and pulled a 3.9. The 2007 California Labor Day weekend race pulled a 4.3. (For comparison, the Atlanta 500 was run that weekend this year and pulled a 4.1.)

The February California 500 in 2007 pulled a 6.7, in 2008 a 6.2, and in 2009 a 6.0.
The Charlotte 500 was run the second weekend in October in 2007 and 2008, and that Saturday night event pulled a 4.2 in 2007 and a 3.8 in 2008.

10/16/09 ABC's live coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 11, earned a final national household rating of 3.6, the highest rating so far this season in four races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The telecast averaged 5,952,978 viewers. There are no direct comparisons to 2008 as the race was previously run Labor Day weekend and aired on ESPN. ESPN2's live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Fontana on Saturday, Oct. 10, earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.1, averaging 1,406,452 viewers. The race was run Labor Day weekend in 2008 and also earned a 1.1 rating on ESPN2.

10/12/09 ABC's broadcast of Sunday's Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Auto Club Speedway in California earned a 3.0 overnight Nielsen Media Research rating from the nation's largest television markets, Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports. The figure isn't directly comparable a 2008 event since the Cup series raced at Charlotte on the same weekend last year, earning a 3.5 overnight rating, but it was the highest overnight rating for any of the first four races this season in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. ABC had earned 2.5 overnight for the Chase kickoff in New Hampshire, 2.7 for Dover and 2.6 for Kansas. Auto Club Speedway was hosting a Chase race for the first time by virtue of a date swap with Atlanta. SceneDaily