NASCAR TV ratings down, but younger viewership up (cont'd)

Julie Sobieski, ESPN's senior director of programming, expects those numbers to increase when ABC/ESPN picks up its portion of the Nextel Cup schedule beginning July 29 at Indianapolis, which will offer the network more cross-promotional opportunities.

"When we get Cup and we have everything in place, from all the studio programming, practices, qualifying, we expect to be heading into a really good period," Sobieski said.

Trager admitted surprise that ESPN2's Busch broadcasts haven't performed better. FX's broadcasts benefited last year from having the cross-promotion capability with FOX's Cup broadcasts.

"The ESPN universe is a pretty strong machine," Trager said. "Are people following it? Do they know where to find it? Any time you switch networks, things can change. Nielsen samples can change. FX is a full-fledged network, and FOX gave FX a lot of promotion. But I guess this is still surprising."

And despite ESPN's many platforms, one media buyer pointed out that not all of their platforms are the same.

"People want to think that ESPN2 is ESPN, and it's just not," said Tom McGovern, director of sports media at OMD's Optimum Sports.

Despite the overall declines, FOX and ESPN have reported increases in some key demographics. The male 18-34 demo had experienced three consecutive years of declines on FOX before this year's 7 percent increase. The male 18-49 demo on FOX had dipped steadily since 2001, and it enjoyed a 2 percent gain in 2007 (4.7 vs. 4.6).