A weekend of increases for FOX was highlighted by a 4.3/8 that Saturday night for Sprint Cup racing from Darlington. Saturday night’s 4.3/8 is an 8 percent gain over last year’s 4.0/8 for the Darlington race, which ran on Sunday afternoon due to rain. FOX’s 4.3/8 for the night was good enough to narrowly win the Primetime battle. CBS was second with a 4.2/8. FOX’s slight margin in the overnights will likely grow when national ratings are released.
After a brief mid-season swoon, NASCAR On Fox now appears to be back on track, as Fox’s last three races have each posted year-to-year increases in the metered markets. For the season-to-date, NASCAR on Fox is averaging a 5.4/11 in the overnights, a tenth better than last year’s 5.3/11 (plus 2 percent). FOX’s next race is the Coca-Cola 600 this Memorial Day weekend – will be the last race of this season to count toward the year-to-year comparison because last year’s Dover race was rained out, run on a Monday. This report came from the Jayski.com webpage.
Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone said he would like to introduce a grand prix on the streets of Paris to replace the French grand prix at Magny-Cours. He told French newspaper L’Equipe that 2008 would be the last year Magny-Cours would host a grand prix, but said he was hopeful of finding a new venue for the event, which he would ideally like to stage on the streets of Paris.
“We agreed that there would be a French grand prix at Magny-Cours in 2008 but not in 2009,” said Ecclestone. “(French) prime minister Francois Fillon told me we would then see if we could have a grand prix in Paris or just outside but that would not necessarily be for 2009, rather for 2010. In any case, 2008 will be the last time we continue like this.” Magny-Cours suffers from poor access and insufficient accommodation, which have led to weak attendances. This report came from SportsBusiness.com.
Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, is set to sign a $20 million personal sponsorship deal with sportswear manufacturer Reebok based in Canton, MA. The deal, which is yet to be finalized or confirmed, is believed to be similar to the British sportswear brand’s ‘global brand ambassador’ agreements with footballers Thierry Henry and Andrei Shevchenko and boxer Amir Khan. This information came from SportsBusiness.com.
McLaren, which does not usually allow its drivers to seek personal sponsors, is believed to have made an exception in this case because Hamilton is “one of the sport’s most marketable stars”. Reebok is owned by German sports company, Adidas.
Let’s check to see what’s on the tube this very busy Memorial Day weekend, with some wall-to-all coverage. In all, Memorial Day Weekend is the busiest of the season. It starts off on Thursday with Speed offering F1 Practice from Monte Carlo. At 1 p.m. Speed comes back with Nationwide Series Practice from Lowe’s followed by Sprint Cup Practice at 3 p.m. and Nationwide Final Practice at 6 p.m. then Sprint Cup Qualifying at 7 p.m. Friday has ESPN2 airing the Indy 500 Carb Day and the Indy 500 Pit Stop Contest at 11 a.m. Then a Same Day Delay WoO race from Lowe’s at 8 p.m. on Speed.
Saturday picks up the momentum with TSN and Speed airing F1 Qualifying from Monte Carlo at 8 a.m. At 12:30 p.m. Speed airs the Craftsman Truck event from Mansfield, Ohio followed by Nationwide Qualifying from Lowe’s at 3:30 p.m. then it’s NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Final Practice at Lowe’s. ESPN2 airs the Indy 500 Festival Parade at 5 p.m. followed by Ready To Race-The Indy 500 at 6:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. ESPN2/TSN offers the NASCAR Nationwide Series from Lowe’s.
Sunday gets off to an early start with the GP2 race from Monte Carlo at 6 a.m. on Speed. At 7:30 a.m. it’s the F1 event from Monaco on Speed/RDS/TSN. ESPN2/TSN comes back at 11 a.m. with the Indy 500 Pre-Race Show. Speed returns at 5 p.m. with NASCAR RaceDay with Fox/TSN kicking in with the Coca Cola 600 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway at 5 p.m. Monday has Speed airing the Grand-Am Rolex event from Lime Rock Park in Conn. at 2 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
