ESPN earned solid numbers for NASCAR from Atlanta last weekend, but still hit a ten-year low.
Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup AdvoCare 500 from Atlanta drew a 3.2 U.S. rating and 5.3 million viewers on ESPN, down 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from both last year (3.4, 5.6M) and 2010 (3.4, 5.5M). The 2011 race was postponed due to rain.
Excluding rainouts, this marks the lowest rated and least-viewed edition of the fall Atlanta race since 2003 (3.1, 4.7M).
Five of the last six NASCAR races have either been the lowest rated or second-lowest rated in at least a decade. The only exception was the August 24 Irwin Tools Night Race from Bristol (TN), which tied a 14-year high on broadcast network ABC.
Despite the ten-year low, Sunday’s race was the third-highest rated and third-most viewed program of the week on cable, topping all college football games.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN)
