TV Times – 28% More Watched Richmond on ABC
The first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race televised on ABC since July 2000 delivered an increase in ratings and viewership for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. The telecast by ESPN on ABC delivered a 4.2 fast national rating with more than 4,731,000 households and more than 6,750,000 viewers.
The households represent a 33 percent increase (up from 3,568,000) and the viewership increased 28 percent (up from 5,288,000) from last year’s Richmond telecast.
ABC won Saturday night in all key adult demographics, and the race delivered ABC its largest Saturday night audience since April, as well as its strongest Adult 18-49 Saturday night audience since December. This came from ABC’s PR department.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) and NASCAR announced an initiative that will bring NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series fans even closer to the action through NASCAR NEXTEL FanView. Beginning last weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR NEXTEL FanView devices will carry live broadcasts of ESPN’s “NASCAR Now” and SPEED’s “NASCAR Trackside” throughout each NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race weekend. In addition, SPEED also will provide recent episodes of “Survival of the Fastest” and “Inside NEXTEL Cup” to enhance NASCAR NEXTEL FanView’s content during non-active track periods.
The NASCAR NEXTEL FanView device, which has revolutionized the way fans follow their favorite drivers and teams during races, now will offer in-depth and expanded pre- and post-race trackside coverage. Broadcast times will vary each weekend, depending on the practice, qualifying and race schedules. Live racing action will not be interrupted to carry these shows.
Yes, he really said that. Roger Staubach, on why he and Troy Aikman sold their majority interest in the Hall of Fame NASCAR team. “I want to watch a race and know that we have a chance to be where Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are… We had gone as far as we could go, and it was time to figure out a way to get better.” From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter.
While watching the F1 Practice on Speed from Belgium we were made aware that the FIA has fined McLaren $100 million for so-called industrial espionage for accepting confidential information from a Ferrari engineer. In addition McLaren will be stripped of Constructor Points and will also not be awarded any for the rest of the current season. And McLaren may not be able to compete in the 2008 season. The decision on that will be made in December, according to other reports. Ferrari, it seems, will accept the F1 Constructors awards as compensation for the infraction.
In another matter Fiat’s Lucca DeMontemozzo, who is also the boss for Ferrari and Masarati, was quoted as saying at a recent university gathering in Europe that copying innovations and making them better and mastering them is quite acceptable. That’s an ambiguous statement considering what has happened in F1 and his connections with Ferrari.
F1, without a doubt, is bizarre! The ridiculous is the norm in that segment of motorsports. We can blame the world press, especially in Europe, which has failed to criticize this sports franchise as it continues to go off the chart. We can recall that about 10-12 years ago, F1 announced possible plans to charge the media a fee in order for them to cover their events! It never materialized and appeared to be a veiled threat to keep the media in line. If they had tried that in the US you would never see a mention of F1 to this day. However, it appears that the media that follows F1 fear that their credentials will be yanked if they offend the FIA or the Formula 1 Constructors Assn.(FOCA). The US media are not sheep like in other parts of the world. Because of First Amendment Rights in the US Constitution.
On race morning at Spa, Speed’s man in the pits Peter Windsor caught up with FOCA bossman Bernie Eccelstone. Bernie was asked about the current flap over the esponiage. He told the interviewer that it was good that everyone was talking about F1. Windsor’s replay was that even bad news is also good. Eccelstone shook his head and said yes.
Talking to a Canadian motorsports insider at NHIS, we got the impression that even the Canadian GP in ’08 could also be scratched because of the expenses associated with bringing Bernie’s Circus to N. America is very expensive. When the USGP and the Canadian GP were a week apart it worked out good for the series. That was the hot rumor making the rounds in Toronto recently.
If that’s so then it would be another opportunity to move another high profile event into the road course adjacent to the Lotto Quebec Casino. How about a Champ Car/IRL double header!
As far as the Wrangler brand is concerned, whether or not to re-sign Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 2008 season was not a difficult decision. Today, Dale Jr. confirmed the feeling was mutual by re-signing as an endorsee for the Wrangler brand. The denim icon will continue its tie-in with the NASCAR superstar and follow him to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. For a fifth consecutive season, the Wrangler logo will once again proudly appear on his soon-to-be-announced car and race suit.
