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 Fox is counting on NASCAR, among other sports properties, to build a
following for Fox Sports 1. While the channel introduced in August
of 2013 has done well versus its predecessor -- Speed Channel -- it
still has a long way to go when it comes to gaining households
versus ESPN or ESPN2, each leading FS1 by 10 to 12 million,
depending on who's counting.
Saturday night's race is the first All-Star event on FS1. To be
perfectly blunt, the All-Star race has always been a bit of a loser
on TV, especially on cable channels with fewer households than the
networks. The race is not part of the championship and has a wacky
format that constantly changes from year to year in a relatively
fruitless pursuit of better ticket sales and ratings. And, the race
falls on a Saturday night, usually a weak spot for ratings.
This year is a bit more significant because it's another chance to
judge whether demand from NASCAR viewers will help FS1 gain more
households through cable providers. That's certainly part of the
strategy behind a long term contract between Fox Sports and NASCAR.
According to one executive at FS1, the channel is in its infancy
when it comes to the battle with ESPN. So, look for a small number
for the All-Star race ratings. The ratings have averaged a paltry
2.2 over the last four years on Fox Sports. Anything close to a 2.0
rating on FS1 would be encouraging for Fox Sports executives.
Overall in TV land, the ratings are consistently down in 2015 in
some year-over-year comparisons, especially where FS1 is involved
(as is inevitable) and where rain has interrupted races. But are
this year's ratings more reflective of changes at Fox Sports? And
are the ratings a plebiscite on the popularity of NASCAR?
Combined with the obvious decline in ticket sales, ratings over the
past five seasons confirm that the following of NASCAR's Sprint Cup
has gotten smaller. On the other hand, the TV viewership is
consistently higher compared to other sporting events in the same
time slots and the NASCAR fans are reliable when it comes to
following their sport from the beginning of the season until the
finish.
It's these latter characteristics that TV networks such as Fox and
NBC like -- especially when they're trying to build new sports
networks. NBC will return to NASCAR coverage this summer with 13 of
its 20 races appearing on the NBC Sports Network.
--Kyle Busch's remarkable comeback on Saturday night from the broken
right leg and left foot suffered at Daytona may well be timely for
TV ratings. How well he'll fare in his first competition since
February is certainly an intriguing question. Whether he'll be
competitive enough to finish in the Top 30 in points by the start of
the Chase to be eligible for it or get the needed victory to make
the Chase remains an open-ended question.
In addition to his medical clearance, there's reason to believe
Busch will bounce back quickly. He has been upbeat, relaxed and
generally in good spirits at his media conferences. The driver, who
just turned 30, has 29 career Sprint Cup victories and said he's
just as determined to win races despite losing some of his sense of
invincibility. "That's actually why we're trying to get back in for
the All-Star Race," he said. "Then we're going to go and run the
rest of the year, see if the success can't continue like it has
before the crash, that we're able to run consistent enough to get
ourselves in the Top 30 in points, maybe get a win in order to get
ourselves Chase eligible."
Given that Busch has not raced a low downforce chassis under the
current 2015 rules and that he has a new crew chief this year in
Adam Stevens, making the Chase will be a tall order. Due to rules
prohibiting testing, he's only been able to make test runs in a Late
Model car on non-Cup tracks.
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Busch suggested the rule requiring a driver to be in the Top 30 in
points to be Chase eligible was really designed to keep interlopers
out -- such as road race ringers -- and not regulars such as him who
have been injured. But NASCAR officials didn't see it that way,
waiving only the rule requiring drivers to attempt to qualify for
all races. And after all, it is a championship representing a season
as much as a post-season.
Busch will have two important people standing by in Charlotte. Erik
Jones, the designated relief driver, and his wife Samantha. She is
expecting their first child, a son, on May 22nd. The driver
confirmed he will give up his racing seat if necessary to be present
for the birth.
--Now that all of the appeals by Richard Childress Racing have been
turned down, did NASCAR dodge its own version of Deflategate?
It was more probable than not the Richard Childress Racing car of
Ryan Newman had tires illegally deflated -- air bled away by
pinholes in the sidewalls -- when he finished second to Kevin
Harvick in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway last
year.
NASCAR caught up with the team's tires in the fourth race this
season at Fontana and issued fines and suspensions. Technically,
that's the team's only official violation.
--Usually the definition of an all-star is an athlete having a good
season. That's not true for Martin Truex Jr. He is second only to
Kevin Harvick in the standings and is the leading candidate to make
the Chase on points alone. But he didn't make the All-Star race's
initial starting line-up. Instead, he'll need to finish first or
second in the Sprint Showdown or win the fan vote. He doesn't have a
recent victory and has not won the All-Star race previously.
In place of his previous consistent runs near the front this season,
Truex Jr. led five times for 95 laps at the Kansas Speedway last
Saturday in a new Chevy built by his Furniture Row Racing team. He's
confident about getting into victory lane sometime soon.
The new Chevy for intermediate tracks "is kind of the newest and
latest and greatest that we've come up with and we definitely feel
like we closed that gap a little bit," said Truex Jr. "We'll just
have to wait and see if that plays out on other racetracks. But if
we can keep doing that and keep finding little things here and there
to close that gap and keep being consistent putting ourselves in
position, I feel like we can win some races. We've got a great team,
we've got everything we need to do it, and we've got a lot of
confidence. So we've just got to keep getting in that position and
try to close the deal."
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