Explainer

Survivor ratings: Are fans tuning out on Season 41?

Erika And Jeff Survivor 41
Erika Casupanan and Jeff Probst on the sixth episode of Survivor 41. Pic credit: Robert Voets/CBS

Survivor ratings slumped for the past week, with the show taking a hit as the World Series aired Game 2.

After posting a positive increase in viewership numbers for key demos during the previous week, Episode 6 turned in the worst numbers for Fall 2021.

In fact, it was actually a rough night for all CBS shows, with Survivor, Tough as Nails, and CSI: Vegas finishing way behind other programs airing in those timeslots.

FOX led the way with the World Series, followed pretty closely by the trio of Chicago-based shows on NBC (Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D.). To put it mildly, this was not a good night for CBS.

Are Survivor fans tuning out from the show?

Six episodes of Survivor 41 have now aired on CBS during the Fall 2021 television season. The show is averaging an estimated 5.761 million viewers each night, which is actually pretty decent for a reality competition show.

In comparison, Survivor 41 is well ahead of Big Brother 23 and it is still bringing in a good number of viewers in the 18-49 demographic.

Additional good news for CBS is that millions of viewers are watching on the DVR or through OnDemand services. These viewers who aren’t watching the episodes live don’t count in the early estimates, so even more people are tuning in than have been reported so far.

Through the first four installments (those numbers have come in) Survivor 41 has averaged about eight million viewers per episode. That’s pretty good for a primetime show that has the ability to keep production costs relatively low by not having to pay out extensive salaries to large casts.

Survivor 41, Episode 7 an important one for CBS ratings

During the last episode of Survivor 41, the producers took a huge risk by introducing a merge twist. It has the potential to really shake up the game, but it has also led to a lot of complaints from Survivor fans.

It will be very interesting to see how many viewers tune in for Survivor 41, Episode 7 on Wednesday, November 3. The last episode ended on a huge cliffhanger and Jeff told CBS viewers that it was going to be a two-part episode.

So, will people tune in to find out how the situation with Erika on Exile Island gets resolved? Or will more viewers tune out from this season? We will all have to wait until next week to find out, but the table has been set for some great Survivor drama for the Season 41 cast.

Survivor 41 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.