How accessible is Survivor to new viewers? in Survivor Sucks Forum

0 Points

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

How accessible is Survivor to new viewers?

Started By

Comment

Bowie.thehole

How accessible is Survivor to new viewers?

Lead

[-]

Posts: 759

(01/31/10 07:01 PM)

Wonderful World
Remove this ad

Survivor's ratings have held strong but inevitably tapered off gradually over the years from season to season. Is this really the "whittling down" of a general audience to a "core loyal fanbase"? Or has a large portion of the original viewers simply grown up and moved on, while a steady stream of young newer viewers has diluted the audience make-up (although not enough to negate the older viewer losses)?

Is there any hard ratings demographic evidence to suggest one way or the other? What do you think? Are you a new fan?

alnusrubra

[-]

Posts: 257

(01/31/10 07:16 PM)

I'd consider Gabon to be one of the more accessible seasons, from both a personal standpoint, and from what others have said. I was kind of disenfrachised with the show after 15 and 16, and in December of '09, I just checked it out for the hell of it, and totally became hooked again. My parents aren't Survivor fans, but I showed it to them and they loved it.

AussieOriginal

[-]

Posts: 2226

(01/31/10 07:24 PM)

Registered user

Over here the reason they lost a lot of fans was that they were showing Survivor very late at night, and in some cases months after they aired in the US, so people got spoiled. We've only just caught up on the past couple of seasons here, but they are about to show S20 pretty much at the same time as the US gets it, so they'll no doubt pull old fans back in and get some new ones too.

Runnindownadream74

[-]

Posts: 392

(01/31/10 08:07 PM)

Clearly the show is still accessible to new viewers, because they got hooked to an overbloated piece of trailer trash during the Samoa season, texted like mad so that he could win Fan Favorite, and have yet to come to terms that his gameplay sucked because they have never watched the show before and do not understand how the game of Survivor is played.

Merely

[-]

Posts: 6882

(01/31/10 08:18 PM)

Registered User

Micronesia is not at all newbie-friendly.

Cyberball2072

[-]

Posts: 857

(01/31/10 09:13 PM)

I love ShiiAnn

Bowie wrote:
Survivor's ratings have held strong but inevitably tapered off gradually over the years from season to season. Is this really the "whittling down" of a general audience to a "core loyal fanbase"? Or has a large portion of the original viewers simply grown up and moved on, while a steady stream of young newer viewers has diluted the audience make-up (although not enough to negate the older viewer losses)?

Is there any hard ratings demographic evidence to suggest one way or the other? What do you think? Are you a new fan?

That's a pretty good question.

There was a noticeable decline in Survivor's ratings after season 8 going into season 9 where it dropped from the 20 million viewer club down to 15 million viewers in season 9 This was from Spring-to Summer of 2004

That held firm for 3 seasons, then in the spring of 2006 with Panama, there is another noticeable drop from 15 million viewers per episode down to around the 11.5 million range, where it has more or less tapered off.

It is noticeable that in the change from season 8 to season 9, that FRIENDS went off the air, and while Survivor has remained the top show at 8 PM on thursdays, you would think there should have been a ratings spike after FRIENDS went off the air.

I do think that there were a lot of upset fan's that did not like how ALL STARS 1 was done- it did come off disrespectful to former winners and perhaps the disappointment in it resulted in a lot of fan's leaving the show around that time (would account for the drop off in ratings).

In 2006 is when Ugly Betty debuted and it did give Survivor a competition there for a season or so. There was a larger effort on FOX's part to move BONES to Thursday as well, which also could have been the reason for a drop in ratings again.

Cyberball2072

[-]

Posts: 859

(01/31/10 09:20 PM)

I love ShiiAnn

I was looking at some ratings graphs at Wikipedia. It is noticeable that the biggest drop off's in Survivor seem to come with or after All Stars and again after Micronesia (Fans vs Favorites for the AussieSurvivor and Zonker).

Perhaps there are Survivor fan's that are largely turning off because their own particular favorites did not make the cut, or did not like the way the season was done.

Which is valid- I think a lot of people did not like the casting decisions done for ALL STARS and FANS VS FAVS.

trickmind

[-]

Posts: 3329

(01/31/10 09:31 PM)

Dragonslayer

I never would have believed beforehand that All Stars1 could have been as big of a disappointment as it was. Jenna quitting because her mother was dying, and then the whole weird, hideously uncomfortable thing with Rich, and Sue and Sue quitting were just major downers. Also I did predict that Ambore would win by being boring, and it actually happened. Not to mention the whole Jenna Lewis vote out the people who did well on their seasons first nauseating crap.

JPOz

[-]

Posts: 1292

(01/31/10 09:50 PM)

Cyber - again - is INCORRECT.
1. Micronesia is lowest rated season finale and reunion ever. It is clearly noticeable that it's ratings were much lower than China's and slightly lower than Gabon's. Statement that ASS results in decline is unsupported by actual facts.
2. Actual trend is same viewership for seasons 3-10; significant dropoffs from 10 - 11- 12; lower plateau for 13-15, even lower for 16-19.

