‘Survivor’ maintains immunity in sweeps

Those predicting -- in the case of many script writers and actors, it’s more like praying for -- diminishing returns as the ranks of so-called reality shows swell found little validation or consolation in the ratings scorecard for Thursday night, which was marked by a notable dearth of sitcoms and dramas.

In addition to the premiere of the sixth edition of CBS’ “Survivor,” the network menu at 8 p.m. included ABC’s introduction of “Are You Hot? The Search for America’s Sexiest People,” a Fox “Joe Millionaire” rerun, the WB’s “High School Reunion” and UPN’s “WWE Smackdown!”

Competitively, “Survivor” generally weathered that crush of staged reality programs, while the CBS drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” underscored its ratings ascent this season by becoming the first competing series ever to out-duel an original episode of “ER.”

“Survivor” averaged 23.3 million viewers and built steadily after trailing “Friends” in its first half-hour. Similarly, “Are You Hot?” -- essentially an amped-up pageant, with stripped-down contestants evaluated by a trio of judges -- gained audience during its two hours to average 8.7 million viewers. That’s a significant improvement over ABC’s dismal Thursday average this season, especially among younger viewers.

Whether the network reaped the full benefits of those ratings was being questioned by rivals, who suggested that “Are You Hot?” was packed with extra promotional time to offset a shortage of paying sponsors.

ABC denied that was the case, saying the program sold out its ad allotment, though that did include a rare 90-second commercial for “Bringing Down the House,” an upcoming film from ABC’s parent company Disney.

Both CBS and NBC played sweeps-timed scheduling games, with the 90-minute premiere of “Survivor: The Amazon” feeding into an expanded “CSI,” providing TV’s top-rated show a jump on “ER,” the NBC medical franchise that once claimed that title. NBC countered with “super-sized” episodes of “Friends” and “Will & Grace.”

In their not-quite head-to-head face off, “CSI” averaged 27.2 million viewers over 90 minutes, compared to 20.6 million for “ER”. Overall, tune-in for “ER” is off by 7% this season, attributable in part to CBS’ commanding lead with “CSI” preceding it.

CBS’ prime-time victory also boosted “The Late Show With David Letterman” to its highest-rated night this season, based on preliminary Nielsen Media Research data. NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” still surpassed Letterman, however, and has maintained a healthy lead during the current sweeps.