A new format created social media buzz, but little in the way of ratings, for NASCAR’s All-Star Race.
The 2016 NASCAR All-Star Race had a 2.0 final rating and 3.3 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 Saturday night, down 5% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (2.1, 3.8M) and down 9% and 5%, respectively, from 2014 (2.2, 3.5M).
The 2.0 rating is the lowest for the All-Star Race since at least 1999, falling below the previous mark set last year. Viewership was also the lowest in at least ten years (complete viewership data prior to 2007 was not immediately available).
The All-Star Race earned the third-lowest rating and viewership for any Sprint Cup telecast this season, ahead of only Kansas two weeks earlier (1.9, 3.1M) and Daytona 500 qualifying on FOX in February (1.7, 2.8M).
Head-to-head, it trailed the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN (3.3, 5.5M) but the NHL conference finals on NBC (1.4, 2.3M) and — notably — Major League Baseball on the FOX broadcast network (1.4, 2.2M). It also topped the NHL and MLB telecasts in adults 18-49.
(Sat. numbers via Programming Insider)
