The media dubbed Sunday's NFL match-up between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts a mini-Super Bowl, and it didn't fail to deliver a miniature Super Bowl-like ratings boost for The Amazing Race's twelfth-season premiere.

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Although a lengthy NFL overrun delayed its broadcast by nearly a half-hour, The Amazing Race 12's premiere attracted the show's largest ever debut-episode audience, averaging 13.72 million overall viewers and a 8.3/12 rating/share in households during its broadcast, according to Live Plus Same Day ratings data from Nielsen Media Research.  CBS' broadcast of the Patriots/Colts game -- the highest-rated regular season Sunday afternoon NFL game in over 20 years -- averaged 33.82 million overall viewers during its entire broadcast and 38.46 million viewers during its 7:00-7:27PM ET overrun.

The Amazing Race 12's one-hour premiere -- which because of the football game, didn't begin until 8:26PM ET -- delivered its best ratings in the Adults 18-49 (4.3/10 rating/share) and Adults 25-54 (5.2/11 rating/share) demographics since the show's September 2005 eighth-season debut broadcast.

In addition, the show's twelfth-season premiere was The Amazing Race's most-watched broadcast since the show's May 2005 seventh-season finale averaged 16.01 million overall viewers -- the long-running franchise's all-time broadcast record.

Compared to The Amazing Race's tenth-season debut last September -- its most recent Fall premiere -- the show's twelfth-season debut increased by 35% among average overall viewers (13.72 million vs. 10.13 million); by 32% in households (8.3/12 vs. 6.3/10); by 13% among Adults 25-54 (5.2/11 vs. 4.6/10); and by 10% among Adults 18-49 (4.3/10 vs. 3.9/09).

For the week of October 29 through November 4, The Amazing Race 12 premiere broadcast ranked 17th in overall viewers; tied for 20th among Adults 18-49 with ABC's Tuesday night broadcast of Dancing with the Stars fifth-season results show; and also tied for 15th among Adults 25-54 with ABC's Sunday night broadcast of Brothers & Sisters.

60 Minutes -- the show sandwiched between CBS' Patriots/Colts broadcast and The Amazing Race -- also benefited significantly from having the football game as its lead-in.  In addition to delivering its best households numbers since November 2006, 60 Minutes also delivered its best overall viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 performance since December 2005 -- resulting in the program ranking third among total viewers, tied for 10th among Adults 18-49, and seventh among Adults 25-54 in the week's overall rankings.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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