Why we love us some racin' at the N&R
Nascar Nextel Delivers Record Rating
October 17, 2005
By John Consoli
Mediaweek
NBC's broadcast of the NASCAR Nextel Cup race on Saturday night (Oct. 15) was the highest overnight rating ever for the televised event.
The race --from Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.-- delivered a 4.8 overnight rating and 8 share, up from a 4.6/8 last year, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The top-rated local markets were Greensboro, Greenville and Charlotte, N.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Indianapolis.
-30-
(emphasis mine)
Everyone seems to think it was the worst race ever.
But if you're getting a paycheck from NASCAR, the odor of blown tires is really the smell of money.
And the Greensboro thing? This TV market, which includes Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem and points all around the compass, always leads the ratings. It's as sure as the sun rising in the east and Kyle Petty being O-for-the-21st century.
Hat tip to my boss' boss for remembering we exist over here.
Comments (3)
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It will be interesting to see what the final ratings will be. For the Kansas event the overnights had a slight decrease over 2004.
When the full report came out it was a 7 percent increase over 2004.
Posted on October 19, 2005 9:47 AM
My guess, Marc, is that you'll see an increase for the season. That's been the general trend all season
On a related topic, I'm thinking the rumored move from NBC to ABC/ESPN will be a good thing for the sport. ABC is the second-highest-rated network behind CBS (in prime time, at least; go here for more numbers). So maybe ABC can use some of its prime-time mojo to pimp racin'. I'm not sure if "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" fans will migrate to the races on Sunday afternoons, but you never know.
And ESPN is ESPN. If you're looking for sports fans, you can't do better than that. Sorry, TNT, but that's a fact, jack.
Best of all, maybe this will spell the end to ESPN's poker fascination. It's the most boring quote-unquote sport on TV, and I'm including figure skating and bowling in my definition of "quote-unquote sport."
Posted on October 19, 2005 10:19 AM
John, you found the Tar Heels chasing Louisvile up and down the field two weeks ago to be more exciting? It's a good thing that wasn't broadcast, the latest Popeil infomercial would get higher ratings than the Heels.
Enjoyed Dustin's article on Morgan-McClure the other day. Those are far more interesting than the latests rants by Hendrick and Roush.
Posted on October 19, 2005 10:41 AM