NASCAR on Fox has had a better start to its broadcast season over 2007, and no one is completely sure why.The ratings have jumped 5.7% on average -- including the rain-plagued Auto Club 500 -- over last year's numbers. There isn't much that has changed in the sport that I'd think would increase ratings. A new car? More foreign drivers at the back?
Those don't seem like plausible reasons. Maybe it has something to do with Hendrick Motorsports being winless so far, or even the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. even has a legitimate shot to win races right now.
People tire quickly of watching the same winner in each race especially when its Jimmie Johnson winning two of the first five in 2007, or Jeff Gordon starting from the pole in two of those races.
Sure Carl Edwards has won two in 2008, but he's penalty after winning at Las Vegas kept people involved, not bored.
With the exception of the Daytona 500, Fox's coverage hasn't been overloaded with commercials and the work done by the crew has been pretty solid. Face it -- Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip have been around since 2001 and they have the most chemistry of any NASCAR broadcast team.
Could it be Roush's resurgence? Consistent start times? Tony Stewart's fugly hair?
Regardless, more people watching the sport right now, and that can only be a good thing for the 2008 season and beyond.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I am glad to see the ratings are up, because I know that attendance is down. Something has to give here.
Posted at 1:08AM on Mar 25th 2008 by tanning lotion
2. No offense to Joy, McReynolds and Waltrip, but I think the nation's economy has alot to do with the number of viewers. People, even NASCAR fans, are curtailing their weekend events to help make ends meet financially. Hence the reason viewership is up. Sorry, Guys.
Posted at 8:34AM on Mar 25th 2008 by Rusty@therustygourmet.com
3. There may be a couple of reason's why the stock car viewership is up.
One:we're not seeing the dominance of the Hendrick's teams as we had in the past two seasons.
Two:The weather around the nation has been pretty bad in many regions this spring so,people are tuning into NASCAR rather then playing out in the garden .
Posted at 5:22PM on Mar 26th 2008 by Raine
4. Rusty,
I have to agree with you. I think you hit the nail right on the head so to speak. I know that when I checked into the prices of going to a race, it was astronomically expensive and that was just for the tickets alone. Add hotel stay, transportation, food, gas, etc. to the mix, NASCAR has virtually wiped out the chance for most lower middle income families to be able to afford to go see a race. I don't think people aren't going to races because they don't want to, just can't afford it.
It does seem too that Fox's coverage has been superior this year in comparisson to ESPN'S and TNT's coverage of last year. You couldn't even watch a race on those two channels last year with all the commercials and I can remember numerous times when ESPN wouldn't even show the end of a race. I can only hope they learned from their mistakes last year and the coverage this year will be much better. Give me Fox any day of the week & twice on Sundays over the above two mentioned channels!
Kim
Posted at 8:43AM on Mar 27th 2008 by Kim