More people between 18 and 49 watched Celebrity Big Brother last night than any episode of the show in years. Could Celebrity Survivor thrive too?
Last night, I did something I would think impossible just a mere year ago; I watched the premiere of Celebrity Big Brother. Being the first time that the US version of the show has attempted this, I wanted to be sure just how aware of the game’s rules, strategies and mechanics the players were from the beginning. With enough celebrity fans knowing and actively playing the game, it helped convince me that Celebrity Survivor wouldn’t be a total disaster.
Most importantly to CBS, from a ratings perspective, the Celebrity Big Brother premiere numbers are pretty great, too. As reported by TV By The Numbers, the debut episode led the night in both viewers and ratings, with 7.27 million people watching Omarosa get a mysteriously “lucky” first week of security. In the 18-49 adult demographics, the show earned a 1.8/7 ratings/share split.
What’s important to note is that Celebrity Big Brother is airing right before Survivor and way earlier in the year than it usually does. The 24/7 televised reality competition usually thrives in the summer when the most prestige dramas, comedies and other television programming is off the air and the competing shows are weaker draws. Regardless, that 7.27 million viewer count is the highest this show has seen since 2014.
Seeing how well CBS can sell advertising space with the ratings, a Celebrity Survivor season doesn’t seem like that bad an idea. Sure, it would have to be a shortened season and air sometime outside of its traditional September-December and Feb/March-May timeslots, but considering the Survivor summer offseason lasts more than four months, an extra month of celebrity play somewhere in the middle wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Next: Let’s Rank the Survivor Seasons by Their Locations
Hell, we’d take a Survivor Canada if Celebrity Survivor doesn’t come to fruition!