Recent sports TV ratings news, including NASCAR and IndyCar iRacing, weekend encores, “ESPN 8: The Ocho” and E:60.
NASCAR iRacing ties low
Last Sunday’s NASCAR iRacing simulation of Dover averaged 903,000 viewers across FOX and FS1, per Sports Business Daily reporter Adam Stern — down 27% from Talladega the previous week (1.24M) and tied as the smallest audience for the esports series (seven telecasts).
In other iRacing action, last Saturday’s IndyCar simulation of Indianapolis averaged 141,000 on NBCSN.
Derby programming tops weekend on broadcast
NBC averaged a 0.65 rating and 981,000 viewers for a three-hour block of Kentucky Derby-related programming last Saturday, leading the weekend’s sports offerings on broadcast TV. The Derby itself has been postponed until September. The “race portion” of the telecast, which featured a re-air of American Pharoah’s 2015 win and a simulated race between historic Triple Crown winners, averaged 1.6 million per Sports Business Daily.
Elsewhere last weekend, a primetime re-air of February’s Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl 54 averaged a 0.55 rating and 807,000 viewers on FOX last Saturday. FOX also averaged a 0.37 and 512,000 for the 1996 NFC Championship Game (Packers-Cowboys) the following day.
In other action, ABC averaged a 0.46 and 654,000 for Game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals (Lakers-Pistons: 0.46, 654K) and a 0.43 and 635,000 for Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals (Mavericks-Heat: 0.43, 635K) on Sunday afternoon.
Deadlift leads “Ocho” block
Leading off another block of “ESPN 8: The Ocho” programming, a live world record deadlift attempt by Hafthor Bjornsson averaged a 0.22 rating and 302,000 viewers on ESPN last Saturday. It was the ESPN’s most-watched program of the day.
ESPN also averaged 243,000 for death diving, 201,000 for lawn mower racing, 172,000 for robot fighting, 171,000 for sign spinning, 170,000 for cherry pit spitting, 164,000 for stone skipping, 138,000 for dodge juggling and 121,000 for Tetris.
Smith E:60 up big from show’s previous episode
The premiere of an ESPN E:60 special about NFL QB Alex Smith’s recovery from a 2018 broken leg averaged a 0.33 rating and 517,000 viewers last Friday night — a 79% increase in viewership over the show’s previous original episode last month (289K). Keep in mind the previous episode debuted at Noon ET on a Saturday.
Even with the jump, it was not ESPN’s top program of the night. An airing of the Disney movie “Secretariat” averaged a 0.40 and 628,000.
[Nielsen estimates from Adam Stern/Twitter 5.5 a, b; Sports Business Daily 5.6; ShowBuzz Daily 5.5 a, b; Programming Insider 5.4]