Last Edited By: JPOz 02/01/10 12:00 AM. Edited 1 times.

ThrowMeGabon

[-]

Posts: 1667

(01/31/10 10:05 PM)

Net Gain/Loss from Premiere to Finale

Borneo: +36.18
Australia: -9.02
Africa: +3.42
Marquesas: +2.68
Thailand: +1.03
Amazon: -0.97
Pearl Islands: +3.73
All-Stars: -8.78
Vanuatu: -0.34
Palau: -2.86
Guatemala: +2.27
Panama: -2.13
Cook Islands: -1.58
Fiji: -3.05
China: -0.25
Micronesia: -1.1
Gabon: +0.72
Tocantins: -0.86
Samoa: +2.31

* Australia and ASS are the biggest ratings drops, but that's likely in-part due to their inflated Superbowl premieres. Taking them out, Fiji is appropriately the largest drop. Micronesia is not that bad, and more a part of the general negative trend after ASS. Palau had the next highest drop off, which is not surprising to me, given the polarizing one tribe/one man domination. Steph was likely pulling in the viewers for Guatemala.

* Despite Africa's meh reputation, it's the third-highest ratings jump. Samoa is the highest ratings jump since Pearl Islands

*Net gain/loss has stabilized over time, suggesting they're retaining less but more loyal viewers.

Last Edited By: ThrowMeGabon 01/31/10 10:08 PM. Edited 2 times.

Belligerent Ghoul

[-]

Posts: 3503

(01/31/10 10:13 PM)

Wonderful World
Remove this ad

Russell is responsible for the ratings increase in Samoa, which led to CBS ordering 2 more seasons of the show after HvV.

TY Russell! <33

Cyberball2072

[-]

Posts: 863

(01/31/10 10:17 PM)

I love ShiiAnn

JPOz wrote:
Cyber - again - is INCORRECT.
1. Micronesia is lowest rated season opener and finale ever. It is clearly noticeable that it's ratings were much lower than China's and slightly lower than Gabon's. Statement that ASS results in decline is unsupported by actual facts.
2. Actual trend is same viewership for seasons 3-10; significant dropoffs from 10 - 11- 12; lower plateau for 13-15, even lower for 16-19.

Oh, lets see.....from Wikipedia....one more time where I was correct (did you actually read what I posted there above? ) where I was right and the less intelligent people here apparently are putting words in my mouth.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of the United States version of Survivor on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Survivor: Borneo doesn't have a ranking because it aired in the summer of 2000. It would have ranked #2 in the 1999-2000 U.S. television season, assuming it would have attained the exact same viewership numbers as it did in the summer of 2000.

Program	Timeslot (ET/PT)	Premiered		Ended			TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Program	Timeslot (ET/PT)	Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)	Reunion Viewers (in millions)	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Survivor: Borneo	Wednesday 8:00PM	May 31, 2000^[14]	15.51	August 23, 2000	51.69^[14]	36.70^[15]	1999-2000	#2	28.30^[16]
Survivor: The Australian Outback	Thursday 8:00PM	January 28, 2001^[17]	45.37¹	May 3, 2001^[18]	36.35	28.01	2000-2001	#1	29.80^[19]
Survivor: Africa		October 11, 2001^[20]	23.84	January 10, 2002^[21]	27.26	19.05	2001-2002	#5	20.69^[22]
Survivor: Marquesas		February 28, 2002^[23]	23.19	May 19, 2002^[24]	25.87	17.89	2001-2002	#4	20.77^[25]
Survivor: Thailand		September 19, 2002^[26]	23.05	December 19, 2002^[27]	24.08	20.43	2002-2003	#6	21.21^[28]
Survivor: The Amazon		February 13, 2003^[29]	23.26	May 11, 2003^[30]	22.29	17.65	2002-2003	#8	19.97^[28]
Survivor: Pearl Islands		September 18, 2003^[31]	21.50	December 14, 2003^[32]	25.23	21.87	2003-2004	#6	20.72^[33]
Survivor: All-Stars		February 1, 2004^[34]	33.54¹	May 9, 2004^[35]	24.76	23.92	2003-2004	#3	21.49^[36]
Survivor: Vanuatu		September 16, 2004^[37]	20.06	December 12, 2004^[38]	19.72	15.23	2004-2005	#6	19.64^[39]
Survivor: Palau		February 17, 2005^[39]	23.66	May 15, 2005^[40]	20.80	15.48	2004-2005	#5	20.91^[41]
Survivor: Guatemala		September 15, 2005^[42]	18.41	December 11, 2005^[43]	21.18	15.21	2005-2006	#8	18.30^[41]
Survivor: Panama		February 2, 2006^[44]	19.20	May 14, 2006^[45]	17.07	11.65	2005-2006	#11	16.82^[46]
Survivor: Cook Islands		September 14, 2006^[47]	18.00	December 17, 2006	16.42	13.53	2006-2007	#13	15.75^[48]
Survivor: Fiji		February 8, 2007^[49]	16.68	May 13, 2007	13.63	11.43	2006-2007	#15	14.83^[48]
Survivor: China		September 20, 2007^[50]	15.35	December 16, 2007	15.10	12.22	2007-2008	#8^[51]	15.18^[52]
Survivor: Micronesia		February 7, 2008^[53]	14.02	May 11, 2008	12.92	10.84	2007-2008	#11^[51]	13.51^[51]
Survivor: Gabon		September 25, 2008	13.05^[54]	December 14, 2008	13.77	11.74	2008-2009	#15^[55]	13.81^[55]
Survivor: Tocantins		February 12, 2009	13.80^[56]	May 17, 2009	12.94^[55]	11.59^[55]	2008-2009	#19^[57]	12.92^[58]
Survivor: Samoa		September 17, 2009^[59]	11.66^[60]	December 20, 2009	13.97^[61]	11.68^[61]	2009-2010		13.45^[62]
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains		February 11, 2010^[5]					2009-2010

