Before any season of Jeff Probst's beloved reality show airs, there is no way for even the most passionate fans of the series to know if it will be a compelling season or a relative bore. After all, before a season with all-new players, like Survivor 49, starts airing, viewers have no way to know if the members of the cast will be compelling or bland.
Even though fans couldn't know if Survivor 49 would be great or disappointing before it aired, it did seem like the season was uniquely positioned to be a flop in terms of viewership. Despite that, it has actually been revealed that Survivor 49 has been a surprisingly huge hit with fans in a very specific but important way.
Survivor 49 is a big streaming hit so far
In October 2025, TheWrap reported that Survivor's latest season was becoming a major hit on streaming. For the article, the outlet compared the current viewership numbers to how many eyes Survivor 47 attracted since both seasons premiered during the same time of year, fall.
The numbers for both seasons tracked how many people streamed the show in the three days that followed each season's first episode premiering on CBS. Thankfully for the team behind Survivor 49, the current's season's streaming numbers are up 138% from the streaming numbers that the reality show got a year ago.
TheWrap's article revealed that the outlet got the viewership numbers from internal Paramount data. The figures that were tracked by the media conglomerate were based on Survivor's viewership on Paramount+, CBS.com, and the CBS app. With so many different options to view Survivor 49 being tracked, that means the rising viewership numbers almost certainly represents a wide swath of the show's viewers streaming the series.
The fact that Survivor 49 is attracting so many viewers is surprising for a specific reason. Before the current season aired, it seemed very clear that the reality show's fans were more interested in discussing the season that will air next, Survivor 50.
Instead of discussing a season with all-new players, it is more fascinating to learn that Jerri Manthey says that Colby Donaldson was pregaming before Survivor 50. Similarly, fans can sit and consider which Survivor 50 feuds they want to see since they have seen all of that season's players compete before. On the other hand, it was harder to talk about Survivor 49 before it started since all fans could go on was the promotional material that can only reveal so much.
Even though Survivor 49 wasn't as exciting to talk about as Survivor 50, it has still become a major hit. One reason why that could be the case is the fact that fans know that 2 Survivor 49 players will be returning for Survivor 50. After all, watching Survivor 49 will help fans prepare for Survivor 50 because of those two players.