The lows continue for NASCAR.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Richmond (Va.) earned a 2.9 final rating and 4.6 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, down 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (3.1, 4.7M) and down 12% in both measures from 2015, when coverage aired in the same Sunday window — but as a make-up race after a Saturday night postponement (3.3, 5.2M).
The 2.9 rating is tied as the lowest for the spring Richmond race since 2001 (2.6), matching 2004 (2.9). Those races aired on cable network FX. Viewership was the lowest for the race since at least 2004.
Ratings and viewership have now declined for six of the eight NASCAR Cup Series races this year (excludes rainouts), the lone exceptions being Texas in early April (flat in ratings, +4% in viewership) and the Daytona 500 (flat, +5%). All eight races this season have declined from 2015.
Despite the lower numbers, Sunday’s race trailed only the Jazz-Clippers NBA playoff game as the highest rated and most-watched sporting event of the weekend. It ranked fourth in adults 18-49. Its 0.9 rating in the demo topped three of the five primetime originals on FOX Sunday night, behind The Simpsons (1.0) and Family Guy (1.2).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 5.2)
