TV Times

TV Times – NASCAR TV Ratings Continue Downward Death Spiral

Monday, May 11, 2009 1,031 reads
Lou Modestino

NASCAR on Fox posted a 3.7/7 for primetime racing from Richmond, off -12 percent from last year’s 4.2/8. FOX’s 3.6/7 primetime average was just good enough to win the night, edging out second-place NBC’s 3.5/6, CBS’ 3.4/6, and ABC’s 2.5/5. For the season-to-date, NASCAR On FOX is averaging a 4.7/10, down -15 percent from last year’s 5.5/11.

This came from the jayski.com and stockcargazette.com webpages.

According to the MikeMulhurn.com webpage, the Fox TV brass don’t have a clue as to what’s happening to the viewers! We have an idea, though. The fans would get excited about a good feud, Take for example Kyle Busch. He’s the perfect villain and can get the young and the old fans riled up. But, nobody’s really challenged him? Compounding the problem is NASCAR constantly threatens the drivers with retribution such as penalties if they misbehave on the track. NASCAR racing is in the entertainment business, pure and simple. And things have not been entertaining on the track.

Here’s something else. The old time fans feel tuned out. As we have said before, NASCAR blundered when they chased away the old guard viewers in favor of getting the new younger crowd. Let’s face facts. The younger crowd can’t really afford the best tickets in the house. The question is, would they still go if they could buy the tickets? And why are they not watching it on TV? Some will tell you that it’s a short attention span. The younger crowd, as fickle as they are, deserted NASCAR.

There’s also the Saturday night racing issue. Saturday is date and party night so that’s where the young crowd go. Furthermore even the older crowd block out Saturday night for entertainment. Even when people are home on Saturday there’s always something to watch on the tube not necessarily racing. Another thing to consider is a dull race on a Saturday night and the viewer will switch to something else. All that puts NASCAR in a real bind. They don’t know how to get the old guard back and they haven’t a clue on how to motivate the younger viewers to return. We think they should have left everything alone and stayed with Sunday afternoon races.

Another point here. There’s too much technical but not enough basic information on the TV broadcasts. The tech info should be directed to the new fans. In the case of Fox’s DW, he explains what’s going on the track from a technical point of view and that’s good. With the exception of last weekend’s win by Mark Martin, the NASCAR Cup races have been predictable. When that happens it means that the show is stale.

We base part of our hypothesis on the following. We know of a group of over 50-year old race fans that couldn’t wait until the Daytona 500 came on to the TV screen in years past. Recently, this same group could care less about the Daytona 500 and any other subsequent races. We can recall reading several fan forums, in the past years and the biggest complaint was that NASCAR didn’t need them(old time fans) anymore. At the same time, NASCAR was moving races out of the southeast and starting the races later in the day to insure that the finish would be in prime time. We also recall there were complaints about some of the anchor booth announcers. They constantly spout the party line and stay away from controversy. It isn’t just one or two issues but a number of them making things go wrong. We have to say that NASCAR and the TV networks have a major problem on their hands. The situation now is that they have to sort it all out and go from there. We wish them well. We can understand that the ailing economy is the culprit in trying to sell tickets. With most of NASCAR’s races airing on the free TV, not cable, the ratings should be higher.

To preview the 2009 Indianapolis 500, the race’s 33 qualified drivers will again visit New York City on Monday, May 18 for an annual photo and interview opportunity. The 33 drivers, in Race Day uniform with helmets, will line up in the traditional Indianapolis 500 line up – 11 rows of three – for a photo in Herald Square, the area made famous by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Following the photo opportunity, all drivers will be available for interviews during a media luncheon at the “Indy 500 Lookspace.”

The Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 24 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race is the fourth event on the 2009 IndyCar Series schedule.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has said he will protect Ferrari in its row with FIA president Max Mosley over budget caps, reports UK newspaper The Times.

Ferrari president Luca de Montezemolo said last week that the budget cap could damage the sport. Mosley responded over the weekend that, although it would be sad to them, Formula One could survive without the Italian team.

The Times newspaper reports that Ecclestone has said he would not let Mosley “destroy” Ferrari, as some think is his intention. “I won’t let that happen,” said Ecclestone. The Times reports that Ecclestone said a £40 million season budget cap set by the FIA last week was likely to go up as “horse-trading” around rules and the future of the sport continue. This item came from SportsBusinessInternational.

Here’s another one from SportsBusinessInternational. The organizers of the new GP3 motor-racing series, which will begin in 2010, have announced details of the car and tires to be used. Autosport.com reports that the organizers said the design and development of the car by manufacturer Dallara, was on schedule. It will powered by an engine developed by Renault in its Viry-Chatillon factory. Italian tire-maker Pirelli will provide the tires, marking its return to open-wheel racing.

