Last week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Dover earned a 3.5 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on FOX, down 8% in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (3.8, 6.0M) and down 5% in both measures from 2012 (3.7, 5.7M). The 3.5 rating is tied as the second-lowest ever for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on FOX, matching the Kansas race three weeks earlier. The 3.5 is also the lowest rating ever for a Sunday afternoon NASCAR race on FOX. The previous mark was a 3.7 for two previous Dover races. Four of the six lowest rated Sprint Cup races on FOX took place this season alone. Every single race on FOX this season – including the All-Star Race on Fox Sports 1 – had a decline in ratings compared to last year, and all but one race had a decline in viewership. The lone exception was the Darlington race, which carved out a 2% increase in viewership over last season. Despite the lower numbers, NASCAR on FOX was the #2 sports program of the weekend on television, trailing only Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals (4.9, 8.2M). It finished well ahead of the #3 program, Game 7 of the NHL Western Conference Finals (2.3, 4.1M).(Sports Media Watch / Sports Business Daily)
See past races for 2014 and 5-year comparison chart on the 2014 NASCAR TV Ratings page.(6-8-2014)
