NASCAR on Fox TV ratings & viewership rise in 2008

Putting the brakes on a two-year trend, overall viewership figures for the Emmy Award-winning series in 2008 rose year-to-year for the first time since 2005, posting an impressive 5.7/12 average national household rating and share (9.4 million viewers), up +2% over last year’s 5.6/13 (9.3 million). NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on FOX concluded its season as the top-rated and most-watched regular season sport from February through June for the eighth consecutive year.

Eleven out of the thirteen NASCAR Sprint Cup points races on FOX either grew or equaled last year’s viewing levels, a first for the sport on the network. In addition to households, NASCAR on FOX also posted year-to-year increases in the sports’ traditionally strong male demographics. The rating for men age 35-54 was up +5% (6.5 vs. 6.2) over last season, while ratings in the broader male, 25-54 category were up +2% (5.4 vs. 5.3).

NASCAR on FOX concluded its 2008 campaign with two big races. First, on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (5/25), the Coca Cola 600, the longest race of the season, posted a 4.7/10 household rating (7.6 million viewers), +4% over the 2007 race and was the top-rated and most-watched event of the holiday weekend. This marks the eighth straight year that the Coke 600 on FOX delivered a larger audience than the Indy 500 4.6/13, (7.2 million). Last Sunday, in the FOX season finale, the race from Dover scored a 4.5/11 (7.1 million viewers), and was the top-rated event for the weekend. The Dover race a year ago was washed out on Sunday and posted a 2.3/7 when run on Monday.