There's no debate that Survivor 47 was the best season of Survivor's new era and best since Survivor: Winners at War (season 40). Honestly, in a lot of ways, Survivor 47 was probably even better from a gameplay perspective than Winners at War.
Now, Survivor faces a lot of pressure to build on the success of Survivor 47 from a gameplay perspective but also from a ratings perspective heading into Survivor 50 in 2026.
Overall, the ratings for Survivor 47 were not the best, even with the amazing gameplay. I don't know if there's a lot of pressure from CBS to build on the show's success and continue to grow ratings. It seems like Survivor has reached the point where the fans are tuning in week in and week out, but it's hard to sustain that early growth that paved the way for the show running for almost 50 seasons.
Ultimately, I'm not worried! There are big plans in place for Survivor this year, so let's get into what's on the docket.
Survivor 48 premieres on Feb. 26
We're only a few weeks away from officially learning the cast of Survivor 48. The new season's official premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Then, for the next 13 or 14 weeks in a row, we'll watch as 18 new players compete for the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize.
Survivor 48 players didn't have the luxury of watching Survivor 47 before their season was filmed, but they did have the chance to watch season 46, most likely. And, we all know how that season played out. There were multiple immunity idols not played correctly in that season. The Yanu tribe started the game by losing almost every challenge. And, overall, things just weren't the best on that season.
Despite there being a slew of blindsides in season 46, the Survivor 47 players surpassed that level of intensity with their epic moves throughout the season. Obviously, there were some messy moments and blunders. This is Survivor. But, it was a pretty clean season, and the jury rewarded the best player of the season with a win.
There's a lot of pressure on the Survivor 48 players to bring that level of strategy and social play into their season.
Survivor 49 and 50 film this spring and summer
Looking at the calendar, Survivor 48 should be done airing on CBS and Paramount+ by mid-May 2025. Production on Survivor 49 and Survivor 50 will likely begin shortly after that. They'll also likely film back-to-back in Fiji, as Survivor has done for every pair of seasons in the new era.
We always learn a lot about the new seasons as they head into production, including the cast, but CBS usually waits until much closer to reveal that information. I feel that's going to be much harder to do when so many big players will be returning for Survivor 50, which should film in June or July.
So, I have to imagine that Survivor will share the cast of Survivor 50 sometime later this year in anticipation of Survivor 50. That's the only thing that makes sense. And, you know it's going to be a huge announcement whenever that drops!
Honestly, we should start learning (unofficially, of course) who is returning for Survivor 50 this spring as the cast gets finalized.
Survivor 49 premieres this fall leading up to Survivor 50 in early 2026
Then, after production wraps on Survivor 49 and Survivor 50, we're going to see the Survivor 49 premiere. Assuming everything goes to schedule and follows the normal release pattern, Survivor 49 should premiere sometime in mid-to-late September and run for 13 or 14 weeks through December.
Then, we'll all be waiting for CBS to drop the Survivor 50 premiere date. The most highly anticipated season of Survivor ever and certainly since Winners at War should premiere in early 2026. The good news is that we have two great seasons to watch before Jeff Probst and the former Survivor players come back to celebrate 50 seasons of the best reality show on TV.
Basically, the only break we'll have from Survivor this year will be throughout the summer, so buckle up because it's going to be a great year!
So, as you can see, there's a lot going on in the world of Survivor even if it doesn't seem like it right now. In terms of news, we're in a relatively quiet period for Survivor, but that should change soon as we get closer to the Survivor 48 premiere date. We'll start to see some teasers before the cast announcement arrives in early February.
Stay tuned for more news about the upcoming seasons of Survivor!