NASCAR viewership continues to take a “Big Data” hit on linear TV, with the TNT portion of the season down slightly under the new methodology — and up slightly under the old.
The five NASCAR Cup Series races on TNT Sports averaged 2.0 million viewers per the Nielsen “Big Data + Panel” data that is the official currency, down slightly from a year ago, but 2.1 million per the prior ‘panel-only’ methodology that NASCAR is now publicizing for its races — up 4%.
Both of the linear NASCAR packages this season — on Fox Sports and TNT Sports — posted slightly fewer viewers on a “Big Data + Panel” basis than under the panel-only metric. By comparison, the streaming-exclusive portion of the season on Prime Video averaged a 15% larger audience under “Big Data” than panel-only.