Final Ratings

Final Ratings: Fox' NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Tops Last Weekend, But Audience Flat

By Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor

Published April 20, 2012

Fox averaged a 4.0 rating and 6.8 million viewers for last Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, flat in rating, but down 3.8% in viewership compared to the same race last year. The race did lead all sports telecasts last weekend. Meanwhile, CBS earned a 1.6 final rating for its coverage of the final round of the PGA Tour RBC Heritage, down 15.8% from a 1.9 rating last year. Fox Soccer again topped all English-language soccer matches on cable TV last week with the Tottenham Hotspur-Chelsea FA Cup Semifinal on April 15, which averaged 338,000 viewers. Only one MLS match -- Crew-Union on NBC Sports Net on April 14 -- cracked the top 10.

The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.

TELECAST	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Samsung Mobile 500 (Texas)	4/14	Fox	8:00-11:00pm	4.0
NBA: Mavericks-Lakers	4/15	ABC	3:30-6:00pm	3.0
NBA: Heat-Knicks	4/15	ABC	1:00-3:30pm	2.8
MLB: (regional)	4/14	Fox	1:00-4:00pm	2.3
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal: Flyers-Penguins: Game Three	4/15	NBC	3:00-6:00pm	2.0
PGA Tour: RBC Heritage: Final Round	4/15	CBS	3:00-6:00pm	1.6
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal: Capitals-Bruins: Game Two	4/14	NBC	3:00-6:00pm	1.3
NHL Western Conference Quarterfinal: Predators-Red Wings: Game Three	4/15	NBC	12:00-3:00pm	1.2
PGA Tour: RBC Heritage: Third Round	4/14	CBS	3:00-6:00pm	1.2
"NBA Countdown"	4/15	ABC	12:30-1:00pm	0.9
PBR Built Ford Tough Series: 15/15 Bucking Battle (taped)	4/15	CBS	2:00-3:00pm	0.8
Monster Energy AMA Supercross (taped)	4/15	CBS	1:00-2:00pm	0.6
"ESPN Sports Saturday"	4/14	ABC	4:00-6:00pm	0.5
Midget Car Racing: Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals (taped)	4/14	CBS	2:00-3:00pm	0.4

TELECAST	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
NBA: Heat-Bulls	4/12	TNT	8:16-11:07pm	2.4	3,671
NBA: Knicks-Bulls	4/10	ESPN	9:41pm-12:12am	1.9	2,834
MLB: Angels-Yankees	4/15	ESPN	7:58-11:39pm	1.9	2,830
NBA: Celtics-Heat	4/10	ESPN	7:00-9:41pm	1.7	2,405
NBA: Knicks-Bucks	4/11	ESPN	8:06-10:43pm	1.2	1,684
NASCAR Nationwide Series: O'Reilly Auto Parts 300	4/13	ESPN2	8:30-11:25pm	1.0	1,656
NBA: Mavericks-Warriors	4/12	TNT	11:07pm-1:13am	1.2	1,358
NBA: Suns-Rockets	4/13	ESPN	8:06-10:46pm	0.9	1,149
NBA: Warriors-Trail Blazers	4/11	ESPN	10:43pm-1:02am	0.8	1,114
NBA: Mavericks-Trail Blazers	4/13	ESPN	10:46pm-1:07am	0.9	1,104