Slightly Worn ‘Survivor’ Finishes With a Flourish

The final “Survivor” made CBS the big winner in last week’s ratings, while the opening of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s” latest celebrity edition didn’t generate its usual star wattage, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

There was cause for CBS to temper its celebration, given the 30% decline for “The Australian Outback’s” finale compared with the inaugural “Survivor” in August. Whether that’s attributable to sweeps competition, a less compelling group of castaways or a been-there, done-that response by some viewers remains to be seen.

“Survivor” nevertheless delivered various ratings milestones. CBS estimates 135 million people in the U.S. watched at some point over its run, and the post-show interview special, hosted by Bryant Gumbel, became the first program to beat an original “ER” since the CBS miniseries “Scarlett” did so in 1994. CBS also tied NBC for the week among young-adult demographics, a rare accomplishment for CBS, which generally plays to an older audience. NBC was quick to note that its performance within those demographics on Thursdays fell only 7% during the weeks “Survivor” was on.

CBS also fared well Sunday with the Hallmark movie “Follow the Stars Home.” ABC’s “Millionaire” was first at 9 p.m., but without the kind of audience boost that past celebrity competitions have yielded. “The X-Files,” meanwhile, continues to post solid but unspectacular numbers since the return of David Duchovny.

National Nielsen Viewership

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (April 30-May 6) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates that there are 260 million potential U.S. viewers age 2 and older. Viewership is listed here in millions.

Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

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Last Season week to date CBS 14.39 million 12.58 NBC 11.28 11.52 ABC 10.43 12.61 FOX 8.59 9.64 UPN 3.66 3.74 WB 3.60 3.72