TV Ratings: ABC signs off; Chevy's media exposure jumps

The final race of ABC’s Verizon IndyCar Series saw a small uptick in viewers from the same weekend in 2017.

Race 2 of the Dual in Detroit earned a 0.63 rating, up a tad from the 2017 race that scored a 0.62. Saturday’s race drew a 0.55, down slightly from the 0.57 rating from a year ago.

In perhaps the biggest coup of the weekend, SportsBusiness Journal reports that Chevy and the Corvette brand experienced an increase of more than 70-fold in media exposure compared to Race 1 with the unfortunate pre-race pace car crash on Sunday, with Apex Marketing Group citing $3.5 million in exposure in the 24 hours after the crash.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series saw a ratings dip for Sunday’s race at Pocono, scoring a 1.63 and averaging 2.67 million viewers compared to last year, which earned a 2.07 and averaged 3.356 million viewers. In both instances the race aired on Fox Sports 1.

The decline was also seen with the Xfinity Series. This year’s race drew a 0.56 rating and averaged 826,000 viewers; last year was a 0.66 with an average of 1.009 million viewers. Those races were also available on FS1.

The Mello Yello NHRA Drag Racing Series earned a 0.54 for its final eliminations from Chicago (865,000 viewers) on FS1; last year the series scored a 0.73 and 1.179 million viewers for its eliminations from New England.