Year one of NASCAR on Prime Video is thus far playing out much like the streamer’s debut of Thursday Night Football three years ago, with viewership down double-digits overall — but up double-digits in the key young adult demographics.
NASCAR Cup Series racing on Amazon Prime Video has averaged 2.27 million viewers through three races (Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan), down 21% from last year’s three equivalent races on FOX and FS1 (Charlotte, St. Louis and Sonoma), which averaged 2.88 million. All figures are per the new Nielsen “big data” metric.
While down more than a fifth overall, viewership is up nearly a third among adults 18-34 (from 177K to 233K), 11% among adults 18-49 (from 475K to 600K) and 21% among adults 25-54 (from 642K to 706K). By comparison, viewership among adults 55+ is down 40% from 2.03 million last year to 1.21 million this year.
The trend is similar to year one of Thursday Night Football, which declined 28% from the previous year on FOX — while nonetheless posting an 11% increase in adults 18-34.
Races on Prime Video continue to average a lower median age — 56.5 — than those on FOX and FS1 this season (62.8) and the three equivalent races on those networks last season (63.3).
This past weekend, racing from Michigan averaged 1.77 million — marking in all probability the least-watched Cup Series race of the season. “Big Data” figures were not publicized for races on FOX and FS1 this season, but all of those networks’ traditional “panel only” numbers were higher. After debuting with 2.72 million for the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte, Prime Video has seen its audience decline in successive weeks.
Viewership was down sharply from Sonoma on FOX the same weekend last year, which drew a panel-only audience of 2.90 million. This time around, FOX aired the UEFA Nations League Final and outdrew NASCAR with 1.98 million.
