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NASCAR struts its
stuff against Games
Ratings up over last year while cable suffers
By Diego Vasquez
If they made NASCAR racing an Olympic sport, NBC and millions of viewers
would be very interested.
Going head-to-head with NBC’s Sunday afternoon coverage of the Athens
Olympics, TNT’s coverage of the NASCAR Nextel Cup GFS Marketplace 400 from Michigan
International Speedway posted better ratings than the same race last year. That’s a
testament to NASCAR fans and just another indication of the continued popularity of the
sport.
Sunday’s Nextel Cup race finished No. 1 for the week on ad-supported
cable by attracting an average 4.22 million households. Last year, even without
competition from Olympics coverage, the race (then known as the Winston Cup Michigan 400)
attracted slightly fewer households, 4.21 million.
TNT accomplished a ratings increase for the race despite ad-supported cable
dipping in ratings as a whole since the start of the Athens Games.
According to Nielsen ratings data analyzed by Magna Global USA,
household ratings for ad-supported cable dropped by 4.7 ratings points, or 14.1 percent,
over the first eight days of the Olympics (28.6) compared with the last week of July
(33.3).
Ad-supported cable’s 18-49 ratings also dipped during the same time
frame by 17.1 percent from a 15.8 average the last week in July to a 13.1 average over the
first eight days of the Olympics.
Still, TNT was able to better ratings for the Nextel Cup race among viewers
18-49. Last year the race finished No. 2 in the demo on ad-supported cable while
attracting an average of 3.13 million viewers 18-49. This year the race finished No. 1 in
the demo for the week, averaging 3.21 million 18-49s.
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
| 1 |
USA |
1776 |
NICK |
1633 |
| 2 |
TNT |
1558 |
NAN* |
1135 |
| 3 |
TOON |
1459 |
TOON |
1096 |
| 4 |
NAN |
1372 |
TNT |
1008 |
| 5 |
LIF |
1365 |
LIF |
898 |
| 6 |
ESPN |
1219 |
USA |
843 |
| 7 |
TBSC |
1019 |
TBSC |
685 |
| 8 |
FOXN |
992 |
FOXN |
643 |
| 9 |
DISC |
935 |
ESPN |
573 |
| 10 |
SCIF |
902 |
FAM |
516 |
| 11 |
AEN |
888 |
AEN |
509 |
| 12 |
FX |
861 |
FX |
485 |
| 13 |
CORT |
755 |
CORT |
473 |
| 14 |
SPK |
737 |
DISC |
459 |
| 15 |
FAM |
735 |
HIST |
453 |
| 16 |
HIST |
716 |
MTV |
412 |
| 17 |
HGTV |
680 |
TVLD |
388 |
| 18 |
AMC |
614 |
CMDY |
384 |
| 19 |
MTV |
595 |
HGTV |
380 |
| 20 |
CNN |
541 |
SCIF |
380 |
| 21 |
CMDY |
533 |
SPK |
379 |
| 22 |
TVLD |
531 |
TLC |
362 |
| 23 |
BET |
508 |
CNN |
359 |
| 24 |
TLC |
500 |
AMC |
358 |
| 25 |
HALL |
440 |
MSNB |
324 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 22 |
| Rank |
Program |
Net |
(000) |
1 |
Nextel Cup/Michigan |
TNT |
4223 |
2 |
Monk |
USA |
4101 |
3 |
Seahawks/Packers |
ESPN |
2962 |
4 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
2947 |
5 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
2936 |
6 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2667 |
7 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2622 |
8 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2612 |
9 |
Law & Order |
TNT |
2575 |
10 |
Futurama |
TOON |
2517 |
11 |
Futurama |
TOON |
2503 |
12 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2469 |
13 |
Family Guy |
TOON |
2466 |
14 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2462 |
15 |
