Jeff Gluck: A theory on TV ratings
By Jeff Gluck - Associate Editor
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
COMMENTARY
The television ratings were up again last week, which continued a season-long trend of improving (and sometimes skyrocketing) NASCAR ratings.
Where the heck did this come from? One minute, the sport seems to be sinking into an abyss, and the next minute, it’s apparently healthy again.
The TV ratings story should be getting a lot more media coverage than it is. With all the stories in newspapers across the country in the last two years that contained the phrase “NASCAR’s declining ratings,” you’d think this might be a good time for everyone to write about the ratings improvement.
Hence this column.
But we also need to figure out why the ratings are up in the first place. The magic ratings fairy didn’t just fly in and sprinkle her magic ratings dust all over the tracks (if she did, officials would likely call for another debris caution).
Is it because of NASCAR’s effort to get back to the core fan? I doubt it. Aside from a lot of talk about core fans, there hasn’t actually
been any action taken.
And don’t tell me that “earlier” start times are helping the ratings, because the last three races have started at the exact same time they did last year.
Is it because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is suddenly doing well? I don’t think so. He hasn’t won a wild amount of races (or any points events,
for that matter) to draw in new viewers, and I firmly believe that Dale Jr. fans are NASCAR fans, too. In other words, Junior fans are going to tune in and watch the races even if their driver isn’t winning.
Is it because the early off-week between California and Las Vegas was eliminated, giving the series more momentum? Maybe, but I'd be willing to buy into that idea more if the California race hadn't been rained out.
Is it because the car of tomorrow is providing more competitive, side-by-side racing? Ha! How did I actually write that sentence without laughing?
So if the ratings increase isn’t attributable to any of those things, then what’s the deal?
My theory is the ratings are up because Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon aren’t winning every race. Simple as that.
We all know Johnson and Gordon are two of the nicest guys around. They’re polite, pleasant and don’t make anyone mad. But when they combine to win race after race, it gets real old. Sorry, but it’s true.
Fans grow tired of seeing the same dudes in victory lane all the time. Well, at least those dudes.
So it’s been somewhat refreshing to have four different winners in the first five races, and none of them named Gordon or Johnson.
After this year’s Super Bowl, I was bouncing off the walls when the Giants beat the Patriots. Was it because I was a huge Giants fan? No. I don’t even like them.
I was just so tired of the Patriots winning that I pleaded for anybody to beat them. And I suspect a lot of NASCAR fans out there feel the same way about Johnson and Gordon.
Maybe now that those drivers are not dominating every week, it’s a lot easier for other fans to sit back, relax and enjoy the race without getting aggravated – or bored – and therefore tune in longer and more often.
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