Danica= Ratings

[RustyFan4Life]

Danica's ARCA start lifts TV Ratings to record level: SPEED coverage of the ARCA Racing Series season opener from Daytona scored a Nielsen Household Rating of 2.30 (1,723,000 households), a 59% increase over last year's 1.45 (1,062,000 households). Highlighted by the stock car debut of Danica Patrick, race coverage peaked at 2.66 (1,997,000 households), up a stunning 72 percent from last year's peak of 1.55 (1,137,000 households). According to Nielsen Media Research, 2.4 million viewers tuned in to see the Saturday afternoon race, an 87% increase over last year's audience of 1.3 million. The Nielsen ratings, which positioned SPEED as the No. 1 network in basic cable during the time slot, were the highest ever for an ARCA race and rank only behind SPEED's exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race as the highest ratings ever for the network.

[71Fan]

That girl be a money machine for sure for sure for sure

[Mark in Oshawa]

71 Fan, if that's the case, explain where all the fans were when she was racing in the IRL and had her best season ever?

She is getting new ratings for NASCAR and ARCA, but come fall, no one is tuning in to see if she is in the race or not I would humbly suggest. Unless she starts winning, over the year the ratings bump wont be really large. NASCAR fans who were always NASCAR fans will keep watching, and the casual fan and IRL fans likely wont care come mid season. ARCA has always been a bit of a freak show at Daytona, and ratings come and go based on who drops in to learn.

[call_me_andrew]

Perhaps Mark has forgotten how Indy 500 ratings have dropped since the spike that marked her rookie year.

Here's the crazy part: The 700,000 household difference is about 300,000 households more than the average Indy Car race.

[71Fan]

Got no idea about the fans in IRL, I don't follow open wheel all that much. Never really have. But, could her IRL owner even have fielded a car without her?

[slorydn1]

Got no idea about the fans in IRL, I don't follow open wheel all that much. Never really have. But, could her IRL owner even have fielded a car without her?

Yeah, Michael Andretti is a big name in his own right...Mario's Kid, and John's cousin

[Mark in Oshawa]

Perhaps Mark has forgotten how Indy 500 ratings have dropped since the spike that marked her rookie year.

Here's the crazy part: The 700,000 household difference is about 300,000 households more than the average Indy Car race.

I haven't forgotten at all. THAT Is my point. There will be a spike as she shows up, but once she shows herself to be no different than the others with a helmet on and she isn't winning, there will be NO ratings bump over time....

Danica for all her popularity has done little or nothing for the IRL ratings so it would be stupid to think the effect on a much larger audience would bump that up over time. She is a novelty that will wear off. The only way this goes out the window is if she wins. THAT I cant see happening on any sort of regular basis. She didn't win in Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic or the IRL (save one fuel mileage victory in Japan). To suggest she somehow in 13 starts in Nationwide will win races without any stock car experience is a fantasy only Danica Fan will entertain...Danica herself isn't that unrealistic I am sure.

She is better known for her GoDaddy commercials and being a bit of a diva and yes, for looking fetching in a bathing suit. That hasn't helped the IRL ratings and it wont help the NASCAR ratings in the long haul.

[slorydn1]

Today is the day BSPN should pull out all the Danica stops, since there won't be any OTA's with all this rain. We'll find out here in another hour or so