By Kevin Downey

    CBS’s "Survivor: The Australian Outback," though the top-rated show last week among viewers 18 to 49, is showing some early signs of viewer fatigue.
    With just two episodes to go, "Survivor 2" appears to have flattened when it should be building audience for the finale in which the final survivor is revealed to viewers.
    The reality show, in which contestants are pitted against one another, has plateaued at a 11.7 rating over the past three weeks.
    By contrast, the original ''Survivor," aired last summer, saw increases every week leading up to the finale.
    Another surprise in last week's ratings is what may well be a chink in NBC's ''Weakest Link."
    This new game show, which has elements of both ABC's hit "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Survivor," had driven great numbers and even greater buzz in its initial airings. But it didn't do nearly as well as folks might have expected pitted against ABC's midseason sitcom "What About Joan." 
   "Joan" not only held up well against "Link" but improved its rating by 8.5 percent.
   "Joan," which replaced "Geena Davis," had a 5.1, adult 18-49 rating, against a 5.6 for the first half-hour of "Weakest" and improved on its "Dharma & Greg" lead-in by 16 percent.
    While nowhere near the level of "Survivor," "Joan" has come in first or second in its time slot every week since debuting. Having lacked hits all year, ABC is expected this week to up the show’s standing by increasing its run through the May sweeps, when local advertising costs are set.
    The fact that it did well against "Weakest" is especially impressive since the new game show dominated the week with three episodes in the top 15.
    Along with new episodes of its Thursday night shows, "Weakest" helped NBC win the week in adults 18-49 after a month-long losing streak.
    ABC ranked last in the demo but was up by one-tenth of a point over the previous week.
    That was due, at least in small part, to "Joan" and ABC’s other strong midseason show, "My Wife & Kids." The average rating for that show’s two episodes was up over 4 percent, to a 4.9. That is even though it went up against NBC’s "West Wing," which moved to 8 p.m. to accommodate another episode of "Weakest Link."
    The network’s second season of "Making the Band," however, has been nothing but a drag on ABC’s ratings.
    Two episodes of the reality show about a boy band ranked a dismal No. 84 and No. 91 and tied one of the oldest skewing shows on TV, "Diagnosis Murder," in head-to-head competition.
    Meanwhile, Fox’s "Boot Camp" is showing signs of viewer disinterest. After starting out strong, "Boot’s" rating fell 13 percent from the previous week, to a 5.4.
    That’s a 32 percent drop from its premiere and about 40 percent lower than "Temptation Island" averaged in its time slot earlier this year.
    Fox, however, was helped by a "Cops" special, "The Top 15 Moments of All Time" on Saturday, which was up 41 percent to a 4.1 adult 18-49 rating.
    NBC improved its adult 18-49 rating by 44 percent last week to a 4.6.
    "ER" tied "Survivor 2" as the No. 1 show in the demo and improved its rating by 139 percent over the previous week’s repeat. An original of "Friends" was up 51 percent and "Will & Grace" was up 60 percent. The shows ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
    But "Weakest Link" was the main reason for NBC’s improvement. All three episodes were among the highest rated, with a special Wednesday episode outranking all of NBC’s Thursday shows except for "ER."
    The season finale of the XFL games was typically awful, with a 1.2 adult 18-49 rating. That tied it at No. 94, even though it was a 20 percent improvement over the prior week’s rating.
    For the week NBC finished with a 4.6, adult 18-49 rating, to Fox’s 4.2, CBS’s 3.6, and ABC’s 3.4. UPN had a 1.6 to the WB’s 1.5.
    For the season, which ends on May 23^rd, NBC has a 4.7 and Fox has moved up to a second place tie with ABC with a 4.5. CBS has a 4.0 and UPN and the WB both have a 1.6.
    CBS won the week in households with an 8.1 rating and 14 share, based on Nielsen data. NBC had a 7.5/13, ABC had a 7.1/12, Fox had a 5.4/9, UPN had a 2.4/4, and the WB had a 2.3/4.
    CBS has taken the lead for the season with an 8.6/14 to ABC’s 8.5/14. NBC has a 7.9/13. Fox has a 6.2/10 and is the only network to show an improvement over last year at this time.
   The WB has a 2.5/4 to UPN’s 2.4/4.

April 25, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life

 Printer-Friendly Version |  Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us