Law & Order: SVU |
USA |
2447 |
16 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2432 |
17 |
Law & Order |
TNT |
2431 |
18 |
Family Guy |
TOON |
2417 |
19 |
Family Guy |
TOON |
2409 |
20 |
Law & Order |
TNT |
2397 |
21 |
Law & Order |
TNT |
2389 |
22 |
The Dead Zone |
USA |
2359 |
23 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2341 |
24 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2322 |
24 |
Jimmy Neutron |
NICK |
2322 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
| 1 |
USA |
476 |
NAN* |
344 |
| 2 |
TBSC |
428 |
TBSC |
293 |
| 3 |
ESPN |
394 |
NICK |
262 |
| 4 |
TNT |
376 |
TNT |
259 |
| 5 |
FX |
368 |
USA |
251 |
| 6 |
DISC |
345 |
ESPN |
227 |
| 7 |
MTV |
306 |
TOON |
223 |
| 8 |
LIF |
274 |
FX |
209 |
| 9 |
NAN |
262 |
LIF |
200 |
| 10 |
CMDY |
250 |
CMDY |
191 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
| 1 |
Newlyweds: Nick
& Jessica |
MTV |
1315 |
| 2 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
1263 |
| 3 |
Nextel Cup/Michigan |
TNT |
1156 |
| 4 |
Futurama |
TOON |
1066 |
| 5 |
Futurama |
TOON |
1043 |
| 6 |
Seahawks/Packers |
ESPN |
1021 |
| 7 |
Bring It On |
USA |
991 |
| 8 |
Family Guy |
TOON |
967 |
| 9 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
946 |
| 10 |
Monk |
USA |
936 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
| 1 |
USA |
1089 |
TNT |
636 |
| 2 |
TNT |
934 |
NAN* |
626 |
| 3 |
ESPN |
785 |
USA |
515 |
| 4 |
TBSC |
777 |
TBSC |
499 |
| 5 |
DISC |
754 |
LIF |
490 |
| 6 |
FX |
715 |
NICK |
446 |
| 7 |
LIF |
662 |
ESPN |
400 |
| 8 |
SCIF |
580 |
FX |
387 |
| 9 |
SPK |
496 |
DISC |
346 |
| 10 |
NAN |
467 |
TOON |
303 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
| 1 |
Nextel Cup/Michigan |
TNT |
3209 |
| 2 |
Monk |
USA |
2559 |
| 3 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2358 |
| 4 |
Seahawks/Packers |
ESPN |
1971 |
| 5 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
1767 |
| 6 |
The Dead Zone |
USA |
1748 |
| 7 |
Newlyweds: Nick
& Jessica |
MTV |
1706 |
| 8 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
1638 |
| 9 |
Bring It On |
USA |
1636 |
| 10 |
Discover Card
Pre-Race |
TNT |
1615 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending August 22 |
| |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
| Rank |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
| 1 |
USA |
1191 |
TNT |
660 |
| 2 |
TNT |
1000 |
NAN* |
577 |
| 3 |
ESPN |
783 |
LIF |
531 |
| 4 |
LIF |
772 |
USA |
518 |
| 5 |
DISC |
723 |
TBSC |
435 |
| 6 |
TBSC |
708 |
NICK |
376 |
| 7 |
SCIF |
685 |
ESPN |
349 |
| 8 |
FX |
652 |
FX |
346 |
| 9 |
AEN |
517 |
DISC |
326 |
| 10 |
SPK |
495 |
CORT |
293 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending August 22 |
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
| 1 |
Nextel Cup/Michigan |
TNT |
3562 |
| 2 |
Monk |
USA |
3114 |
| 3 |
The Dead Zone |
USA |
2114 |
| 4 |
Nip Tuck |
FX |
2084 |
| 5 |
Seahawks/Packers |
ESPN |
1991 |
| 6 |
The Dead Zone |
USA |
1880 |
| 7 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
1766 |
| 8 |
Discover Card
Pre-Race |
TNT |
1753 |
| 9 |
WWE Entertainment |
SPK |
1672 |
| 10 |
Monk |
USA |
1557 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
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Aug. 25,
2004 © 2004 Media Life
- Diego
Vasquez is a staff writer for Media Life.
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