NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Homestead, the final race in the Chase For the Sprint Cup, had a 4.4 overnight rating on NBC and NBCSN Sunday – up 52% from last year (2.9) and up 63% from 2013 (2.7), both on ESPN. Kyle Busch’s win, which clinched the Sprint Cup, scored the highest overnight for NASCAR’s season finale since 2005, when the race drew a 4.8 on NBC. The last time the race aired on a broadcast network, 2009, it had a 3.2 overnight on ABC. The last time it aired on NBC, 2006, it had a 4.3. Overall, the 4.4 overnight is the fourth-highest ever for the annual Homestead race, which began in 1999 – trailing only 2005, 2004 (5.6) and 2002 (4.5). It is also the highest for a Sprint Cup race since Atlanta in March (5.1) and the third-highest of the season overall, trailing only Atlanta and the Daytona 500 (7.3). Sunday’s race benefited from several factors. Jeff Gordon was participating in his final race and had a chance to win the championship. The race aired on two networks, which usually provides a bump. Most importantly, rain pushed the finish into primetime – preempting the first 50 minutes of NBC’s Football Night in America.(Sports Media Watch / NBC Sports PR Twitter.(11-23-2015)
UPDATE: NBC Sports Group presented the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship last night (Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015), featuring the primary broadcast on NBC and spotlight coverage of the four drivers racing for the 2015 title on NBCSN. After the smoke cleared from Kyle Busch’s victory burnouts and fans witnessed the final bow of Jeff Gordon’s iconic career, fast national data provided by The Nielsen Company shows that the event was the most-watched NASCAR Championship in a decade. The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship on NBC and NBCSN averaged 7.64 million viewers and posted a combined 4.42 national HH rating, marking increases of +46% (vs. 5.22 million) and +41% (vs. 3.14 HH), respectively, over last year’s presentation on ESPN. The 7.64 million viewers make last night’s event the most-watched NASCAR season finale since NBC presented the championship event in 2005 (9.46 million). Viewing peaked from 7:45P-7:56 p.m. ET with nearly 12.4 million average viewers as Kyle Busch battled Kevin Harvick for the title, ranking as the largest peak audience for NASCAR since the 2015 Daytona 500. Last night’s race stands as NASCAR’s most-watched Fall race (Sept-Nov) since 2006’s Charlotte race on NBC (7.797 million)(NBC)
See past race TV Ratings, five-year comparison chart and more on the 2015 TV Ratings page.(11-23-2015)
