ABC’s broadcast of that Sunday’s Subway 500 NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville Speedway earned a Nielsen Media Research rating of 3.3, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily reports.
The figure is 5.7 percent lower than the 3.5 NBC earned overnight for its broadcast of the race in 2006.
That’s the bad news. Now here’s some good news.
TV ratings for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville last weekend were up 18 percent on SPEED, according to Nielsen Media Research. The increase continues a trend on SPEED, as the last three NCTS races all have enjoyed ratings increases, with the most noteworthy growth among younger audiences.
“These numbers are encouraging,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “To be able to deliver consistent ratings increases in this challenging environment is significant.”
Dover Motorsports Inc. officials say the expected decrease in NASCAR television revenues were to blame as the company reported lower revenues for the financial quarter that ended Sept. 30. The track operator said it had revenues of $40.951 million, down from $42.441 million in the comparable quarter of 2006, after promoting seven major motorsports events in 2007. This came from autosportracing.com the internet newsletter.
From a good and solid Australian source comes word that the A1GP will replace the Champ Car World Series next year or the year after at Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast. Because the organizers feel that CCWS is an endangered species and the A1GP is more in sync and has the staying power that the CCWS lacks. And the A1GP is a legit international series. It’s a fact that the CCWS bills this event as one of it’s best. When in fact it was really a support series to the Australian based V8 Series at Surfer’s Paradise. And in the final analysis, the A1GP will also be a support series to the Australian V8′s. Because if the CCWS or the A1GP ran as a stand alone series the event wouldn’t draw fans. Because the V8 Series is very popular Down Under.
The World Motor Sport Council, which met in Paris, approved the race as well as an extended 18-race 2008 calendar. Marina Bay Singapore will serve as a backdrop for the historic race, which will take place on September 28. It was also confirmed that the Canada Grand Prix will be part of the 2008 calendar and a daytime street race would be held in Valencia. Unfortunately for F1 they won’t be able to save on transportation costs because the F1GP, usually a week later, at Indy was scratched for 2008. It might come back in ’09 if Tony George of IMS and Bernie Eccelstone of FOCA can strike up a deal.
Spyker’s request to change its team name to Force India has been accepted and it was announced that there will also be a total freeze on engine development for a period of 10 years from 2008.
Here’s another Yes He Said It-From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter-Steve Hmiel, on why he left DEI.
“I started out doing one thing, then added things along the way and pretty soon, you find yourself doing a lot of different stuff. But I really enjoyed it. It’s a different world now, a different time. Some of the things I saw chaffed against me, and some of the things I did chaffed against them.”
Let’s see what’s happening on the tube this weekend for motorhead action. It gets going on Friday with Busch Qualifying from Texas at noon on Speed. ESPN2 kicks in with NASCAR Cup Practice from Texas at 1 p.m. ESPN2 also offers Nextel Cup Qualifying from Texas at 4:30 p.m. Speed returns at 6:30 p.m. with Busch Qualifying from Texas and for the Truck race from Texas it’s Speed again at 9 p.m. Saturday starts off at 3:30 p.m. with ESPN2 airing the NASCAR Busch go from Texas. Stick with The Duce for NASCAR Final Cup Practice from Texas airing at 6 p.m. At 8 p.m. Speed returns with live coverage of the World of Outlaws and Late Models from Charlotte. At 10 p.m. it’s ESPN2 offering NHRA Qualifing from Pomona. Sunday has Raceday on Speed airing from Texas at 1:30 p.m. with ABC kicking in with the NASCAR Cup from Texas. For the bikers it’s FIM250 and MotoGP from Spain starting at 5 p.m. ESPN2 returns at 7 p.m. with the Pomona NHRA Finals at 7 p.m.
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES AND NOTES.
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I’m all in favor of taking Martinsville off the schedual and moving the races to Memphis, much better short track and they can pass each other there.
I still believe that the love affair that Rusty has with the sound of his voice is to blame for the poor tv ratings. Does he have an original thought?
We go to Martinsville for all of the races and camp there. We also go to the various modified races there and despite what people think, there is a LOT of passing there. Good old Bumpn’ and Bangin Sat. night Short track type racing and I hope it does stay on the schedule.
The TV coverage by FOX is sincerely lacking, worried more about that stupid gopher than the hard fought racing we witness there. I record the races we attend and am not surprised that people get bored with them. Bristol was great, but when I watched the rerun it was dissapointing to see the coverage also..