"Survivor" Aligns with "Stars"

In first head-to-head showdown, both franchises emerge unscathed; ABC rides Super Bowl to weekly Nielsen win

By Joal Ryan Feb 08, 2006 1:35 AMTags

Torches were not extinguished.

In the first showdown between Survivor and Dancing with the Stars, the franchises emerged unscathed, according to Nielsen Media Research's ratings for the TV week ended Sunday.

CBS' island fare, subtitled Panama--Exile Island, began its 12th edition before 19.2 million viewers (10th place). That's up 4 percent from the premiere of last fall's Survivor: Guatemala, the network said.

Airing opposite Survivor for most of its run on Thursday, ABC's ballroom competition held steady with 18.8 million viewers (11th place), down 3 percent from the previous week.

Additionally, a season-high 16 million (13th place) watched Friday's Dancing results episode in which Wayne's World stalwart Tia Carrere was rolled as if she were the lumberjack lady (or, as Tina Scheer described herself, a "lumberjill") on Survivor: Panama.

Though Survivor and Dancing with the Stars are to share a time slot for the next several weeks, it seems as if they're not sharing an audience. According to CBS, Survivor, with its tanned hard bodies, was watched by twice as many 18 to 49 year olds as Dancing, with its tanned George Hamilton.

Still, Dancing is hardly the all-new, or, rather, all-old 60 Minutes. For the week, Thursday's episode was the 17th most watched show among the most desired young adults. (Survivor was eighth.)

Never underestimate, apparently, the youthful appeal of Hamilton's tan.

Elsewhere:

Lots of people watched Super Bowl XL (first place, 90.7 million) on ABC.
Lots of people watched Grey's Anatomy (fourth place, 37.9 million) on ABC following Super Bowl XL. Lots of people watched Fox's American Idol on Tuesday (sixth place, 30.2 million), and then tuned in again on Wednesday (fifth place, 30.4 million).
Lots of people watched President Bush deliver his State of the Union address (41.7 million, up 8 percent from last year) on eight broadcast and cable networks.
Lots of people watched Flight 93 (5.9 million--a network best) on A&E.
So as to compensate for all the other hours spent in front of the tube, nobody watched washed-up soap The O.C. (75th place, 5.4 million) on Fox, or never-was soap South Beach (1.3 million, 149th place) on UPN.
Jenna Elfman is settling in nicely into her new CBS sitcom--the top 20 show known as Courting Alex (18th place, 13.3 million).
Fox's Bones (12.6 million, 20th place) is settling nicely into its new post-Idol slot--up about 40 percent last week over its season-to-date average.
NBC's The Office (29th place, 9.2 million) doesn't have Dancing with the Stars as a lead-in on Thursday. ABC's Crumbs (32nd place, 9.1 million) does. Not that you'd be able to tell by the numbers.
Invasion (79th place, 5.2 million--for a repeat) will join Commander in Chief on the sidelines in March, ABC announced last week. Both shows are to return in April, counting on the theory about absences and fonder-growing hearts.

Overall, the Super Bowl did what the Super Bowl is supposed to do for its host network--blow away the competition. As such, ABC scored huge February sweeps wins in total viewers (averaging 22.9 million) and the 18-49 demo.

Among networks not showing the Super Bowl, CBS was first among total viewers (12.1 million), while Fox (10.3 million) was first among young viewers. NBC (7.6 million) was a distant fourth among everybody.

As if UPN and WB needed more competition, Nielsen has added Telemundo's programs to its weekly rankings. Telemundo is the second Spanish language network to be so listed this season after Univision.

For the week, the WB (3.5 million) and UPN (2.7 million) beat Telemundo (1.2 million), but did muy bad when compared to Univision (4.1 million).

Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. Super Bowl XL, ABC, 90.7 million
2. Super Bowl XL "Post Gun," ABC, 74 million
3. Super Bowl XL Postgame, ABC, 60 million
4. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 37.9 million
5. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 30.4 million
6. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 30.2 million
7. CSI, CBS, 28.4 million
8. Without a Trace, CBS, 20.8 million
9. CSI: Miami, CBS, 20.4 million
10. Survivor: Panama--Exile Island, CBS, 19.2 million