Mid-Year NASCAR Driver TV Exposure
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| When it comes to TV exposure Kyle Busch is king |
Kyle Busch was mentioned more often and collected the most on-screen time, verbal references and exposure value for his sponsors than any other driver during race telecasts chronicling the first half of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. — which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast over the last 27 seasons — Busch’s sponsors as a group appeared for 12 hours, 31 minutes, seven seconds (12:31:07) during live and replayed telecasts of the season’s first 18 races. When also factoring in verbal mentions (142) of Busch’s sponsors, the Cup Series points-leader at mid-year amassed nearly $38.4 million of in-broadcast exposure value for his backing brands.
Joyce Julius calculates television exposure value by comparing the in-broadcast visual and verbal exposure to the estimated cost of a national commercial during the telecast and applying Joyce Julius Recognition Grading — which takes into account such factors as size and placement of the image on screen, as well as brand clutter and integration of the brand into the activity.
Fox and TNT race announcers also mentioned Busch by name on 2,722 occasions during the first half of the season, or about 36% more frequently than the next closest competitor, Carl Edwards.
Edwards, who ranked fifth in overall sponsor exposure, did manage to surpass Busch in the number of TV interviews (29 compared to 23) and total interview time (0:30:46 versus 0:29:57).
Fan favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., despite receiving nearly half as many announcer mentions as Busch, garnered the second highest cumulative exposure value total for his sponsors with a showing of more than $26.5 million.
| . | Mid-Year | Sponsor Exp. | Verbal | Recognition Grade | Driver | Interview | Driver |
| Driver | Points | Time | Mentions | Exposure Value | Interviews | Durations | Mentions |
| 1) Ky. Busch | 1st | 12:31:07 | 142 | $38,365,530 | 23 | 0:29:57 | 2,722 |
| 2) Dale Jr. | 8th | 7:41:32 | 26 | $26,581,600 | 12 | 0:16:27 | 1,412 |
| 3) J. Johnson | 5th | 10:28:12 | 49 | $24,392,355 | 13 | 0:11:06 | 1,903 |
| 4) J. Gordon | 7th | 8:04:27 | 53 | $21,587,070 | 15 | 0:16:53 | 1,811 |
| 5) K. Harvick | 3rd | 7:28:03 | 130 | $21,065,590 | 17 | 0:13:10 | 1,522 |
| 6) C. Edwards | 2nd | 7:55:26 | 137 | $20,734,390 | 29 | 0:30:46 | 2,003 |
| 7) Ku. Busch | 4th | 8:06:56 | 80 | $19,170,505 | 14 | 0:11:04 | 1,594 |
| 8) T. Stewart | 11th | 7:31:55 | 15 | $17,915,005 | 8 | 0:05:23 | 1,588 |
| 9) D. Hamlin | 10th | 6:43:36 | 53 | $17,008,400 | 13 | 0:12:40 | 1,647 |
| 10) M. Kenseth | 6th | 5:41:28 | 43 | $13,905,700 | 13 | 0:09:12 | 1,506 |
Rankings are based on the cumulative Recognition Grade® exposure value associated with each driver, calculated during live and replay telecasts of the first 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events of 2011.