'Survivor' has Super CBS sendoff
Skein gears up for a 'Friends' showdown
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The second edition of the reality series bowed Sunday before an average of 43.6 million viewers, making it the second most-watched post-Super Bowl program in at least 14 years -- behind, only the 1996 episode of "Friends" (52.9 million), the show that "Survivor" will now face when it moves to its regular timeslot beginning this week.
"Survivor" certainly didn't have the most attractive of Super Bowl matchups as its lead-in, but the prelim numbers for the Super Bowl didn't set new low-water marks, either -- as many had predicted.
According to prelim nationals from Nielsen, Sunday's Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants -- which for much of the game featured more punts than points -- produced a 40.3 household rating and 60 share (84.2 million viewers).
This would make it a tick better than the Atlanta-Denver game two years ago (40.2), but still tied with the 1992 Washington-Buffalo game as the second lowest-rated contest in the last 11 years. Only five Super Bowls in the event's 35-year history have dipped below a 40 rating, the last coming in 1990 (39.0 for San Francisco-Denver).
Season's top-rated b'cast
While "Survivor 2," as expected, was unable to match the ratings of the original's two-hour finale last August (28.6/45 in homes, 51.69 million viewers, 22.8/54 in adults 18-49), it did set new series highs Sunday in teens (16.7) and men 18-49 (22.6). It also ranks as the top-rated entertainment broadcast of the season.
"If we do half that number on Thursday, we've hit a home run," said the Eye's Kelly Kahl, senior VP of program planning and scheduling. "We are very pleased with the product and the rating. The twists and turns that this show is going to take will bring more and more viewers once it settles in (on Thursday)."
For CBS, which hadn't aired the Super Bowl in nine years, the Super Bowl is its highest-rated telecast in the nearly seven years since the women's figure skating finals (Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding) at the 1994 Winter Olympics (44.1/64).
Even Gotham itself was less than infatuated with the matchup of defensive-minded squads from the same region of the country, giving the game a 40.9/56. That's only 3% higher than last year's 39.6/54 for St. Louis-Tennessee and less than every game of last October's New York Mets-New York Yankees World Series, which ranged from a 41.5/57 to a 42.9/61.
The top scores among Nielsen's 49 metered markets came from host city Tampa (51.2/67) and Baltimore (49.1/71), whose Ravens won by a 34-7 score.
Dip in adult aud
In the key demo of adults 18-49, this year's Super Bowl drew a prelim 35.8, down 6% from last year's 37.9 for the Rams-Titans on ABC and the lowest in nine years.
In a rarity, the Super Bowl's 30-minute halftime show -- produced this year by CBS sister cabler MTV -- attracted a larger overall audience (prelim 86.5 million) than the game, as well as better demos (36.9 in adults 18-49, 34.2 in adults 18-34, 38.3 in adults 25-54 and a 29.9 in teens).
The postgame show netted a 26.6 rating in adults 18-49, with "Survivor 2" following with a 20.8. The original "Survivor" bowed May 31 with a 6.1 rating in adults 18-49 and finished with a 22.8 for the two-hour finale on Aug. 23.
Nielsen estimates that more than 131 million viewers watched all or part of Super Bowl XXXV, with roughly 58.4 million tuning in to at least some of "Survivor 2." For the night, the net reached 143 million unique viewers -- meaning that "Survivor" recruited 12 million viewers who did not watch the football game.
Web tie-in
Online, SuperBowl.com received 359,000 unique visitors on Sunday, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Although traffic increased 269 percent from 97,000 visitors the day before, these numbers pale in comparison with the estimated 131 million viewers tuned into all or part of the game on CBS.
However, there were signs of successful convergence. After fans watching the broadcast were prompted to visit the official Super Bowl Web site to vote for the most valuable player, traffic quadrupled.
Meanwhile, CBS announced Monday that Sunday's episode of "Survivor 2" will be rebroadcast Wednesday from 8 to 9. The series begins airing in its regular Thursday-at-8 slot this week.
(Tim Swanson contributed to this report.)
