'Survivor' Set to Crush Competition

Only NBC seemingly had the primetime firepower to challenge CBS's new reality-based juggernaut in an all-out ratings war, but even the Must See TV people came up short against 'Survivor.' In an attempt to combat ratings hog 'Survivor: The Australian Outback,' NBC added new versions of 'Super Sized' episodes of 'Friends,' which ran for 40 minutes and were followed by 20 minutes of Saturday Night Live sketches. This strategy quickly proved ineffective, as the growing number of devoted 'Survivor' followers refused to be lured from the challenges and dangers of the forbidding Australian outback. The hype that now surrounds the CBS primetime gem is almost bigger than the show itself. Every major tabloid claims to have identified next week's loser and rumors of trickery and manipulation of the environment by the show's producers have only served to pique additional interest in the program.

CBS's recent announcement that the show's finale will be pushed back to the end of sweeps, which runs from April 26th to May 26th, virtually assures the network of a strong showing during the all-critical period. The ratings achieved during the sweeps period are used to determine advertising ratings for the networks for the following year. The February sweeps period was dominated by 'Survivor' and the show has consistently been at the top of the ratings since its debut only one year ago.