Could ‘The Amazing Race’ Be Canceled After Season 29?

It has been a popular series amongst diehard fans for more than a decade, but continued low ratings and a less-than desirable timeslot could be indicators that “The Amazing Race” is on it’s way to cancellation at CBS.

For the first time since the 12th season, “The Amazing Race” was left off of the Fall schedule in 2016, a shocking departure for a show that was once a core part of CBS’ Sunday lineup before it was moved to Friday nights in 2014. It also did not appear on the schedule until midway through CBS’ Spring schedule, debuting the season 29 premiere on March 30, in the most confusing timeslot yet—Thursdays at 10 p.m--where it was moved after “Training Day” was pulled from the air.

Whether it is directly related to the change in time slot or waning interest, the show has also seen a decline in ratings as well. According to TV By The Numbers, the season premiere was down nearly 30 percent in total viewers, with only 4.295 million total. The season overall has averaged at 4.062 million viewers, a decrease of 27.93 percent. The drop is perhaps more disturbing than past seasons, which have also seen downward trends.

By comparison, Season 28 (airing in Spring 2016 with a cast of all social media influencers) finished with an average 5.636 million viewers, a decrease of 3.17 percent from the previous Spring season. Season 26, which featured all couples, including ones set up by producers on blind dates, was the only other season to see as large of a drop in viewership, with a 26.47 percent drop in total viewers and 5.82 million viewers total.

Read: Which Season 29 “Amazing Race” Team Is Most Likely To Be Eliminated In Athens?

A number of factors could be factored in to the show’s decline in ratings. The time slot changes are potentially one of the issues, especially now that the show, which previously held 8 p.m. air times, is airing at 10 p.m. In general the move to a weekday timeslot over a weekend may be hurting the show, though it was initially moved from Sunday nights because of conflicts with sports coverage on the network that ran late and pushed shows to later start times. After fans initially complained about the change, host Phil Keoghan took to Twitter to defend the move, saying that CBS had listened to the complaints of a delayed schedule and was responding.

“Yes new time slot Friday nights no time delays,” he wrote at the time.

However, as pointed out in a recent article by Yahoo, the show’s tendency toward gimmicky seasons the last few years may also be playing a factor. The first gimmick season, season 26, featured solely dating couples, with five meeting a blind date at the starting line. While the experiment worked out in terms of those couples finishing stronger (the final three teams were all blind dates), it didn’t fare well in terms of the goal of successful relationships. It also didn’t sit well with viewers.

A similar gimmick in season 28 saw a mix of partnerships, but all teams had one or more partner who was a social media influencer. That gimmick also didn’t sit well. The verdict on season 29’s gimmick, where all of the teams consist of strangers who met at the starting line, seems to have mixed reviews thus far, with some loving it, while others have disliked it.

As of now, CBS has not announced whether or not they would renew the show for Season 30.

“The Amazing Race” season 29 airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. EDT on CBS.