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Sep 20, 2002  •  Post A Comment

Posted Friday, Sept. 20

Debut of ‘Survivor: Thailand’ sizzles

CBS’s launch of “Survivor: Thailand” dominated the 8 p.m.-to-9 p.m. Thursday hour last night, improving 16 percent among adults 18 to 34 from the year-ago debut of “Survivor: Marquesas.”

“Survivor: Thailand,” up against repeat programming on the other Big 3 Networks and Fox’s “The Rats” movie, won the 8 p.m. hour across the board, including wins in adults 18 to 49 (9.2 rating/27 share), households (12.8/21) and total viewers (21.19 million), according to Nielsen Media Research fast national data.

CBS researchers said that “Survivor 5” had its best share delivery in adults 18 to 34, adults 18 to 49 and households since the post-Super Bowl XXXV premiere of “Survivor II” in January 2001.

Taking advantage of “Survivor’s” lead-in, CBS’s 9 p.m.-to-10 p.m. airing of “Big Brother” won the time slot over NBC’s double-run repeats of “Will & Grace” in the adults 18 to 49 demo (6.7/18 vs. 6.1/16). “BB3” also turned in a winning 6.6/19 in adults 18 to 49 and 15.14 million total viewers.

In the 10 p.m. hour, NBC’s repeat of “ER” did manage to beat CBS’s rerun of “CSI” in adults 18 to 49 (5.6/16 vs. 5.4/15) but flip-flopped in total viewers (12.11 million vs. 14.02 million).

For the night, CBS swept up wins in adults 18 to 49 (7.1/20), adults 18 to 34 (6.5/20), total viewers (17.09 million) and households (10.5/17). NBC came in second in adults 18 to 49 (5.8/16), followed by ABC (2.1/6) and Fox (2.0/5).

TechTv extends ‘Extended Play’: TechTV, the technology-oriented network owned by Paul Allen’s Vulcan, is expanding its “Extended Play” franchise to seven days a week, beginning Sept. 30.

“Extended Play,” the network’s half-hour guide to video games, now will produce more than 130 new shows per year, according to TechTV.

MTV Networks buys College TV: MTV Networks has agreed to purchase New York-based College Television Network, available on about 750 American college campuses, from CTN Media Group. CTN’s satellite feed to colleges reaches approximately 8.2 million students per week.