CBS’ ‘Survivor’ Sinks Against NBC’s Reinvigorated ‘Friends’

“Survivor: Africa” appears to be burning far less brightly than its predecessor, suggesting that the ratings torch for last season’s most-watched series might begin to flicker out faster than CBS and industry pundits anticipated.

An estimated audience of 19.6 million people watched Thursday’s “Survivor,” reflecting a drop of nearly 20% from the previous week’s premiere and a loss of 10 million viewers compared to the average for the second edition, which ran from February into May.

In that respect, there has been a seeming reversal of fortune on Thursday nights, with a reinvigorated “Friends” (25.6 million viewers) easily beating “Survivor,” while CBS’ second-year drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (23 million) dominated the following hour against NBC’s sitcoms “Will & Grace” and “Just Shoot Me.”

Notably, NBC’s latest newborn to occupy the traditionally ill-fated post-”Friends” slot, “Inside Schwartz,” already appears to be on shaky legs, tumbling 40%--which translates to more than 10 million viewers--off of “Friends”’ audience level, about twice the decline deemed respectable for a new program paired with an established hit.

Still, only about a third of those viewers flipped to “Survivor,” suggesting that millions of people watched “Friends” and promptly left--just as tune-in for NBC’s “ER” spiked upward to 26.7 million at 10 p.m., greeting Sherry Stringfield’s return to the show.

Thursday’s results provide both networks with cause for concern. NBC appears highly vulnerable and soft in the midsection, with tent poles “Friends” and “ER” unable to prop up the rest of its lineup and Fox’s “Temptation Island 2”--which premieres next month--raising the specter of further erosion in the 9 p.m. hour.

At the same time, CBS now has to wonder if “Survivor” could be the next “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” an alternative to sitcoms and dramas that explodes onto the prime-time scene but enjoys a relatively short shelf-life--significantly bolstering its network for only a couple of seasons--before viewers began moving on in droves.