MOORESVILLE, N.C. – A full weekend of racing involving three major North American racing series provided a big ratings improvement for NBC and NBCSN.
According to ratings provided by the network on Tuesday, the NASCAR Cup Series from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday was up 24 percent over last year’s race. That race was on NBC.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday was up 29 percent and the most-watched Texas race on cable in four years. That contest was on NBCSN.
The IndyCar Doubleheader from Iowa on NBCSN was up triple digits versus the rain-delayed Iowa coverage in 2019.
Coverage from Sebring on Saturday evening delivered NBCSN’s most-watched IMSA race on record. Also, MotoGP’s NBC Sports debut averaged 500,000+ viewers on NBC
All of the aforementioned contests registered viewership increases across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, according to Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
In addition, NBC Sports broadcast its first-ever MotoGP race Sunday on NBC.
NBC Sports’ NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series coverage from Texas Motor Speedway on NBCSN delivered double-digit viewership gains vs. 2019 for both series.
The Cup Series race on Sunday (3:26-7:18 p.m. ET) averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.764 million viewers, up 24% vs. last year’s Texas race (2.228 million; 11/3/19), and up 14% vs. the first race of last year’s schedule on NBCSN from Chicagoland (2.428 million; 6/30/19). Viewership peaked at more than 3.2 million TV-only viewers (3.272 million) in the 7-7:15 p.m. ET quarter hour. The race delivered a 1.71 HH rating.
Saturday’s Xfinity Series coverage on NBCSN (3:01-5:34 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of nearly 1 million viewers (980,000), up 29% vs. last year’s race at Texas (757,000; 11/2/19) to rank as the most-watched Xfinity race from Texas on cable in four years. Viewership peaked at nearly 1.2 million viewers (1.173 million) during the 5:15-5:30 p.m. ET quarter hour, with the race delivering a 0.63 HH rating.
All four of NBC Sports’ 2020 NASCAR races (two Cup, two Xfinity) have delivered double-digit viewership gains vs. 2019, as the Cup Series Brickyard 400 and the Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 events on Fourth of July weekend posted 46% and 21% year-over-year viewership increases, respectively.
NBC Sports presented an IndyCar doubleheader this past weekend with primetime races from Iowa Speedway on Friday and Saturday nights on NBCSN. Across both races, Iowa averaged a TAD of 350,000 viewers, up 119% vs. Iowa’s rain-delayed coverage for a single race in 2019.
Saturday night’s telecast (8:37-10:31 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of 362,000 viewers, up 126% vs. last year’s rain delayed coverage from Iowa (160,000) and up 6% vs. NBCSN’s two-race average for Saturday night races last season (341,000). The race delivered a 0.23 HH rating.
For only the second time in its history, NBCSN telecast a Friday night INDYCAR race this past weekend, averaging a TAD of 339,000 viewers (9:08-11:06 p.m. ET), up 112% vs. last year’s rain delayed coverage from Iowa (160,000) and up 72% compared to NBCSN’s only previous Friday night race (2009 from Japan; 11 pm ET; 197,000 viewers). The race delivered a 0.21 HH rating.
For six races so far this season (3 NBC, 3 NBCSN), INDYCAR coverage has averaged a TAD of 740,000 viewers, up 9% vs. the first six races last year on NBC/NBCSN (679,000), excluding the Indy 500.
Saturday’s IMSA telecast from Sebring International Raceway on NBCSN (5:34-8:37 p.m. ET) averaged 357,000 viewers, making it NBC Sports’ most-watched IMSA race on record since acquiring media rights to the series last season. Viewership was also up 91% vs. the IMSA average for races on NBCSN. The race delivered a 0.23 HH rating.
NBC Sports presented the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday on NBC (3-4:30 p.m. ET), its first-ever broadcast of the series. The race averaged 527,000 viewers and delivered a 0.36 HH rating.