ABC earned a 2.9 overnight Nielsen rating for its broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Bank of America 500 from 7:30-11:30pm ET Saturday night. The race, the fifth event in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and the only Chase race to air on ABC, was down 3% from a 3.0 overnight rating in '09 ( THE DAILY ). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Ourand & Mickle report ESPN's ratings for the first four races of the Chase for the Sprint Cup "were down a whopping" 27% compared to '09, a "drop-off that has caught both network and property executives off guard, and it's led them to analyze viewership patterns to pinpoint reasons for the decline." ESPN VP/Programming & Acquisitions Julie Sobieski: "The simple fact is that people just are not tuning in. We're looking at everything to find out why." Top ESPN officials, including President George Bodenheimer, traveled to Charlotte for the Bank of America 500 and "engaged NASCAR executives during several meetings." A team of ESPN's top editorial staff, including ESPN Digital Media VP & Editor-in-Chief Rob King and Senior Coordinating Producer of "SportsCenter" Glenn Jacobs, "also attended the race and were given a three-day, behind-the-scenes immersion into NASCAR operations." ESPN and NASCAR officials "hope that enhanced coverage of the sport on 'SportsCenter' and ESPN.com will drive tune-in for future races." NASCAR Senior VP Paul Brooks: "The races have been fantastic. We just have to do everything we can on all sides to make sure that initial tune-in audience is there" ( SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/18 issue ). TOUGH TIME SLOT : NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France said of the ratings decline, "We're working on it. Racing is great and over time that takes care of things. We'd like to have better ratings but we will over time." SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith suggested that Sprint Cup races "should start at 2 p.m." Smith: "You've got to look at competition on TV today and that's one of the things. I'm not sure we're down 25 (percent). I have difficulty believing that, but here again, if you start a race at 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, look at all the competition you have on TV. I'm not sure that 1 o'clock is doing our sport any favor. If people want to tune in and watch football -- and every game seems to be about the same -- if they want to, let them. Let's say by 2 o'clock they're tired of it and then they'll come over and watch a real sport" ( ROANOKE TIMES, 10/17 ). IS JIMMIE JOHNSON TO BLAME? SCENEDAILY.com's Jeff Owens reported Sprint Cup drivers are "equally baffled" by the ratings decline. Fans "seem to indicate" that Jimmie Johnson's four consecutive championships, as well as a potential fifth this season, are "at least part of the reason." An unscientific poll on SceneDaily.com last week "seems to back that claim." When asked why fans are not watching Chase races, 38% (1,434 voters) said that "they don't want to watch Johnson win another championship." Of the rest, 26% (988) said that "they don't like the Chase format," and 21% (807) said that "they are watching the NFL instead of NASCAR." But Johnson "doesn't accept the idea that his success and dominance has caused TV ratings to sag." Johnson said Thursday, "I know that I'm not the reason for those things. ... It's just unfair to put it on a driver's success. We have an amazing television package and people aren't tuning in to watch. We don't know why. And it's not just our sport, it's all sports and it's all television." Driver Jeff Burton: "If you argued that Jimmie having success is bad for the sport, then why was golf so good when Tiger was so good?" Driver Jeff Gordon: "There needs to be some more rivalries out there." Driver Carl Edwards: "You've seen really great racing, a ton of emotion, you've seen guys just laying it all on the line and, for whatever reason, our television ratings have not been as good as they could be" ( SCENEDAILY.com, 10/15 ).
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