It was another week of multi-year lows for NASCAR, but overnight ratings fell only slightly from last year.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Martinsville, Va., pulled a 2.1 overnight rating on Fox Sports 1 Sunday afternoon, down a tick from last year (2.2), down 16% from 2015 (2.5), and the lowest overnight for the race since at least 2002.
Though overnights were the lowest in at least 15 years, the 5% decline is a marked improvement over the previous two weeks, when overnights fell 17%.
Keep in mind that lower overnights do not necessarily guarantee lower final nationals. Last year’s race declined 12% in the metered markets (from 2.5 to 2.2) but finished with a 4% increase in the final tally (from 2.4 to 2.5).
Head-to-head, NASCAR on FS1 still topped the NBA on ABC (1.5 for Celtics-Knicks and 1.8 for Jazz-Spurs). Overnights for competing Opening Day baseball games on ESPN and PGA Tour golf on NBC were not available.
(Wknd. numbers via Adam Stern/Twitter 4.3)
