TV News: Weekend USA TV Ratings
Rating Analysis
NASCAR: The NASCAR Martinsville Cup race Sunday won by Christopher Bell on NBC drew a TV rating of 1.52 with 2.541 million viewers tuned in, down 3.27% from last year’s race also on NBC that drew 2.627 million viewers.
Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race from Martinsville on NBC saw a big jump of 90.2% over 2021, which was broadcast on the now defunct NBCSN cable network.
Both of the NASCAR races attracted less than 20% of its viewers in the all important 18-49 year-old bracket, continuing to indicate an aging out fan base.
Formula 1: The Mexico City F1 race won by Max Verstappen on ESPN Sunday, up against the NASCAR race and NFL games, drew a TV rating of 0.55 with 1.029 viewers tuned in, up 6.30% from a year ago on ABC when the race drew 968,000 viewers. Historically, cable channel ESPN rates lower than big brother ABC, which is an over-the-air channel, but the fact this year was higher on cable channel ESPN indicates the growth in F1 popularity. The re-air at 10 pm on ESPN2 had 71,000 viewers giving the F1 race a total of 1.1 million viewers
More importantly, 44% of the F1 viewers were in the all important 18-49 year old age bracket, which is fantastic and further underscores the strength of F1 in the USA
NHRA: The NHRA Nevada Nationals on FS1 drew 276,000 viewers, up 16.46% from 237,000 last year. A small rating of 0.16 coupled with only 12% of the viewers in the 18-49 age bracket indicates the NHRA is in real trouble.
TV Rating Data
| Network | Event | Location | Total Viewers | 18-49 Viewers | Ratio: 18-49 Yr Old/ Total Viewers |
2022 Rating | 2021 Rating | Rating % Chg. | 2021 Network | 2021 Viewers | 2021 18-49 Viewers | Viewers % Chg |
| NBC | NASCAR Cup L | Martinsville | 2,541,000 | 477,000 | 19% | 1.52 | 1.61 | -5.59% | NBC | 2,627,000 | 492,000 | -3.27% |
| NBC | NASCAR Xfinity L | Martinsville | 1,510,000 | 305,000 | 20% | 0.97 | 0.51 | 90.20% | NBCSN | 863,000 | 173,000 | 74.97% |
| ESPN | F1 Mexico City GP L | Mexico City | 1,029,000 | 451,000 | 44% | 0.55 | 0.59 | -6.78% | ABC | 968,000 | 309,000 | 6.30% |
| FS1 | NHRA Nevada Nationals | Las Vegas | 276,000 | 32,000 | 12% | 0.16 | 0.13 | 23.08% | FS1 | 237,000 | 25,000 | 16.46% |