Survivor ratings: Ghost Island episode 3 continues upward trend

Photo: Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Not only is Ghost Island episode 3’s Survivor ratings surpass anything else shown on CBS on Wednesday night, but nothing else even got a rating of 1.0!

I was concerned after the two-hour premiere of Survivor Ghost Island. Considering Jacob Derwin and Stephanie Gonzalez rubbed viewers the wrong way (from a consensus standpoint, not a personal one), I had wondered how the Survivor ratings would react in kind. If a season starts off on the wrong foot, the negativity could snowball from there.

Thankfully, all concerns were trivial, as TVByTheNumbers reported the final Survivor ratings for Ghost Island episode 3 and proved what we’ve come to know each and every week; CBS reality comes out on top for the night. In the key 18-49 adult demographic, the show received a 1.7/7 rating/share split for live + same day viewing, which ties the two-hour debut last week.

However, one thing to note is that close to 40,000 more people watched week two over the premiere. 8.23 million people watched the first major blindside of the season, as we’ve seen twice this season that reversing a Survivor curse is harder than it looks. Not only do we have likable characters, but we’ve seen just how strategic they can be with the swapped tribe dynamics.

Nothing else could compete with the Survivor ratings once more, as only 9-1-1 on FOX came close at 9 p.m. ET. Its 1.6/6 rating/share split represented second-best for the night, while Chicago PD’s 6.62 million viewers marked the second-most viewed program on television for Wednesday.

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Next: Survivor: Ranking all 35 seasons

From now until at least the end of March, Survivor will continue to air one-hour episodes that will lead us right to the merge of Ghost Island. With the exciting play of the last episode, it will be interesting to see how the viewing audience responds. The 18th-place player was certainly a middle of the road candidate to win the game, and losing her might cause some people to turn off their televisions next week.