The season premiere of CBS's "The Amazing Race" scored the series' lowest premiere ratings ever on Sunday night, while ABC's drama "Revenge" spiked, while Fox came out on top in the key demo with its Animation Domination programming block, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox took first place in the advertiser-preferred 18-49 demographic with a 1.7 rating/4 share and fourth in total viewers with 3.8 million. Following a "Simpsons" repeat at 7 p.m., "The Cleveland Show" at 7:30 dropped 21 percent to a 1.1/3 and had 2.6 million total viewers. A new "Simpsons" at 8 ran even with last week for a 2.0/5 and took 4.6 million total viewers, while "Bob's Burgers" at 8:30 ticked up to a 1.9/5 and had 4 million total viewers. "Family Guy" at 9 posted a 2.4/6, tying the "Amazing Race" premiere for the night's best performance, and drew 4.9 million total viewers, while "American Dad" at 9:30 had a 1.9/5 with 4.1 million total viewers.
CBS, which was delayed five minutes in the Eastern and Central time zones due to golf coverage, shared second place with ABC in the key 18-49 demographic with a 1.6 rating/4 share and took first place in total viewers outright with 9.2 million. Following "60 Minutes" at 7, which posted a 1.3/4 and drew 9.5 million total viewers, the "Amazing Race" premiere at 8 p.m. dropped off 14 percent from last February's premiere to a 2.4/6, the series' lowest-rated premiere ever, and had 9.5 million total viewers. (The good news for "Amazing Race" is that it tied Fox's "Family Guy" for the night's strongest ratings performance and was the night's most-watched show.) "The Good Wife" at 9 dipped to a series low of 1.4/3 and had 8.5 million total viewers, while "The Mentalist" the following hour slid 21 percent from its last original three weeks ago, posting a 1.5/4 and drawing 9.2 million total viewers.
ABC drew second place in total viewers with 5.9 million. "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 7 posted a 1.5/4 with 6.9 million total viewers, while "Once Upon a Time" the following hour inched up to a 2.3/6 and had 7.6 million total viewers. "Revenge" at 9 jumped 29 percent for a 1.8/4 and drew 6 million total viewers. A repeat of the new drama "Zero Hour" followed.
NBC came in fourth in ratings and third in total viewers with a 1.2/3 and 4.4 million. Aside from "Dateline" at 7 p.m., which took a 1.0/3 and 5.4 million total viewers, the network aired repeats.
