If NASCAR is looking for a way to rescue its flagging ratings, perhaps moving races from cable to broadcast TV could do the trick.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Bristol (Tenn.) earned a 2.3 rating and 3.8 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, up 10% in ratings and 6% in viewership from 2015 on NBCSN (2.1, 3.6M). Last year’s race was postponed due to rain, earning a 1.5 and 2.7 million on a Sunday afternoon.
Kyle Busch‘s win was just the second Cup Series race all season to post an increase in ratings, joining the Brickyard 400. Both of those races moved from NBCSN to the NBC broadcast network. It was the fourth race to post an increase in viewership, joining the Brickyard 400, Daytona 500 and Texas.
Despite the increase, Saturday’s race exceeds only 2015 as the lowest rated edition of the race since 1998 and the least-watched since 2000. Compared to the last time the race aired on broadcast TV, 2014 on ABC, ratings fell 28% from 3.2 and viewership 25% from 5.1 million.
For the weekend, NASCAR was the highest rated and most-watched sporting event on any network — marking the sixth time in eight weeks that it has topped the charts.
NBC is now averaging a 2.2 rating and 3.6 million viewers for NASCAR coverage this season, up 11% in both measures from the same eight races last year — which included two rainouts. Excluding those rainouts, NBC’s eight-race average is down 12% from last year’s six comparable races (4.1M).
[Wknd. numbers via Programming Insider 8.22, NBC Sports Group Press Box 8.22]
