TNT's 2008 ratings match those from last year
Final Nielsen Media Research numbers show that TNT's coverage of six NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season matched its ratings from 2007 with one big gain and one big loss, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports.
The network averaged a 4.2 coverage area rating and 5.7 million viewers for the six events, the Daily reports. Its first race this year, the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway, earned a 4.6 coverage rating, up 27.8 percent from last year, but it was the only TNT event to see a ratings increase. The Daily reports that three of the next five races declined from '07.
Coverage of Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, which moved from a Sunday afternoon race last year, saw ratings drop 22.9 percent and viewership fall 19.4 percent. Direct comparisons are somewhat skewed because Saturday night events typically draw smaller audiences.
The race-by-race ratings: June 8 Pocono 500 at Pocono, 4.6, up 27.8 percent; June 15 LifeLock 400 at Michigan, 3.9, even; June 22 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, 4.3, down 8.5 percent; Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire, 4.0, down 2.4 percent; Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, 4.5, even; and LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland, 3.7, down 22.9 percent.
