A move from broadcast to cable virtually guaranteed a decline in NASCAR ratings last weekend.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs from Kansas delivered a 1.7 rating and 2.8 million viewers on NBCSN last Sunday, down 19% in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year (2.1, 3.4M) and down 31% and 32% respectively from 2015 (2.5, 4.0M), both of which aired on the NBC broadcast network.
Martin Truex Jr.‘s win, which peaked with 3.6 million viewers from 6:30-6:45 PM ET, delivered the lowest rating in the 16-year history of the race. It was the least-watched edition of the race since at least 2001. The previous lows were set last year.
The last time the race aired on cable, 2014 on ESPN, it had a 2.3 and 3.6 million.
Kansas was the 25th of 31 races this season to at least tie an all-time or decade-plus ratings low and the 23rd to do so in viewership. Overall, 26 races have declined from the previous year — with 19 down double-digits in one or both measures.
Despite the now-customary lows, Sunday’s race was the most-watched on cable since Darlington on Labor Day weekend (1.8, 3.1M) and avoided the historic depths seen earlier in the fall — when NBCSN aired the four lowest rated Cup Series races since at least 2000.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 10.24]
