NHRA's TV Ratings 2002-2007 (2 Viewers)

[Toejam]

You wonder why NHRA loses sponsors every year? Since 2002 NHRA has lost an average of 7 million TV viewers! Looks like the Countdown was a Major Bust!

::: Drag Racing Online ::: Looking at the NHRA TV Numbers - 2/20/08

 

[Ted]

Look at 2004: Gainesville has only 550K and less than two months later Bristol draws 2.5M. I'd say we get a lot of "drop in" traffic.

 

[d'kid]

Having done the Nielson thing, a couple of things stick out. Notice the same bulk numbers for several races in a row. I also believe the reading numbers are out of whack because of multiple showings due to the rain.

The biggest surprise is the Richmond numbers, guess the 2nd beheading did mean something. overall, it looked like we had the same viewers for every race, give or take, the count differences for indy the number of shows, reading the same thing.

I also noticed that Chicago 2 and Richmond's numbers were rolled together.

The real question on the numbers is the number of drag fans in the Nielson sample. The other part is what Nielson counts as a viewer, if you're in the room, you are a viewer, if you're watching or not. And heaven forbid if you go on vacation while you're a Nielson family, that will screw up the numbers you turn in, if you're honest.

d'kid

 

[The Swegian]

"The bottom line is that the National Hot Rod Association is satisfied with paying $9,297,671.00* to ESPN to produce their yearly TV shows"

So that's why NHRA hasn't had a purse increase in almost 10 years.

 

[PJ]

Well I guess this answers the questions for those who still didn't get it. The countdown did not work.

Less Viewers for the final 6 races during last years countdown then there was the year before. And the final 6 was were all the drama was supposed to be. According to the plan we should have seen huge numbers during those races. Look at Pomona 2, the final race, should have been the super bowl of drama and it had a significant drop from the previous year. Actually it had the lowest total for any P2 on the page. Funny thing is weren't we all excited because they annouced that the last few races last year were going to have better time slots. That alone should have given the numbers a boost, I wonder how bad they would have been in the usual time slots.

They still have not got it right with this years changes. While I do agree it is better than last year, although really could it have gotten any worse, it is still not where it should be. Obviously I'm against any type of welfare racing system, as looking at the ratings it appears I'm not alone. However if NHRA is hell bent on forcing a playoff system, then they should actually make it a playoff system. That would mean having the playoff cars actually race each other. Sure the best team may still not win the title but at least whomever does win did so by beating the best. The Patriots were the best team in the nfl this year but the Giants had to actually beat them(and other playoff teams) to be crowned the champs. Last year we saw a champion get crowned who didn't have to race other coutndown teams. It cheapens the championship and the changes this year have not fixed that.


My mom works at a college. She had the TV on in the lunch room watching the winternationals this year and a group of college kids got into watching it. She was explaining the sport and answering their question, they were really getting into it and liking it.....and then the announcers started talking about this years countdown. This group of potential fans turned to her and were disgusted. They made comments comparing it to the boring nascar stuff and why would they pick a champion like that. They ended up changing the channel to something else. There was a whole group of potential fans, potential sponsors customer, lost due to one idiotic facet of the sport.

 

[Toejam]

Look at 2004: Gainesville has only 550K and less than two months later Bristol draws 2.5M. I'd say we get a lot of "drop in" traffic.

Ted, The TV ratings for Gainesville are artificially low because it's March Madness time and NHRA usually gets really bad TV times!

 

[FABMAN]

Ted, The TV ratings for Gainesville are artificially low because it's March Madness time and NHRA usually gets really bad TV times!

Topeka- 88% increase because they moved race from first holiday of summer. I remember back in early 90's there was a lot more interest in Drag Racing. I was with Mac Tools at that time and I would display my truck on manufactures midway and the distributors were allowed to sell ticket packages and we would sell out every year. We had excellent fall weather and racing was fantastic. and stands were full. NHRA needs to go back and see what they were doing then and add TV they have now and they may have something.

 

[Rajunz]

You wonder why NHRA loses sponsors every year? Since 2002 NHRA has lost an average of 7 million TV viewers! Looks like the Countdown was a Major Bust!............

How can you guys honestly say with a straight face that the Countdown was a bust? You may not care for the Countdown, which is fine, but the numbers were better than the previous three years. If you want to knitpick it, go back and figure out what happened at the end of 2003 when the major drop in viewership occured.

