Indy driver and pinup fave in her stock car debut
By Toni Fitzgerald Feb 10, 2010
If Danica Patrick's first stock car race is any indication, ratings for NASCAR's second-tier circuit are about to soar.
Patrick, a driver on the IndyCar circuit the past five years and internet pinup girl for just as long, made her stock car racing debut over the weekend at the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series season opener in Daytona, boosting the race to record levels on Speed Channel.
It averaged 2.4 million total viewers, up 87 percent over last year's audience of 1.3 million.
The Daytona race was first in its timeslot on basic cable at 4:30 p.m. and averaged a 2.3 Nielsen household rating, up 59 percent over last year's 1.45.
It became the most-watched ARCA race in Speed history. In fact, it became the most-watched non-NASCAR Sprint Cup program of all time on Speed, and it bodes well for Patrick's upcoming debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the circuit below Sprint Cup.
ARCA is one step below Nationwide, and Patrick and her sponsors wanted to see how she fared in Saturday's race before committing to another this weekend in Daytona.
Though Patrick spun out at one point, she recovered to place sixth, and on Monday her team announced that she would indeed be racing again Saturday, one of 12 total Nationwide races on her schedule this season.
Patrick's presence has track owners where she will appear extremely excited. They expect the brunette beauty's presence to boost ticket sales after a rough 2009, when major tracks reported sales slumping from 10 to 20 percent.
After Patrick committed to a race there in June, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway issued a release calling Patrick's appearance "a gift."
Nationwide series ratings could also use a boost. Twenty-six races on ESPN2 last year were down 7 percent from 2008, to a 1.4 rating.
If Patrick does well on the Nationwide circuit, it's no guarantee she'll be promoted to the Sprint Cup, but certainly that's the long-term hope for a series that also saw its ratings decline last year.
Patrick has won one race on the IndyCar circuit, where she'll continue to compete this season, and she's already got a huge number of endorsements, most notably Go Daddy, whose commercials she appeared in on Super Bowl Sunday.
***
In cable ratings for the week ended Feb. 7:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, TNT, A&E, ESPN.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, Fox News Channel, TNT, TBS, Nick at Nite.
Top movie (18-49s): TNT’s “A Time to Kill” (Saturday, 5 p.m.) 1.27 million.
Top sporting event (total viewers): Speed’s “ARCA Racing Series” (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) 2.57 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 10 p.m.); USA’s “Burn Notice” (Thursday, 10 p.m.); History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” (Monday, 10:30 p.m.).
Show on the rise: Starz' “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” Friday 10 p.m. In its third week, the pay cable network's blood, sex and sandals series hit a series-high 858,000 viewers.
Show on the decline: USA’s “Psych,” Wednesday 10 p.m. The drama averaged 1.39 million viewers 18-49, off 27 percent from 1.91 million the previous week.
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending February 7
Rank
Primetime
Total Day
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
2197
NICK
1674
2
FOXN
1832
NAN*
1326
3
TNT
1507
USA
1169
4
NAN
1336
TNT
1123
5
TBSC
1218
FOXN
1100
6
AEN
1210
ADSM*
963
7
ESPN
1079
TOON
842
8
HGTV
1059
TBSC
748
9
HIST
1058
AEN
717
10
TOON
1040
ESPN
716
11
FAM
993
HGTV
637
12
AMC
859
HIST
626
13
TRU
849
TRU
593
14
TLC
822
LIF
574
15
DISC
800
FOOD
559
16
FX
796
FX
523
17
LIF
792
DISC
512
18
FOOD
768
SPK
506
19
CMDY
740
FAM
502
20
SYFY
723
AMC
501
21
MTV
704
MTV
474
22
SPK
675
CMDY
457
23
BET
673
TVLD
447
24
HALL
606
TLC
438
25
BRAV
564
HALL
393
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 7
Rank
Program
Net
(000)
1
Spongebob
NICK
3951
2
WWE Raw
USA
3664
3
The Penguins Of
Madagascar
NICK
3629
4
WWE Raw
USA
3415
5
iCarly
NICK
3383
6
Spongebob
NICK
3292
7
NCIS
USA
3290
8
iCarly
NICK
3156
9
NCIS
USA
3135
10
Pawn Stars
HIST
3105
11
NCIS
USA
3085
12
The O'Reilly Factor
FOXN
3063
13
The O'Reilly Factor
FOXN
3043
14
Fanboy & Chum Chum
NICK
3036
15
Burn Notice
USA
3023
16
NCIS
USA
3000
17
NCIS
USA
2972
18
The O'Reilly Factor
FOXN
2910
19
iCarly
NICK
2906
20
iCarly
NICK
2879
21
Pawn Stars
HIST
2871
22
Spongebob
NICK
2852
23
iCarly
NICK
2849
24
Spongebob
NICK
2790
25
Spongebob
NICK
2760
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-34
Week Ending February 7
Rank
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
TBSC
560
ADSM*
481
2
USA
535
NAN*
368
3
MTV
409
NICK
353
4
CMDY
371
TBSC
311
5
ESPN
353
ESPN
275
6
TNT
336
MTV
269
7
AEN
322
USA
262
8
FAM
309
CMDY
227
9
DISC
278
TNT
224
10
VH1
265
TOON
194
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-34 Week Ending February 7
Rank
PROGRAM
NET
(000)
1
Teen Mom: Check Up With Dr. Drew
MTV
1905
2
Family Guy
ADSM
1521
3
WWE Raw
USA
1298
4
Family Guy
ADSM
1260
5
Burn Notice
USA
1194
6
Family Guy
ADSM
1120
7
Family Guy
ADSM
1082
8
For The Love Of Ray J 2
VH1
1073
9
Pawn Stars
HIST
1067
10
WWE Raw
USA
1056
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-49 Week Ending February 7
Rank
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
1196
ADSM*
664
2
TBSC
966
NAN*
623
3
TNT
790
USA
598
4
AEN
748
TNT
590
5
ESPN
672
NICK
575
6
HIST
630
TBSC
573
7
CMDY
592
ESPN
482
8
FAM
588
AEN
431
9
DISC
573
TRU
374
10
TRU
545
HIST
366
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-49
Week Ending February 7
Rank
PROGRAM
NET
(000)
1
WWE Raw
USA
2778
2
WWE Raw
USA
2301
3
Burn Notice
USA
2265
4
Teen Mom: Check Up With Dr. Drew
MTV
2201
5
Pawn Stars
HIST
2143
6
Family Guy
ADSM
1977
7
Pawn Stars
HIST
1972
8
Family Guy
ADSM
1661
9
The Real Housewives Of
OrangeCounty
BRAV
1655
10
Family Guy
ADSM
1573
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 25-54
Week Ending February 7
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Rank
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
1274
TNT
668
2
TNT
897
USA
643
3
AEN
803
TBSC
498
4
TBSC
802
NAN*
497
5
HIST
717
AEN
466
6
ESPN
655
NICK
457
7
FOXN
581
ADSM*
448
8
DISC
557
ESPN
435
9
HGTV
551
HIST
410
10
TRU
545
TRU
380
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 25-54 Week Ending February 7
Rank
PROGRAM
NET
(000)
1
WWE Raw
USA
2679
2
Pawn Stars
HIST
2339
3
Burn Notice
USA
2256
4
WWE Raw
USA
2240
5
Pawn Stars
HIST
2138
6
American Pickers
HIST
1712
7
NCIS
USA
1696
8
NFL Prime Time
ESPN
1610
9
Project Runway
LIF
1604
10
NCIS
USA
1567
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
