NASCAR TV ratings continue to tumble

UPDATE #2 Correction: The final rating for last weekend's NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Atlanta was a 3.7 (not 4.0 as previously reported), which means the final rating was down 21.3% from last year's 4.8 final rating.

11/09/07 NASCAR CEO Brian France said there won’t be many changes for 2008, but maybe he should take a second looking at the TV ratings. Viewers for last week’s Pep Boys 500 were down almost 20 percent from 2006, and that 4.0 national rating wasn’t very impressive, even less so considering last year’s fall race drew a 4.8. ABC has this year’s Chase telecasts, and NBC had the Chase from 2004 through 2006. When pressed last fall about slumping TV ratings, France blamed NBC, in the last year of its contract, for not adequately promoting the sport. This year, however, ABC-ESPN has done an amazing job of promotion. If the sport’s ratings are down, and it’s not because of lack of promotion, then it must be something else. Winston Salem Journal

11/06/07 UPDATE 'Final' TV ratings for the Oct. 28 Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway were down 17 percent from a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. The race drew a 4.0 national rating on ABC, down from a 4.8 received in 2006 when the race was broadcast on NBC.

The broadcast of the NASCAR Busch Series race from Memphis, Tenn., received a 1.2 rating on ESPN2, down from a 1.6 received in 2006 when the event was broadcast on NBC. Speed Channel's broadcast of the Craftsman Truck Series race from Atlanta received a 0.6 rating, the same as one year ago.

As we have stated on numerous occasions, NASCAR has oversaturated the media market with NASCAR TV shows and other media everywhere you turn. In addition, by bringing in foreign drivers NASCAR is turning off the Xenophobic fan base that made it so popular. The Car of Yesterday (Yes, yesterday because the new car has 100% technology of 30 years ago) IROC-style kit-car with decals to change it from one brand to another Americans are saying 'enough-already' and are clicking NASCAR off with disgust by the millions.

And if NASCAR thinks the foreign drivers are going to enable it to sell its brand worldwide, think again. Open wheel fans view F1 as the pinnacle and any ex-F1 driver in NASCAR is considered a washed-up has-been. Even Juan Montoya, who got eaten alive by Kimi Raikkonen at McLaren, is considered inferior.

11/05/07ABC's broadcast of Sunday's Dickies 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway earned a 3.6 overnight Nielsen Media Research rating, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports. The figure is 10 percent lower than the 4.0 NBC earned overnight for the race in 2006.