[Don]

Doubt the 20% decline in TV viewing for the Chase was due to switching from ABC to ESPN. Especially with the championship not decided until the last race with 3 drivers in contention. Better look for another reason/excuse. Or, maybe the 20% decline was from the 1st Chase race series, either way, not good.

From Auto Week.com"

" This one seems obvious: NASCAR plans to meet with ESPN during the off season to discuss everything from race starting times to promotions in hopes of reversing a precipitous decline in ratings. NASCAR moved to consistent 1 p.m. Eastern starting times this year and shifted many of its broadcasts from ABC to ESPN.

Ratings during the 10-race Chase for the Championship have declined more than 20 percent.

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said, “Obviously, we'd like our TV ratings on an upswing. We're looking at all kinds of things to see what's a better formula for us. There are other factors, too. We changed networks for the Chase, so we will be looking with our partners. ESPN wants the highest ratings possible for their network and so do we.

“We're not going to make decisions based on some ratings in one season that were not what we wanted. But obviously, our goal is to grow our audience, and expose NASCAR to the biggest audience we can. We have a lot of smart people, smart people in this industry who will ultimately achieve that.” "