Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Auto Club 500 from California Speedway drew an overnight Nielsen Media Research rating of 7.1 and a 14 share, today’s Sports Business Daily reports. The rating is 12.7 percent higher than the 6.3 overnight rating for last year’s second Nextel Cup race, the Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway at Rockingham, and 26.8 percent higher than the 5.6 for 2004’s first race at California, the May 2 Auto Club 500.(NASCAR Scene)(2-28-2005)
AND FOX Sports’ 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup regular season schedule got off to a record-setting start yesterday, firing a 7.1/14 overnight rating-the highest overnight rating ever for a regular season (excluding Daytona) race on FOX. Yesterday’s 7.1/14 topped last year’s regular season opener from Rockingham by +13% (vs. 6.3/14) and easily ranks as the top-rated sporting event of the weekend. Prior to yesterday, the last regular season race to produce such an overnight rating was the Rockingham 400 on Feb. 25, 2001 (7.0/15), the first race that followed the tragic death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. An impressive 39 out of 55 metered markets posted increases over last year’s regular season opener, including eight of the top ten markets. Impressive increases were seen in:
New York: +94% (3.3 vs. 1.7) Dallas: +15% (6.0 vs. 5.2) Los Angeles: +14% (4.0 vs. 3.5 Miami: +28% (4.1 vs. 3.2)
Chicago: +43% (5.7 vs. 4.0) Orlando: +44% (12.2 vs. 8.5)
Boston: +36% (6.1 vs. 4.5) Baltimore: +17% (5.6 vs. 4.8)
San Francisco: +63% (3.9 vs. 2.4) Hartford: +40% (8.7 vs. 6.2)
Atlanta: +50% (16.3 vs. 10.9) Milwaukee: +30% (9.2 vs. 7.1)(3-1-2005)
