The Amazing Race broke all ratings records last night. TAR's success came thanks in large part to Romber's presence and the endless PR opportunities that gave producers at CBS. (And Phil was rude and churlish to Rob and Amber at the end. I'm truly ticked at him as he's the host-producer who'll pocket millions thanks to the show's success.)
Here's the article about ratings:
CBS's 'The Amazing Race 7' finishes big, sets series ratings records
By Steve Rogers, RealityTVWorld 05/11/2005
http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/story.php?s=3488
Putting to rest any remaining doubts that CBS's The Amazing Race has become a bonfide hit, last night's finale of the show's seventh edition crossed the finish line in amazing fashion, delivering the long-running reality series' best ever ratings performance among overall viewers, households, and all three of the key Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-34 demographics.
Airing from 9-11PM ET/PT, The Amazing Race 7's Tuesday, May 10 finale broadcast averaged 16.01 million overall viewers, a 9.6/15 rating/share in households, a 6.8/17 rating/share in Adults 18-49, a 7.7/17 rating/share in Adults 25-54, and a 6.0/16 rating/share among Adults 18-34. In addition to ranking as best ratings performance of any episode in The Amazing Race's previous seven seasons, the figures also led the two-hour time period in all five measurements.
Dominating the two-hour time block among the three key demographics, The Amazing Race 7 finale outperformed NBC and ABC's combined performance in the period (6.8/17 vs. 6.3/15 in Adults 18-49, 7.7/17 vs. 7.6/17 in Adults 25-54, and 6.0/16 vs. 5.0/14 in Adults 18-34).
The Amazing Race 7 finale also lifted CBS to Tuesday night ratings highs that it had not seen in some time, delivering the network's best performance in households and viewers since last fall's Country Music Awards telecast and its best Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-34 figures since the network's November 13, 2001 broadcast of Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary Special.
The Amazing Race 7 also concluded its run with the best averages of any edition of the reality franchise, averaging 13.03 million viewers, a 8.0/12 rating/share in households, a 5.3/13 rating/share in Adults 18-49, a 6.1/14 rating/share in Adults 25-54, and a 4.6/13 rating/share among Adults 18-34 during its season.
Well, after the "TAR family season 8" tanks I bet we see an "All Survivor" Amazing Race. Then an "All Star" Amazing Race.
Ugh.
I want Romber to race until they win...LOL
From a Blog:
He thinks like us:
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The Amazing Race 7
The Final 20 Minutes
Commentary by Evan D. Baltz
May 4, 2005
Since its very first season, I have been a huge fan of The Amazing Race. I think it has consistently been the best reality TV program, if not one of the best TV programs period. The production and editing always make it exciting and interesting and new.
This season was no exception. It was a great season and very exciting.
Love them or hate them, Rob and Amber were fun to watch. Watching old people make it as far as they did through the difficulties they had was inspiring.
There were plenty of great stories. Teams to love and teams to hate. And, as always, great locations.
Last night's show was great too. That is until the final 20 minutes.
There had been times in the past where it seemed the producers may have been working behind the scenes to make sure the racers staid close. After the first season, we all realized that they could do this at any time by making them take a flight that didn't leave until late in a day. It ensured that most of the teams would stay bunched up and make for exciting racing. I don't have a problem with that. Each team faced the same things.
However last night, on the final flight, both the final two teams were told that the earliest flight was an 11:15am flight. But Rob and Amber didn't want to settle for that. They begged and pleaded to get on an earlier flight, to no avail. But then they went to another counter and an agent there told them they could make an earlier flight that had been delayed if they ran. So they did and they made it just as the door was closing. Having made this flight, the race was over. A two hour lead with only a few last tasks made it pretty much a foregone conclusion.
But the, Uchenna and Joyce showed up. They also had been told the 11:15am flight was the only one. But then they saw on the board that another flight for Miami was in boarding status. They ran to that gate only to find the doors closed and the flight officially closed. The begged and pleaded to get on and were told the flight was closed. Race over, right?
At that point there was a commercial. I told my wife, if somehow they end up making it on to a closed flight, we will know this thing is fixed and that the producers stepped in and worked with a sponsor (American Airlines) to re-open a flight to allow Uchenna and Joyce to get on so that the final leg would be interesting.
When the show came back from a commercial, that is exactly what happened, suddenly for some reason now the agents who told them the flight was closed were singing a different tune. Now they said, well it is up to the pilots. So the agents called to the pilots (supposedly) and the flight was re-opened. Now how many times have you begged to get on a closed flight and the plane has re-opened the doors so you could get on? Never? Probably. So it smelled very, very fishy to me. I had a feeling that the producers were hoping that Uchenna and Joyce would win. I think they really wanted to give the money to them, knowing that Rob and Amber didn't need it. But, this isn't supposed to be a show about who needs the money the most. It is a show about who is the best racing team, and who can work the rules the best and win without the help of the producers.
For the record, I didn't necessarily want Rob and Amber to win. I think Uchenna and Joyce were great. But I wanted them to win fair and square. I didn't want them to win this way. Rob and Amber deserved to win that final leg and they were robbed. Yeah, yeah, I know they will survive and be just fine, but again, that isn't the point.
I think the producers then again intervened at the very end instructing the cab driver not to let them get by without paying. Do you mean to tell me that with $1 million dollars just a few feet away you would really worry about paying a cabby? I don't think so. You would have said to him, we are going to win $1 million dollars in about 2 minutes, if you sit right here for a few minutes we will give you a thousand dollars. It was just unrealistic. The producers wanted Rob and Amber to catch up a bit. The fact remains though; Uchenna and Joyce should not have made that last flight and should not have won.
I am pretty disappointed with that last 20 minutes. It ruined for me what was a great season. It tainted the victory and left a sour taste in my mouth. I will certainly continue to watch upcoming shows, but this is a memo to the producers: Don't mess with the show. Just let it be real. Don't over produce it and don't help people along. Once the show looses its integrity, it will no longer be the Emmy worthy programming it has always been.
Do you share these same thoughts?
Evan is a Web Designer and Corporate Training Specialist by day, and a Reality TV junky, author, and movie reviewer by night. You can write to Evan at realitytv@view2az.com
I just watched some of the Insider Videos. If you want some proof that Kelly is not the evil person she was portrayed as check out some of them.
Look at "Unsure" - the final Mat Chat with Phil. Ron talks about what a good person Kelly is and what a good teammate she was. When he is done, the entire group gives her a great big round of applause with lots of cheers. I believe they all truly liked her. (By the way, when Rob was talking about Amber, there was no cheering.)
Also check out "Dancing Queen". This is shortly after their big discussion about marriage. You can see her having some fun, and I think it is quite charming really. I admire her ability to stay in the race, focus on enjoying herself and the race while she was feeling heartbroken.
In some of the other videos she talks about facing reality, and how she and Ron will just be good friends. She is not the whiny silly girl she was portrayed as at all. She sheds a few tears (who wouldn't) but is clearly ready to move on with her life and accept what is.
OK, I am done trying to restore her reputation. ;-) I hope if she ever runs for office, you will all support her. :-) She was working for Sen. DeMint and has considered politics in the future.
Just wanted to say thank you very much for the excellent job you did on this thread. I know it must be hard work, and time consuming.
{{{{{{Veto!}}}}}}
Just saw Rob and Amber on Regis and Kelly. When Regis asked Rob what cost them the reace, he replied,"American Airlines".
Then went on to say, "whoever heard of after the door has been closed and the jetway retracted, that they would stop and allow someone to board"?