Survivor 49 dates, time, episode schedule, cast, and more

We have finally reached the end of Survivor 49, and what a wild ride it has been. We've seen a little bit of everything season, including a snake bite, blindsides, miscues, misplays, and great moves, too.

There's been a lot of criticism about the current season of Survivor, and some of those critiques are valid.

Overall, the gameplay has been lackluster at times. At other times, it’s even been confusing. We don’t really know what exactly these players are thinking with some of these moves, but that’s what makes Survivor interesting. No two seasons are the same, and there’s no playbook for every situation. The game is constantly evolving and changing, and for Survivor 49, the players felt like they were holding on for dear life through all the twists and turns. 

What time is Survivor 49 on CBS?

New episodes of Survivor 49 air weekly on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. C on CBS and Paramount+. Survivor fans on the West Coast will be waiting until 8 p.m. PT to watch the new episodes.

The Survivor 49 premiere was a two-hour episode, as usual, followed by 90-minute episodes for the rest of the season heading into the finale. It will be followed by new episodes of The Amazing Race.

The 90-minute episodes have really been a subject of conversation this season. We've been doing these extended episodes for a few seasons now. When it's interesting and there's a lot happening, there's nothing better than a jam-packed episode with epic gameplay, multiple twists, and more. When it's not going so well, though, it can be a little bit boring.

When is the Survivor 49 finale?

The Survivor 49 finale airs Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. EST on CBS and Paramount+.

The Survivor 49 finale is going to be one of the longest Survivor episodes of all time. The three-hour finale will be interrupted by a speech from President Trump. For East Coast and Central viewers, the episode will be paused during the speech and then will continue as planned immediately after the speech ends. It looks like the speech is going to be about 20 minutes, so the finale will be over three hours from start to finish.

Survivor 49 release schedule

We shared the release schedule for Survivor 49. Obviously, the dates are subject to change.

Cast

CBS announced the Survivor 49 cast ahead of schedule! We have a lot longer to meet these new players before they hit the beach in Fiji in the season premiere, and I'm really interested to see how that impacts this season!

We shared the cast of Survivor 49 below. If you want a more in-depth breakdown of each new player and pictures, we have you covered! We also shared the tribes of all 18 new players.

We're updating this list with the latest results from each episode of Survivor!

Two of these players actually were not supposed to be a part of the Survivor 49 cast. Let's talk about them!

Who were the Survivor 49 alternates?

Jason Treul and Michelle "MC" Chukwujekwu were the alternates for Survivor 49, but they are also players on the new season of the series.

So, as you know, Survivor always brings two alternates out to Fiji for a total of 20 potential players. They have been informed they are the alternates, and they are just waiting in the wings, but going through the process, just in case someone gets sick, injured, panics, or just can't play. Normally, we don't find out who the alternates are until they get cast on a new season, like Rachel LaMont on Survivor 47 or Shauhin Davari on Survivor 48.

Well, we found out who the Survivor 49 alternates were for a very surprising reason.

For the first time in Survivor history, two players were kicked off the Survivor 49 cast for breaking the rules at Ponderosa before the game started, according to EW. Players are not supposed to interact in any way before production officially begins, and it has been revealed that's just what those two players were doing.

Jeff Probst revealed Jason and MC were brought into the game just 12 hours before filming started. What a turn of events!

Where to watch Survivor

There are two places to watch Survivor 49, but there are multiple ways to get there. So, new Survivor 49 episodes will be available to watch on CBS and Paramount+.

The easiest way is to watch live on CBS with your cable/satellite provider, like Dish or DirecTV, or through streaming services, including YouTube TV, Fubo, SlingTV, Hulu with Live TV, and more! You have to make sure your local CBS affiliate is offered through those plans.

If you don't watch a lot of TV, though, there's a cheaper way to watch Survivor 49, and that's through Paramount+. You have a few options for Paramount+ plans, but we recommend the Paramount+ Premium account to watch Survivor 49 live.

Here's a breakdown on the two Paramount+ plans:

The main difference between the two plans for Survivor fans is the price and whether or not you can watch Survivor live. Obviously, the Essential bundle is cheaper than the other option, but you can't watch the new episode. Instead, you have to wait until the next day to watch the new Survivor episode. With the Premium plan, you can watch the new episodes live.

When does Survivor 50 premiere?

And, last but not least, there's a pretty big season of Survivor featuring two Survivor 49 players coming right up after Survivor 49. While we already determined the Survivor 49 finale will air in December, Survivor 50 premieres pretty quickly after that.

CBS revealed that Survivor 50 premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Before that, CBS is running 10 special episodes of Survivor to get fans hyped for one of the biggest seasons in the show's history.

So, that's what we know about Survivor 49 right now. We'll be sharing more news about the upcoming season as we find out!

Watch Survivor 49 on Wednesdays on CBS and Paramount+.