Martinsville TV ratings tank

UPDATE Fox’s broadcast of last Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway earned a final Nielsen Media Research rating of 4.6 and a 10 market share, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports. The rating is 13.2 percent lower than the 5.3 Fox earned for the race in 2008.

03/30/09 NASCAR on Fox charted a 4.1/9 on Sunday for the race from Martinsville Speedway. That matches last weekend's Bristol rating, but it's down -16% compared to last year's 4.9/10 for the Martinsville race. Early tune-in, while down -10% (3.8/9 vs. 4.2/10), was a little better than in recent weeks. The race rating grew by +35% from start-to-finish, which is a normal in-race build. The Martinsville race faced formidable competition from both the NCAA Tournament (5.9/13 early, 7.7/15 late) and the Bay Hill Invitational (4.9/10), which was won by Tiger Woods. Season-to-date, NASCAR On FOX is averaging a 5.3/11 in the overnights, -15% off last year's pace (6.2/12). FOX PR