Last week's premiere of CBS' The Amazing Race: Family Edition got off to a solid start for the network, averaging 10.64 million viewers despite airing in a highly competitive two-hour period that also featured the broadcasts of Fox's House; ABC's Commander In Chief and Boston Legal; and NBC's My Name Is Earl, The Office and Law & Order: SVU.
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Overall, The Amazing Race: Family Edition's special 9-11PM ET/PT premiere averaged a 6.6/10 rating/share among households, a 4.4/11 among Adults 18-49, a 3.7/10 among Adults 18-34, and a 5.2/11 among Adults 25-54. The performance placed CBS second in all three demographics during the two-hour period.
Although The Amazing Race: Family Edition's September 27 premiere finished third among viewers in its normal 9-10PM ET/PT time period -- behind Commander In Chief (16.4 million) and House (13.4 million) -- the eighth edition of the long-running CBS reality series performed better among the hour's Adults 18-49 demographic, where its 4.3/11 rating/share placed it in a dead heat with ABC's Chief and NBC's Earl/Office combo for second in the hour (behind Fox's House.)
While The Amazing Race held up well in the face of increased competition from ABC and NBC's nascent hit series, the addition of Chief and Earl to the 9PM time period did hurt The Amazing Race: Family Edition's premiere numbers. Compared to Family Edition, last spring's March 1 premiere of the The Amazing Race 7's averaged 11.76 million viewers and finished a solid second to an American Idol-fueled episode of House among the Adults 18-49, 25-54, and 18-34 demographics.