And those numbers are bogus anyhow, how in the hell can we have viewership numbers for the last 6 years in Richmond? All credibility goes out the window.

 

[blackbeard]

you staunch anti-countdown people are like right-wing nut jobs......horses with blinders on. if the countdown quadrupled the ratings and tripled the payouts, you would still find a way to discredit it.

of course the ratings at the end of the season are going to be down from last year. other than the Saint's miracle story, 06 was a pretty boring football year. i mean, c'mon. when rex CHOKEman makes it to the big dance, you know it's a bad year for football. and outside of louisiana, tennessee, and indiana, no one gives a poop about the colts. this year we had one of the most historical NFL seasons ever! i myself even passed up a few races to watch SNF.

 

[PJ]

you staunch anti-countdown people are like right-wing nut jobs......horses with blinders on. if the countdown quadrupled the ratings and tripled the payouts, you would still find a way to discredit it.

of course the ratings at the end of the season are going to be down from last year. other than the Saint's miracle story, 06 was a pretty boring football year. i mean, c'mon. when rex CHOKEman makes it to the big dance, you know it's a bad year for football. and outside of louisiana, tennessee, and indiana, no one gives a poop about the colts. this year we had one of the most historical NFL seasons ever! i myself even passed up a few races to watch SNF.

Thank you, this is one of the funniest post I have read in awhile. Talk about us anti countdown people as horses with blinders on, all the while you are looking at the same stats we are and coming up with some type of excuse as to why its not the countdowns fault. BTW I'm not in Lousiana, Tenn or Indiana yet I am interested in the Colts. You said IF the countdown had quadrupled the ratings the fact is that not only did it not grow the ratings at all but we lost.

THe countdown was supposed to increase fans and attract sponsors. We have lost more sponsored cars than we have gained and as can be seen in the ratigs list the holy countdown didn't peak fans interest enough to bother watching.

Hell ya I hate the countdown but even I would quit complaining about it if they at least made the playoff teams actually race each other. Put the 8 "playoff" teams on one side of the ladder and the other side of the ladder is filled by non playoff cars that qualify at that race.

 

[blackbeard]

We have lost more sponsored cars than we have gained .

Ok let's do a count. this count begins with 2007, the first year of the countdown, and covers until the present. everyone feel free to add/subtract to this. just copy and paste this master list into your post and edit as needed.

Sponsors Lost
Torco (had nothing to do with the CD, but we'll count it)
Skytel (company went bankrupt)
Brut
Zantrex

Sponsors Gained
Old Spice
NAPA
Canadiae
Caterpillar
DHL
Monster
Rockstar
vis visa
vegas fuel
mickey thompson
mountain tire

 

[indidad- The Guy- Uncle Steve]

Ok let's do a count. this count begins with 2006, the first year of the countdown, and covers until the present. everyone feel free to add/subtract to this. just copy and paste this master list into your post and edit as needed.

Sponsors Lost
Torco (had nothing to do with the CD, but we'll count it)
Skytel (company went bankrupt)
Brut
Zantrex

Sponsors Gained
Old Spice
NAPA
Canadiae
Caterpillar
DHL
Monster
Rockstar
vis visa
vegas fuel
mickey thompson
mountain tire

Also gained Quicklane & Motorcraft, (Tasca)

 

[PJ]

Ok let's do a count. this count begins with 2006, the first year of the countdown, and covers until the present. everyone feel free to add/subtract to this. just copy and paste this master list into your post and edit as needed.

Sponsors Lost
Torco (had nothing to do with the CD, but we'll count it)
Skytel (company went bankrupt)
Brut
Zantrex

Sponsors Gained
Old Spice
NAPA
Canadiae
Caterpillar
DHL
Monster
Rockstar
vis visa
vegas fuel
mickey thompson
mountain tire

Countdown was for the 2007 season not 06. So we have to knock a bunch of those off the list already.

Also lets not forget teams that cut their spending csk, army, Valvoline, mach1 air.....

and the companies that have been brought in It would be interesting to see what they are spending into it versus what those that left were spending. Several collumist have written how just becuase a sponsor is on the car as a big sponsor don't assume that they are actually paying the full price that they would normally.

 

[Joker]

From what I've heard, atleast half of the energy drink sponsors are hardly full deals there just giving them the billing and you can add several more to that list including DHL with Kalitta also. Mickey T also, Bill's just running a few races unless they step up with more involvement.

