Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Guess who in NASCAR bumped up ESPN SportsCenter's ratings?

 

   The first athlete ever to guest host ESPN’s flagship news and information program "SportsCenter" also brought some added viewers to the show.

   Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was guest host on the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the special edition of the program earned a 0.7 U.S. household rating - 17 percent higher than the 0.6 average rating for the Tuesday program so far this fall.
 
   Viewership was up 22 percent with an average of 931,021 tuned in during the one-hour program. The average so far this fall for the 6 p.m. program on Tuesdays has been 760,448.
 
   Johnson joined regular anchors John Anderson and Lindsay Czarniak and performed all of the duties of a SportsCenter host, including presenting news and highlights and conducting interviews. During the show, Johnson interviewed Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops and Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and asked questions of ESPN NFL analyst Tedy Bruschi. He also narrated a NASCAR-themed “Not Top 10” list.
 
   Johnson was only the third celebrity to guest host in the program’s 34-year history, joining actors Billy Crystal and Ken Jeong. 
 

 

Sports car testing halted at Daytona because of airborne wrecks

   Statement from International Motor Sports Association:

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2013) – Officials from the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Continental Tire have jointly decided to suspend on-track testing of TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype (P)  and Prototype Challenge (PC) race cars after issues were discovered during testing at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday.

   MSA and Continental Tire are analyzing the situation and working toward a solution. On-track testing will continue at Daytona on Wednesday for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. On-track testing of the DeltaWing DWC13 prototype – which utilizes a unique tire and technical package – will also continue as scheduled.

   Coverage of the incidents can be found here.