Sports
NASCAR Drives NBC, NBCSN To Viewership Milestones
Las Vegas, NV
NASCAR fuels NBCSN’s best third quarter in history and status as fastest-growing cable network. 2015 is on pace to be NBCSN’s most-watched year ever.
The addition of NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series racing to NBC Sports Group’s portfolio in 2015 has driven a number of records and milestones, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company.
Last week’s broadcast of the 2015 Sprint Cup Championship from Miami on NBC stands as the most-watched NASCAR season finale in a decade, and as NBCSN prepares to present Friday night’s 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, the cable network is poised to close out its most-watched year on record.
Since the debut of live NASCAR racing over July 4th weekend, NBCSN has averaged 183,000 viewers in Total Day audience (6 a.m.-6 a.m.), which marks an increase of +120 percent over the same period one year ago and the best Total Day increase for any cable network in that five-month stretch (June 29-Nov. 29). As noted earlier this fall, NASCAR fueled NBCSN to its most-watched third quarter (June 29-Sept. 27) in history.
NBC’s five 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup races reached a total audience of nearly 31 million viewers (30.68M), up +42 percent vs. those races in 2014 (21.61M), and the Nov. 22 broadcast of the 2015 Sprint Cup Championship from Miami on NBC is the most-watched NASCAR season finale in a decade.
The five Sprint Cup races on NBC averaged a 3.21 rating and 5.25 million viewers, up +12 percent and +10 percent, respectively, over those events in 2014.
Highlights surrounding the 2015 NASCAR season on NBC and NBCSN include: