‘Survivor’ Tops ‘Friends’-’Saturday Night Live’ Combo

Round one of the much-ballyhooed “Survivor” vs. “Friends” heavyweight showdown has gone to CBS, and while NBC’s “Must-See TV” lineup weathered the initial barrage reasonably well Thursday, the network has to worry about how it will hold up against an opponent that could grow stronger as the fight drags on.

“Survivor: The Australian Outback” made its Thursday debut in impressive fashion by averaging 29 million viewers based on Nielsen Media Research estimates--higher tune-in than any previous episode of “Survivor” except the first version’s August finale and Sunday’s post-Super Bowl premiere.

By contrast, an extra-long “Friends” and special 20-minute edition of “Saturday Night Live” averaged 22.2 million viewers during the same hour. On the plus side for NBC, that’s roughly “Friends’ ” average audience this season, meaning “Survivor” brought new viewers to the time period. In fact, NBC pointed out that viewing of the four major networks rose 24%--or by about 11 million people--over the Thursday prime-time average.

“Survivor” also skewed much younger than most CBS programs. Nielsen breakdowns show nearly 15 million of its viewers fell into the age 18-to-49 demographic--the primary measure used in selling time to advertisers--compared to 13 million for NBC. As such, it becomes the first CBS series to defeat an original episode of “Friends” head-to-head by that standard.

Buoyed by “Survivor’s” lead-in, CBS’ first-year drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” won the 9 p.m. hour with 21.3 million viewers, followed by 18.8 million for NBC’s tandem of “Will & Grace” and “Just Shoot Me” and 16.2 million watching “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” NBC’s comedies finished first, however, in young-adult demographics, and “ER” (26.5 million viewers) easily exceeded combined ratings for newsmagazines “48 Hours” and “PrimeTime Thursday.”

Those 10 p.m. results are significant, since that hour funnels viewers directly into late local newscasts, where TV stations generate most of their revenue. Thursday marked the first night of the February sweeps survey, which stations use as the basis to negotiate ad rates.

The real concern for NBC is whether “Survivor,” which dropped 36% from its post-Super Bowl audience, builds on its initial Thursday numbers--especially since “Friends” will air several reruns during March and April, as the network holds back fresh episodes for the next sweeps in May. “Survivor” is currently scheduled to conclude in late April.

NBC fared slightly better locally--not a surprise, given that CBS-owned KCBS-TV traditionally trails in the ratings race. “Friends” and “Saturday Night Live” were watched by about 930,000 households in the Los Angeles area on KNBC-TV, versus 880,000 viewing KCBS. “Survivor’s” audience did grow during the hour and surpassed “SNL” from 8:40 to 9 p.m.

Sources indicated “SNL’s” writers weren’t terribly happy about the extra work, which appeared to be clear in their mock opening Thursday. The credits spoofed “Survivor,” presenting the cast as contestants while referring to NBC as “one terrified network.”