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NASCAR: Talladega TV ratings soar in move from Cable to NBC

By Alex Herbst

TALLADEGA, AL - OCTOBER 15: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, and Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, are involved in an on-track incident during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 15, 2017 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Getty Images)
TALLADEGA, AL - OCTOBER 15: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, and Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, are involved in an on-track incident during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 15, 2017 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Getty Images) /
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In a rare sight for NASCAR this year, TV ratings for the Talladega Superspeedway race for the Monster Energy Cup Series rose in a move from cable to NBC.

It has been a very difficult year for NASCAR on the television front, with most races remaining flat or declining in terms of viewership and ratings. Only a handful of races have seen an increase over 2016, including the season-opening Daytona 500 and the Bristol Night Race. Officials can now add the Alabama 500 to that list, with numbers increasing after a move from NBCSN to the NBC broadcast network.

Brad Keselowski’s win in the final restrictor plate race of the 2017 season earned a 2.8 rating and 4.7 million viewers on Saturday afternoon, a significant jump over previous years. It was a 27 percent jump in ratings and a 32 percent increase in viewership over 2016, which was one of the least viewed races at Talladega since 2000. Under NBC’s latest NASCAR contract, the race had previously aired on NBCSN since 2015.

This year’s edition of the race was the most watched and highest rated since it aired on ESPN in 2014. It was also the first time the race was shown on broadcast television since 2009 on ABC. Since then, viewership has declined significantly, with the 2009 edition of the race bringing in close to 6.6 million viewers.

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It is clear that races airing on broadcast television still have the upper hand over cable. The top 12 most watched NASCAR races of the season aired on either FOX or NBC. In total, 13 races have aired on over-the-air networks thus far, with still Phoenix and Homestead to be aired on the peacock network in November. The majority of races on FS1 and NBCSN, on the other hand, have seen declines.

An interesting caveat to this week’s NASCAR ratings is how the race ran long and did not finish as scheduled. The event ran nearly an hour past its expected conclusion, thanks in part to an exceptionally high attrition rate and two red flag periods.

Next: Five reasons to move Cup Series races to Saturday

At the end of the race, coverage shifted very quickly from NBC to NBCSN for post-race activities, with the main network cutting nearly straight to NBC Nightly News as Brad Keselowski began to celebrate. It was a move reminiscent of the days the series was aired on ABC in the previous television contract, days that many NASCAR fans had hoped were over.

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