Cyberball2072

[-]

Posts: 864

(01/31/10 10:19 PM)

I love ShiiAnn

You know what, it takes a person of quality to admit that they were wrong.

I mis-read the columns for the FINALE RATINGS, I was looking at that and mis-read it as the actual seasonal average rating, when i said what I said in the above posts.

So I do apologize for that.

trickmind

[-]

Posts: 3333

(01/31/10 10:31 PM)

Dragonslayer

Cyberball is the new Modesty.

Cyberball2072

[-]

Posts: 866

(01/31/10 10:41 PM)

I love ShiiAnn

trickmind wrote:
Cyberball is the new Modesty.

if you can find a time where I have used profanity directly posted by me, I would like to hear it.

Bowie.thehole

[-]

Posts: 762

(01/31/10 10:44 PM)

Firstly, it should be noted that the last All-Stars did have a better season opener than the most recent three seasons since then.

But secondly, this isn't so much about total ratings but about what portion of recent ratings is newer viewers as opposed to loyal older viewers. I was just curious if there's nothing we can do but speculate on that...

And also, is there any way to make Survivor more accessible, if need be? Do All-Stars seasons attract new viewers who want to "catch up" on "too many seasons" or are they somehow less attractive than seasons where everyone is fresh for every viewer?

Let alone, should it be more accessible?

ThrowMeGabon

[-]

Posts: 1668

(01/31/10 10:52 PM)

I doubt there's any poll numbers on veteran viewers/new viewers to Survivor, because no one cares enough to do that kind of poll. But in all areas, the numbers have dropped and stabilized, which suggests a more loyal veteran viewer. That also tends to be the case with most TV shows...but fuck if I know.

As for cyberball, modesty is the inverse of pride as well as profanity. You made the mistake while calling others unintelligent, and couldn't even apologize without referring to yourself as "quality"....I'd like you more if you said c.unt indefinitely.

SmashItWithAHamma

[-]

Posts: 343

(01/31/10 11:07 PM)

I'd say that the show is somewhat accessible...I convinced my friend to watch Gabon, and before she had never even heard about Survivor (she knew absolutely nothing about Richard Hatch, Jerri, etc). She wound up watching the entire season and Tocantins/Samoa too, so my friend is proof that it is possible to draw in viewers. Perhaps some old viewers who stopped watching the show after All Stars will tune into this season to see the pre-ASS people like Jerri and Colby and Rupert play again, but I honestly don't think it will make that big of a difference.

Vachina

[-]

Posts: 377

(01/31/10 11:11 PM)

Registered user

"Survivor" is not really complicated. In any incarnation, it's only "inaccessible" to... well... retards.

gypsypanic

[-]

Posts: 401

(01/31/10 11:19 PM)

Registered user

Vachina wrote:
"Survivor" is not really complicated. In any incarnation, it's only "inaccessible" to... well... retards.

Thanks for the wisdom.

MyThinkingSeat

[-]

Posts: 111

(01/31/10 11:39 PM)

Wonderful World
Remove this ad

I think it's pretty straight forward as well...but then again I've watched since the beginning...well actually I started watching it when they replayed Borneo during the Summer Olympics. Anyway, as far as newer viewers possibly not understanding it I think you need look no further to players new to the game and how they adapt on the fly. Some better than others. But I think the basic format that's been in place since the beginning is easy to follow and if you are new I think picking up on the finer points, primarily the social game can be accomplished by season's end. So I think a new viewer may not understand everything at first but, they understand enough if they care to invest the time to understand the rest.

As far as viewers watching season after season...the people I know IRL either watch every season or 1 and then grow tired by the second. For me, personally I go through lulls...for example I didn't like Thailand but then Amazon was interesting again. All Stars was blah but Vanuatu wasn't (at least by comparison). Fiji was one of the worst seasons followed by China one of the best. I don't know where I'm going with this except to say it's not always great but I continue to watch because at least for me, there hasn't been a long stretch of weak seasons that make me lose interest.

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

How accessible is Survivor to new viewers?

How accessible is Survivor to new viewers?

U.S. television ratings