 

[Rajunz]

....................all the while you are looking at the same stats we are......................the fact is that not only did it not grow the ratings at all but we lost...........

No, the question is what stats are you looking at PJ?

I see viewership for 2006 as 39,846,240
I see viewership for 2007 as 40,617,620

I see 2006 average per race as 1,732,445
I see 2007 average per race as 1,765,983

Now I could be wrong, or it could be my "Louisiana Math", but that's an increase in viewership no matter how you care to spin it.

 

[blackbeard]

and the companies that have been brought in It would be interesting to see what they are spending into it versus what those that left were spending. Several collumist have written how just becuase a sponsor is on the car as a big sponsor don't assume that they are actually paying the full price that they would normally.

it was a typo. it is corrected now....2007. which "gained" sponsor on that list was inked before the countdown was created?

in case you forgot what you said, let me remind you
"We have lost more sponsored cars than we have gained"

you did not say "i THINK the funding for pro cars is been reduced," or "not all major sponsors pay the same." you said "we have lost more sponsored cars than we have gained [because of the countdown]." and that sir, is DEAD WRONG. (see above list)

now if you want to flip-flop your argument into a numbers game, fine. you say "it would be interesting to see what they are spending into it versus those that left were spending." well you are speculating, repeat SPECULATING. when you have some hard facts, come back and we'll acknowledge it. and i mean numbers, not what some joe schmoe columnist said in an article.

fact is since the history of sponsored drag racing, sponsorship dollars have varied greatly from deal to deal. this didn't start with the countdown. do you know if joe amato's TRW sponsorship paid the same as tom hoover's pioneer deal? im sure they were different, and there was no countdown back then.

 

[megadeth]

Until the NHRA gets a TV package that they get paid for as opposed to them paying to have the race televised all this crap don't matter!

FYI if this was a TV program with those anemic numbers the show would be cancelled!

 

[PJ]

No, the question is what stats are you looking at PJ?

I see viewership for 2006 as 39,846,240
I see viewership for 2007 as 40,617,620

I see 2006 average per race as 1,732,445
I see 2007 average per race as 1,765,983

Now I could be wrong, or it could be my "Louisiana Math", but that's an increase in viewership no matter how you care to spin it.

We are talking the countdown though, remember the event that was supposed to help the sport grow, take us to that magical place called the next level.

Look at the countdown races from 2007, then compare those final races to 2006
2006= 9,198,400 2007 = 8,809,920

That would be a decrease. Doesn't matter how much coolaid you drink its hard to spin that one. Now on top of that with all the effort they put in cramming the countdown hype down our throats it would appear to be an edsel like flop.


As for sponsors you are right I did say how many had come and gone, forgive me for trying to look bigger picture are to the value and input of the new arrivals vs the old departures. I brought it up in that just because a new company coming in it doesn't mean that they bring the same as the old. My football team can trade a quarterback back for another quarterback. On the stat sheet it shows that I had a QB then and now I still have one just a differrent name. Now of course when the QB I had was Tom Brady but now I have Joey Harrington. Well the difference is painfully obvious.

Now before someone gets their panties in a wad I am not saying that all of the new sponsors coming in are inferior. I am going on what journalist who are much more knowledgeable about this than most of us here have written that there seems to be alot of teams underselling themselves.

 

[blackbeard]

i guess you didn't read my second to last paragraph

this constant whining is getting ridiculous. go watch swamp buggy racing or something

 

[NHRADeuce]

We are talking the countdown though, remember the event that was supposed to help the sport grow, take us to that magical place called the next level.

Look at the countdown races from 2007, then compare those final races to 2006
2006= 9,198,400 2007 = 8,809,920

That would be a decrease. Doesn't matter how much coolaid you drink its hard to spin that one. Now on top of that with all the effort they put in cramming the countdown hype down our throats it would appear to be an edsel like flop.

That's a 4% drop across 3 races when the competition was the Patriots tearing the NFL a new a$$ hole. Pomona Sunday night you know what was in SNF? 8-0 Pats vs. 7-0 Colts. You don't think that might have put a teensy dent in the NHRA numbers?? I bet that game alone would account for at least a 10% drop in viewership. I know I watched that game and recorded the race. No matter how you spin it there were more viewers last year than 2006. The trend had been upward since 2004 and that's a good thing. In a time when even mighty Nascar is down in the ratings, NHRA is up.