TV Times – Charlotte TV Ratings Down Nearly 12 Percent

Fox’s broadcast of that Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Nextel Cup race from Lowe’s Motor Speedway earned a final Nielsen Media Research rating of 4.5 and a 10 market share, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports.

The rating is 11.8 percent lower than the 5.1/11 the race earned last year.

The NASCAR race, however, again outdrew ABC’s coverage of Sunday’s Indianpolis 500, which earned a 4.3. ABC’s ratings for the IndyCar event were down 15.7 percent from a 5.1 last year. The open-wheel Indy race had earned a 4.6 overnight rating, edging the 4.5 the Cup race drew overnight in the nation’s largest markets. This report came from SceneDaily.com and the jayski.com webpage.

With both major racing events taking a dip in the ratings, it would appear that motorsports cannot expect to see any major growth in the near future. In terms of the Indy 500, with three woman in the field, it still didn’t give that event a jolt. NASCAR’s TV audience has been off since the Spring of 2006. Also, the Memorial Day Weekend is supposed to be the season’s biggest weekend and that dip does not bode well for motorsports in general. It appears that motor racing has cooled off with fans for several reasons which we have covered previously.

AMA Racing announced that the 2007 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship will be telecast on the MavTV television network. Airing on Thursday’s at 8 p.m. EST, AMA Flat Track will join existing coverage of other AMA professional and amateur series such AMA Prostar Drag Racing, Hillclimb, Speedway, Trials and Ice Racing as well as amateur Dirt Track, Road Race, Motocross Manufacturers Cup and Hillclimb Championships.

From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter is this insight Yes, He REALLY Said That – Ray Evernham, on the possibility he might try to sign Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It’s like trying to get a date with Jennifer Aniston — if you see her, you’ve got to at least ask.”

Let’s see what’s happening this weekend in terms of gearhead action on the tube. It’s going to be very busy starting on Friday. At noon it’s Cup Practice from Pocono on Speed followed by F1 Practice from Montreal and Cup Qualifying at Pocono at 3:30 p.m. ESPN2 offers Busch Practice from Nashville at 6 p.m. Speed comes back at 9 p.m. with the CTS race from Texas. Saturday goes like this starting at 10 a.m. it’s Cup Practice from Pocono on Speed followed by the Grand Am Rolex event at Watkin’s Glen at 11 a.m. Stick with Speed for F1 Qualifying from Montreal at 1 p.m. followed by more Grand Am Rolex from The Glen. ESPN2 comes back at 3 p.m. with Busch Qualifying from Nashville then NHRA Qualifying from Joliet, IL at 5 p.m. Speed returns with Final Cup Practice at Pocono at 5:30 p.m. At 7 p.m. the Busch race from Nashville gets underway on ESPN2. Speed gives the ARCA stockcar race at Pocono SDD coverage at 8 p.m. Then ESPN2 airs the IRL go from Texas at 10 p.m. Sunday has TNT kicking off it’s season with NASCAR Live at 12:30 p.m. Fox airs the F1 race from Montreal at 1 p.m. Then the Cup race from Pocono goes on TNT at 2 p.m. At 4 p.m. ESPN2 offers NHRA Finals from Joliet, ILL. At the same time ABC kicks in with the Champ Car event at Portland. Finally the bikers get some action with the FIM 250 from Barcelona, Spain at 5 p.m. on Speed.

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