TV News: Weekend USA Motorsports TV Ratings
The USA Motorsports TV Ratings from this past weekend that saw NASCAR at Martinsville, F1 in Suzuka, Japan in the wee hours of the morning and NHRA race its rain delayed Winternationals in Phoenix. All ratings were negatively impacted by the NCAA College Basketball playoffs
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Rating Analysis
NASCAR at Martinsville
FS1 got 2.191 million viewers for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville, nearly flat (-1.2%) from 2.218 million viewers last year on FS1
Top five markets for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race:
1) Greensboro: 3.87
2) Charlotte: 3.46
3) West Palm Beach: 1.96
4) Portland: 1.92
5) Hartford: 1.86
The NASCAR Xfinity Series at Martinsville drew a 0.49 (-6%) and 852,000 (-5%), down slightly from last year
Formula 1 Japanese GP
The only racing series that saw an increase in TV ratings from last year was F1. The Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix drew a 0.26 rating (+13%) and 484,000 (+1%) on ESPN 1:00am – 3:00am, up slightly from last year’s 0.23 and 479,000 The replay on ESPN at 7:30pm drew an additional 159,000 viewers
Formula 1 Again wins the 18-49 demographic
Despite the low viewers because the race ran in the wee hours of the morning Eastern Time, Once again the F1 race had the highest percent of viewers in the all-important 18-49 age group. F1 got 48% the other series were all below 20%
NHRA Winternationals
The rain delayed NHRA Winternationals at Pomona ran in Phoenix this past weekend and was down over 40% from last year as shown below. The Arizona Nationals showed a big increase in viewership over 2023 as it benefitted from the NASCAR Cup rebroadcast on FS1
TV Rating Data
| Network | Event | Location | Total Viewers |
18-49 Viewers |
Ratio: 18-49 Yr Old/ Total Viewers |
2024 Rating |
2023 Rating |
Rating % Chg. |
2023 Network |
2023 Viewers |
2023 18-49 Viewers |
Total Viewers % Chg |
18-49 Viewers % Chg |
| FS1 | NASCAR Cup Race | Martinsville | 2,191,000 | 436,000 | 20% | 1.20 | 1.26 | -4.76% | FS1 | 2,218,000 | 392,000 | -1.22% | +11.2% |
| FS1 | NASCAR Xfinity race | Martinsville | 852,000 | 150,000 | 18% | 0.49 | 0.52 | -5.77% | FS1 | 894,000 | 164,000 | -4.70% | -8.54% |
| FS1 | NHRA Arizona Nationals | Phoenix | 591,000 | 109,000 | 19% | 0.34 | 0.20 | +70% | FS1 | 324,000 | 49,000 | +82% | +220% |
| ESPN | F1 Japanese GP | Suzuka | 484,000 | 233,000 | 48% | 0.26 | 0.23 | +13.04% | ESPN2 | 479,000 | 254,000 | +1.04% | -8.27% |
| FS1 | NHRA Winternationals | Pomona | 329,000 | 40,000 | 12% | 0.21 | 0.36 | -41.67% | FS1 | 597,000 | 130,000 | -44.89% | -69.23% |