UPDATE NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on Fox earned a final 5.5/12 (8.9 million viewers) on Sunday for the Kobalt 500 from Atlanta. NASCAR ranked as the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the weekend for the fourth consecutive week. Although Sunday's rating is down -14% compared to last year's 6.4/15 (10.6 mill), it's up +6% over 2007's 5.2/12. A huge factor in the year-to-year decline was competition from the Duke-North Carolina college basketball game on CBS (2.9/6, 4.6 mill.). The Duke-UNC rating more than tripled the weak 1.1/2 delivered in the same window last year by Purdue-Michigan, and combined viewing of pro and college basketball opposite NASCAR was up by roughly two and a half million viewers. Fox got a lucky break when the final national rating for the Atlanta race came in a tenth of a point higher than the preliminary rating released on Tuesday, a rare occurrence. Men 18-34 continue to be a trouble spot for NASCAR. Ratings in that demo were down -27% (2.4 vs. 3.3) for the Atlanta race, nearly doubling the overall Household decline. One month into the season, NASCAR racing is being impacted by two disappointing trends on the track: lead changes per race are at an all-time low, while caution flags per race are near an all-time high. The season's first four points races have averaged just 14 lead changes per race. The same races a year ago averaged 30 lead changes. Through four races, NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on FOX is averaging a 6.7/13 (11.3 million viewers), down -11% from last year's 7.5/14 (12.9 mill.). NASCAR's year-to-year comparison continues to be skewed by rainouts in this year's highly-rated Daytona race and last year's lower-rated Fontana race. While it's easy to focus on the -11% year-to-year skid, it's also important to note that this season's 6.7/13 average is still more than double the rating of the NBA On ABC (2.8/6) and is greater than the combined ratings of the NBA on ABC, NCAA Basketball on CBS, and PGA Golf on all broadcasters (5.8/13 combined).
Fox PR
03/09/09 NASCAR on Fox notched a 4.7/10 yesterday for the Kobalt Tools 500 from Atlanta, easily the top sports rating of the weekend. Thanks in part to much tougher college basketball competition from CBS, yesterday's 4.7/10 is down -16% compared to last year's 5.6/12. This year's Atlanta race rating matches 2007's 4.7/10, but note that the 2007 rating came against second-round NCAA Tournament games on CBS. Metered market ratings have been a relatively weak indicator of NASCAR's national ratings this season. Through last weekend's Las Vegas race, FOX's national ratings have been an average of +6% better year-to-year than the overnight ratings comparisons. Every FOX race to date has compared more favorably to last year in the nationals than in the overnights. Through four points races, NASCAR On FOX is down -13% for the year in the metered markets (5.9/11 vs. 6.8/13). FOX PR