Tour de France viewership pulled about even with last year. In other news, the NHRA had a slight dip on FOX last weekend, and NASCAR went two-for-two with increases at the Brickyard.
Tour de France Viewership on Par With Last Year
- Live coverage of the Tour de France averaged approximately 331,000 viewers on NBC and NBCSN, up 3% from last year, but down 16% from 2015 (395K). NBC’s lone live telecast was the top draw with 845,000 viewers, while NBCSN topped out at 435,000 for last Sunday’s final stage. Including encores, the most-watched telecast was a replay of Stage 20 on NBC last Saturday, which had a 0.7 rating and 1.1 million viewers — up 75% in ratings and 74% in viewership from last year (0.4, 620K).
NHRA Dips on FOX
- Last Sunday’s NHRA Denver eliminations earned 868,000 viewers on FOX, down 4% from last year (902K) but up 67% from 2015, when coverage was tape delayed on ESPN2 (519K). The race faced tougher NASCAR competition than last year, with Brickyard 400 viewership up 8% on NBC.
Brickyard Xfinity Race Up on NBCSN
- NASCAR Xfinity Series racing from the Brickyard earned a 1.1 rating and 1.7 million viewers on NBCSN last Saturday, up a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.6M) but down 29% and 28% respectively from 2015 on the NBC broadcast network (1.6, 2.3M). It was the most-watched Xfinity Series race on cable since the season-opener at Daytona (2.3M).
[Numbers from NBC Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 7.25]
