NASCAR Nationwide Phoenix Race Ratings up 50%

News release from ESPN, who thinks ratings ARE YOUR BUSINESS ...

Moving from night to day and earlier in the schedule paid off for Phoenix International Raceway with a 50 percent jump in TV ratings for its NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

ESPN2’s live telecast of the Saturday, Feb. 26, NASCAR Nationwide Series 200-mile race from Phoenix earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.5, a 50 percent increase from the 1.0 rating the past two years when the race was run on a Friday night in late April. Saturday’s telecast averaged 2,116,672 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company.

On the same weekend last year, the NASCAR Nationwide Series had a 300-mile race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. That race aired on ESPN2 and earned a 1.7 rating.

Comments

[The Speedgeek]

I wonder how much of that uptick is due to the Danica factor (or whatever driver you might pick), how much is due to people being desparate to watch ANY racing that is on, since it's been months and months since anything's been on (plus the momentum from Daytona the previous weekend), and how much of that is due to the switch from Friday evening in April (when the weather is decent and people are likely out of the house) to Saturday afternoon in February (when the weather is crappy in big chunks of the country and everybody is just looking for something to watch). Interesting to ponder, I guess, but I think it'll be more interesting to see if Nationbusch can maintain these types of ratings past a month or so from now.

[pressdog]

Agree with all of that, Geek. I watched because Danica was involved, it was cold outside here in Iowa and there was exactly ZERO else on the tube that interested me. I found the race quite dull, honestly. Hardly a ringing endorsement. When competition for things to do ramps, we'll see how Nationbusch fairs.

[Dex]

So the year on year ratings comparing last year's Nationwide race on the same day saw a decrease of .2 and yet ESPN somehow spin this as a ratings win?

Good on them for thinking we are all gobshites!

[best drivers]

It is an interesting thoughts because I it would be more interesting to see if can maintain Nationbusch past month or so from now on the ratings of these types.