The 10th installment of the reality series “Survivor” gave CBS its strongest Thursday night delivery in the 8 p.m. (ET) hour in more than two years and propelled the network to a nightly win in the adults 18 to 49 demographic.

“Survivor” scored a 9.1 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, giving the show its best premiere performance on Thursday since “Survivor: Africa” in October 2001. CBS maintained its momentum at 9 p.m. with “CSI,” scoring a 10.9 in the demo and outperforming NBC’s “The Apprentice” (7.2). At 10 p.m. NBC took the lead, scoring an 8.5 rating for “ER,” compared with CBS’s “Without a Trace,” which scored a 6.9.

ABC’s two-hour edition of “Primetime Live: Michael Jackson’s Secret World With Martin Bashir” scored a 3.0 in the demo.

CBS won the night in adults 18 to 49 with a 9.0 rating, followed by NBC (6.6), ABC (2.6), Fox (2.5), UPN (2.0) and The WB (0.9).