http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2009/09/mediocre-numbers-for-nascar-on-abc.html

NASCAR got off to a less-than-spectacular start on ABC.

Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 drew a 3.5 final rating and 5.5
million viewers on ABC, down 17% in ratings and 19% in viewers from a
4.2/8 and 6.8 million in '07 -- the last time the race aired on ABC.

Compared to last year's race, which was postponed to Sunday afternoon
and aired on ESPN, Saturday's race was up 40% and 39%, respectively,
from a 2.5 and 4 million.

The 3.5 rating for Saturday's race is tied as the second-highest for
the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 since 1999.

Final ratings for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 since '99
Ratings and shares presented for races on broadcast; U.S. rating and
cable rating (in parentheses) presented for races on cable




Year
Date
Winner
Net
Rating



2009
Sat., 9/12/09
Hamlin
ABC
3.5/-



2008
Sun., 9/7/08
Johnson
ESPN
2.5 (3.0)



2007
Sat., 9/8/07
Johnson
ABC
4.2/8



2006
Sat., 9/9/06
Harvick
TNT
3.2 (3.8)



2005
Sat., 9/10/05
Busch
TNT
3.3 (4.1)



2004
Sat., 9/11/04
Mayfield
TNT
3.5 (4.3)



2003
Sat., 9/6/03
Newman
TNT
3.1 (3.8)



2002
Sat., 9/7/02
Kenseth
TNT
3.4 (4.2)



2001
Sat., 9/8/01
Rudd
TNT
2.8 (3.5)



2000
Sat., 9/9/00
Gordon
ESPN
2.7 (3.4)



1999
Sat., 9/11/99
Stewart
ESPN
2.8 (3.6

In article TMC <tmc1982 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

It's good that there a people out there that can point these things out.
Because had I read the article, I would have thought that considering
it was the second highest ratings that they have had in 10 years,
that it was better than "mediocre"..
What was I thinkin'?

Chuck_Steak (AT) nospam (DOT) com (Chuck Steak) wrote in
news:LDqsm.2528$Jd7.879 (AT) nwrddc02 (DOT) gnilink.net:

The previous races (other than 2007,8) appear to have all been on
TNT, however. Cable channels in general, and TNT in particular,
always do worse than broadcast channels.

So the only direct comparison you can make is 2007's 4.2 versus
this year's 3.5.

Any statistician will tell you that making a judgement on a
sample size of 2 isn't going to be reliable.

OTOH, for ABC to get numbers comparable to TNT probably isn't a
good sign.

John

Chuck_Steak (AT) nospam (DOT) com (Chuck Steak) wrote in news:Rbvsm.2544$Jd7.2385
@nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

I presume advertisers have access to that sort of information
(for a suitable fee to the Neilsen folks).

What they'd really like to know, of course, is how many folks
watching the show also watch the commercials. Some recent
articles I've read say, based on data from cable boxes that
"report back", that viewers of highly rated shows tend to
channel surf during commercials more so that lower rated
shows.

OTOH, that doesn't prove the commercials on the lower rated
shows are being watched - it could be that the viewers of that
show are so disconnected they're not even paying attention to
the TV at all, let alone inspired to change channels.

John