This year’s premier car event of the season is racing to San Diego, specifically to the “island” of Coronado – a beautiful community in Southern California – to benefit the military, as well as offer a variety of new attractions to its 10th annual year. This year’s Coronado Speed Festival will offer all of the same great activities of year’s past, but will be bigger and better than ever. When you are looking for somewhere fun to spend a day or weekend and a unique experience appropriate for all ages, look no further than this year’s “Race At The Base”. It’s set for October 6-7.
Let’s see what’s on TV this weekend for the gearheads. The action won’t be as busy. But, it still gets in gear on Friday with Busch Practice from Dover at 1:30 p.m. on Speed. ESPN2 offers Cup Qualifying from Dover at 3 p.m. with HDnet airing the Busch East go from Dover. Saturday gets going with ESPN2′s Cup Practice from Dover while it’s Busch Qualifying at noon on Speed. ESPN2 bounces back with the Busch Countdown at 3 p.m. followed by the Busch race from Dover at 3:30 p.m. Craftsman Truck Qualifying from Vegas starts at 6 p.m. on Speed while the actual race goes at 9 p.m. on that same cable channel. Sunday offers NHRA Qualifying from Dallas, TX on ESPN2 at 12:30 a.m. At 11:30 a.m. Speed airs RaceDay Preview from Dover. Stick with Speed for the WoO go from Chico, CA at 1 p.m. ABC goes with the Cup race from Dover at 1:30 p.m. Speed has the FIM race from Japan at 6 p.m. while the NHRA Finals from Dallas go off on The Duce at 7 p.m.(end)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES AND NOTES.
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| Track Trash – New Hump-shire | Stock Car Gazette for Tuesday, September 18, 2007 |
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4 thoughts on “TV Times – 28% More Watched Richmond on ABC”|
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Mary, in my case, since I’m a Dale Jarrett fan, I lost interest a long time ago
Make the Chase??? Heck, I’d be thankful if he made the RACE!!!!
I know that for me, it’s hard to keep interest when all the TV announcers talk about is those top 12 guys.
Nice column.
I am a relatively new nascar fan.
My Favorite Driver is Dale Jr Earnhardt, however, I respect and admire many other drivers. I would like to see Matt or Clint win the championship, this year.
Because Dale Jr still had a chance albeit slim, to make the chase, I would not have missed the Richmond Race broadcast.
Since Dale Jr did not make the Chase , my interest level has waned. I did not watch any pre- race shows from Louden and half heartedly watched the race. It appears that the ratings from Louden are not as good as the Richmond ratings. Is my reaction typical? Do fans lose interest , when “their driver” does not make the Chase?
The people who have cable have many more choices of things to watch on Saturday nights.And there are a good many households that don;t have cable. That could explain the lower NASCAR ratings for races on cable vs
network tv. Or it could simply be that viewers are tired of the terrible race broadcasts by Fox and ABC/ESPN. It has almost become the norm to turn the television sound off during the races and listen to MRN or your favorite music.That doesn’t help the pathetic camera work though.
A great contrast can be made between the NASCAR and F1 broadcasts. The F1 shows are done with only three analysts ( all of whom are extremely well versed in racing ) and one pit reporter who is usually only heard from during the pre-race show.They have great camera work for the most part, and every car in the race is shown on camera multiple times as well as talked about.
The world press has in fact done nothing but criticize F1 over the years on a number of levels. But Eccelstone is the Euro version of the France family. He controls the sport totaly, money is his only intrest, and he could’nt care less about hearing suggestions from anyone.And don’t be so sure that NASCAR isn’t giving serious thought to charging the media as well.
If memory serves me correctly, this is the first time any of the three night, short-track races (both Richmond & Bristol Fall) have ever been on over-the-air TV. The networks & NASCAR always say that they want more night races, yet the best ones were always on cable. So they finally put a good one on and the ratings go up! Coincidence?