Survivor ratings: David vs. Goliath premiere holds steady year over year
The Survivor ratings for the David vs. Goliath premiere holds the same rating and share as Ghost Island, but have slightly dipped since this time last year.
This week’s Survivor premiere was far greater than most recent seasons’ debuts. One reason, in particular, was that with a 90-minute premiere, every single person had the chance to introduce themselves to the camera and offer their perspective on life at camp. One of the reasons why might have had to do with the lack of a Tribal Council, eschewing strategy talk for the evacuation scare.
Whatever it was, it helped the Survivor ratings on Wednesday night, as TV By The Numbers reports that the David vs. Goliath premiere had 7.83 million viewers and had a 1.7/7 rating/share. The viewership led the timeslot but was surpassed by the premiere of Chicago Fire on NBC, which had 8.08 million viewers at 9 p.m. ET.
The rating/share split lead went to Empire, as it had a 1.9/9 premiere in the prime television debut season. It may seem like Survivor is majorly slipping where it used to be a proud Wednesday night leader, but if you compare it to the September 2017 premiere, Survivor‘s dip in ratings is far better than every other program at 8 p.m.
Empire debuted to 2.4/9 last year, losing a 0.5 rating year over year. The Goldbergs had a 1.8/7 rating/share but now has 1.4/7 this year. NBC had The Blacklist at a 1.1/4 debut last year, but have modestly improved with Chicago Med at 1.2/6 this year in its place. In effect, with Survivor‘s 1.8/7 dropping to 1.7/7 this year, the dip in viewers and ratings is minuscule in comparison.
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Another factor could have been the reduced leadup to Survivor: David vs. Goliath. This year, fans had only three weeks to learn the player’s personalities and didn’t get the chance to see individual interview videos on YouTube on Day 1 of the preseason as we’ve seen in the past. It was a gamble that utterly failed, and I hope there’s a better promotion for season 38 in the spring.