And even more from SportsBusiness International. GP3 boss Bruno Michel said, “We based the GP3 Series on the GP2 Series successful philosophy: produce a competitive car, create a cost effective series, racing alongside the Formula One calendar and providing an exciting show.”

The inaugural North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place this December 8 and 9 in Orlando, Florida. Swiss company IM2 Events in partnership with Just Marketing International is organizing the conference. IM2 Events has organized similar conferences in Europe and the Middle East. In a press release, the organizers said that the event would focus on the commercial side of motorsport, and attendees could expect presentations from leaders of major players in the North American industry including NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, ALMS and Grand-Am Road Racing.

The North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place at the Hilton Orlando, which hosts the Performance Racing Industry Show (PRI) on the three days immediately after – December 10 to 12. The PRI show is the world’s largest racing trade show, featuring 1450 companies and around 40,000 buyers and attendees from 61 countries.

The inaugural North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place this December 8 and 9 in Orlando, Florida. Swiss company IM2 Events in partnership with Just Marketing International is organizing the conference. IM2 Events has organized similar conferences in Europe and the Middle East.

In a press release, the organizers said that the event would focus on the commercial side of motorsport, and attendees could expect presentations from leaders of major players in the North American industry including NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, ALMS and Grand-Am Road Racing.

The North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place at the Hilton Orlando, which hosts the Performance Racing Industry Show (PRI) on the three days immediately after – December 10 to 12. The PRI show is the world’s largest racing trade show, featuring 1450 companies and around 40,000 buyers and attendees from 61 countries.

The inaugural North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place this December 8 and 9 in Orlando, Florida. Swiss company IM2 Events in partnership with Just Marketing International is organizing the conference. IM2 Events has organized similar conferences in Europe and the Middle East.

In a press release, the organizers said that the event would focus on the commercial side of motorsport, and attendees could expect presentations from leaders of major players in the North American industry including NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, ALMS and Grand-Am Road Racing.

The North American Motor Sport Business Forum will take place at the Hilton Orlando, which hosts the Performance Racing Industry Show (PRI) on the three days immediately after – December 10 to 12. The PRI show is the world’s largest racing trade show, featuring 1450 companies and around 40,000 buyers and attendees from 61 countries.

Various reports tell of Roger Penske may be interested in buying the Saturn brand from the ailing GM. If it happens, somewhere down the road Roger could bring that marquee into racing. Because he’s very racing oriented. We won’t do any predictions now because it’s much to early in the game.

Yes, He Really Said That-John Darby, Sprint Cup series director, on reducing the banking at Daytona and Talladega. “I think there’s more value in continuing the efforts, our safety efforts at those tracks, than turning those two very historical, very exciting racetracks into flat parking lots.” An insightful comment from the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter.

Here’s a sketch of what’s happening on TV for motorsports this week. NASCAR Now airs on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. At 8 p.m. on Thursday Dave Despain hosts an All-Star Special from Lowes Motor Speedway at 8 p.m. on Speed which will be followed by the Sprint Cup Pit Crew Contest at 9 p.m.

The racing picks up momentum starting at 9 a.m. with NASCAR Camping World Practice on Speed from Lowes. Speed returns at noon with Sprint Cup Practice on that same channel. Camping World Truck Practice goes again at 3:30 p.m. from that same track. Speed continues on at 9 p.m. with the Camping World Truck race.

Saturday gets an early start at 10 a.m. with ESPN offering NASCAR Now. VS kicks in at noon with IRL Indy 500 Qualifying. Speed airs NASCAR RaceDay from Lowe’s at 4 p.m. ESPN2 offers NHRA Qualifying from Bristol at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m. Speed and TSN each air the NASCAR Sprint All Star race from Charlotte at 7 p.m. with Victory Lane on Speed will follow at 11 p.m.

Here’s Sunday’s lineup which has VS airing more IRL Indy 500 Qualifying at noon. Also at noon Speed airs the FIM 250 Motorcycle GP of France followed by the FIM MotoGP at 1 p.m. Speed continues on with the biker action offering the FIM Superbikes at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. from South Africa. Then that channel will switch to the Grand Am action from Laguna Seca, CA 4 p.m. ESPN2 airs the NHRA Finals from Bristol at 7 p.m. at the same time Speed broadcasts the Speed Report with NASCAR Victory Lane from Charlotte at 8 p.m. (END)

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.