As the 35th Sole Survivor was crowned the champion, the Survivor ratings for the season 35 finale tied for the best episode of the year.
While there may be a bit of controversy surrounding the events that brought us the winner of Survivor season 35, you have to admit that the build-up was amazing. You had Devon voting for Dr. Mike to save himself; you had Ben finding an idol at Final 5 and securing his own safety for three straight votes; you had a never-before-seen Final 4 “advantage” where the Immunity winner and their friends couldn’t vote out who they wanted.
It was can’t miss television, that Survivor season 35 finale, and that’s why it retained such a strong viewership in the key demographic. The Wednesday night Survivor ratings are in, and the 153-minute conclusion of the season gained a 1.9/8 ratings/share split. That matches the record for 2017 held by the finale of Game Changers, which also had a 1.9/8 in the Adults 18-49 demo.
However, the one thing that makes it the best episode of the year for Survivor ratings is the viewership. 8.7 million people tuned into this finale over the past season finale’s 8.48 million, making it the most impressive episode of the year.
However, as typical as it can be each year, once the reunion turned on, people fled their televisions pretty quickly. Still, 5.97 million people stayed for the entire three hours, earning a 1.2/5 split for the final 27 minutes of the show. This year was weird in how CBS handled the reunion, bringing out Dr. Mike Zahalsky and Devon as they were eliminated to talk to Jeff Probst and only asking one player outside of the Final 5 a question (just to set up next season’s twist).
Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 34 Sole Survivors By Season
Seeing how literally every other broadcast television show on television is airing repeats or specials last night, both the finale and reunion Survivor ratings topped everything else on the night. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone, and we’ll return with this feature for Ghost Island!