Release
"SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS" DEBUTS IMPRESSIVELY
March 1, 2002
"SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS" DEBUTS IMPRESSIVELY TO MORE THAN 23 MILLION VIEWERS
"Survivor: Marquesas" Delivers More Viewers Than The MASSIVELY PROMOTED "Leap Of Faith," Tops It in Adults 25-54 And Is in a Virtual Tie in Adults 18-49
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" Delivers an Olympian Performance
Record Viewership of Nearly 29 Million Welcome "CSI" Back From Its Olympic Hiatus
"CSI" Dominates Its Time Period in Households, Viewers, Adults 18-49
And Adults 25-54 with All-Time Series High Ratings
And Draws Nearly Four Million More Viewers Than "ER"
CBS Wins the 8:00-10:00 PM Time Period in Viewers, Households, Adults 25-54 and Is Close Second in Adults 18-49
An average of nearly 29 million viewers, a series record, welcomed back CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION from its Olympic hiatus, while SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS debuted to an average of more than 23 million viewers and topped the MASSIVELY PROMOTED premiere of "Leap of Faith" its second half-hour, according to Final Nielsen ratings for Thursday, Feb. 28 on the CBS Television Network.
Thursday also saw THE AGENCY post series highs in viewers and households as CBS placed a very competitive second for the night.
SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS (P) posted a 13.0/20 with 23.19m viewers, 7.6/20 in adults 18-34, 9.1/22 in adults 18-49 and 10.0/23 in adults 25-54. SURVIVOR, against unprecedented competition due to relentless Olympic promotion on NBC, was a very strong second in households, viewers and key demographics.
Despite the competition, SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS posted a higher household rating, adults 18-34, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 delivery and more viewers than any "Survivor: Africa" episode except the premiere and the finale.
SURVIVOR grew significantly at 8:30 PM:
(More)
CBS Television...2
Household Ratings Viewers A18-34 A18-49 A25-54
8:00pm 12.4/19 21.77m 6.9/18 8.4/21 9.3/22 8:30pm 13.7/21 24.60m 8.2/21 9.8/23 10.7/24 ________________________________________________________________________ % change +10% +2.83m +19% +17% +15%
At 8:30 PM, SURVIVOR easily won the half-hour in viewers (24.60m vs. second place NBC's 20.76m) against the massively promoted premiere of "Leap of Faith." SURVIVOR topped "Leap of Faith" in adults 25-54 (10.7/24 vs. 10.3/23) while the two programs were in a virtual tie for first in adults 18-49 (9.8/23 for CBS, 9.9/23 for NBC).
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION dominated the 9:00 PM time period with a 17.1/26 with a record 28.74m viewers. CBS dominated second place NBC in households, viewers and key demographics:
Household Ratings Viewers A18-49 A25-54
CSI 17.1/26 28.74m 10.5/24 12.5/27
Will & Grace/
Just Shoot Me
11.3/17 16.80m 8.8/21 9.4/20
% CBS advantage
+51% +11.94m +19% +33%
This is CSI's best performance ever in households, viewers, adults 18-34 (8.1/21), adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. This is CBS's second-most-watched program of the year, behind "Carol Burnett's Show Stoppers" (29.80m viewers).
Among regularly scheduled programs, it is the most-watched prime program on CBS this season and the second-most-watched episode of any drama on any network this year (in a virtual tie with ER's 28.87m viewers on 12/13/01). CSI was Thursday's most-watched program on any network and the night's top-rated drama, with a +5% household advantage and +3.84m more viewers than NBC's "ER" (16.3/27, 24.90m).
At 10:00 PM, THE AGENCY was second in households, viewers and key demographics. The drama posted an 8.1/13 with 12.08m viewers, 4.4/11 in adults 18-49 and 5.2/12 in adults 25-54. This is THE AGENCY's best performance in households and most-watched episode ever.
Despite NBC's heavily promoted Thursday, CBS was a competitive second on the night in households (12.8/20), viewers (21.43m), adults 18-49 (8.0/20) and adults 25-54 (9.3/21).
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Press Contacts: Michael G. Silver 212/975-3161 mgsilver@cbs.com Ed Harrison 323/575-4254
