'Eco-Challenge' gives USA a rush

Reality skein averages 1.65 million households

By JOHN DEMPSEY

NEW YORK -- It's nowhere near a hit on the order of his "Survivor," but Mark Burnett's "Eco-Challenge: Borneo" chalked up a 2.0 average primetime rating on four nights last week, which had USA Network execs celebrating around the campfire.

"We overdelivered on our guarantee to advertisers," said Ray Giacopelli, head of research for USA, which was carrying the 7-year-old event for the first time after Discovery had scheduled it every year since 1997. (Before Discovery, MTV and ESPN had short-term deals for the annual event.)

Giacopelli said "Eco-Challenge" harvested more viewers on USA than on any of its other network incarnations, winding up with an average of 1.65 million households for the five hours.

Compared with a year ago, "Eco-Challenge" was up by 82% in household rating and up 83% in adults 18-49.

The ratings were fairly consistent across the four nights on USA at 8, starting with a 1.8 on Sunday, April 1, followed by a 2.1 on each of the next three nights. On Wednesday night, the cablecast ran for two hours.

The Borneo "Eco-Challenge" consisted of 76 four-person teams from 26 countries in a competition to survive over a 320-mile obstacle course featuring dense jungles, raging rivers and parched landscapes.