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The Soul of CBS's Survivor

The reality-based television craze hit a new high with last night's two-hour Survivor finale. While some of the publicly traded winners are obvious, the impact the show will have on the entertainment industry might be more than the industry bargained for.

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)
August 24, 2000

It ended with a Hatch. With early predictions calling for as many as 40 million viewers, CBS's popular Survivor series came to a close last night with corporate trainer Rich Hatch landing the solitary spot on the island and the million-dollar prize.

He's not the only one cashing in. CBS parent Viacom (NYSE: VIA) was able to breathe new life into summer network programming that typically runs ripe with reruns and soft ratings. According to Newsweek, last night's two-hour finale and one-hour cast reunion drew in about $17 million in advertising. Landing more than a half-million for a 30-second commercial spot might pale in comparison to Super Bowl sponsorship money, but so did the costs of acquiring the content.

Just as Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC was able to catapult itself from third to first on the strength of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Nielsen nirvana has been found making stars out of everyday people. And -- no bones about it, Fools -- we work cheap.

Disney has been able to parlay Millionaire into a programming blockbuster at an hourly rate well below what it would cost to develop mediocre sitcom and drama shows. Moreover, by taking up the initial prime-time slot three nights a week it has helped boost ratings throughout the night. And the television set that shuts off ABC on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night will awaken to Good Morning America come Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

CBS hasn't been able to build off its success, yet. Its other reality-based experiment -- Big Brother -- initially flopped on any night in which it didn't have Survivor as a lead-in.

But that brings up another interesting trend. Big Brother, Survivor, and Millionaire are all European imports. Stateside bravado has taken a hit as the domestic originals that once helped NBC and its General Electric (NYSE: GE) parent rule the network roost have become as passe as they are relatively overpriced.

Does that mean American creativity is dead? Hardly. While more European-tweaked concepts are appearing on the fall schedule, such as ABC's The Mole -- in which more real people are booted one by one, only in this twist there is an infiltrator, the mole, and the weekly loser is the one who knows the least about the mole's true identity -- it can be argued that the networks had the power all along.

Remember Battle of the Network Stars? Remember how 1970s television stars like Scott Baio and Lou Ferrigno would partake in a high-stakes game of "Simon Says" sudden-death elimination? How about the animated Laff-Olympics, or the non-celebrity Anything Goes? Yes, the international airwaves have also been airing the same format for decades too, but MTV had its heart in the right place with The Real World.

The big difference was that the MTV series spent more time on Generation X angst and moping rather than learning from the popularity of booting Puck out of the house. Then again, both MTV and CBS are owned by Viacom. Being a pioneer eventually paid off in a roundabout, acquisitive way.

With lifelines, tribal councils, "Is that your final answer?" and the ultimate dis of getting booted off the island entering our vernacular this past year, reality-TV has pop cultural relevance. It's even invaded Fooldom with our new Fool Survivor contest.

So, Hatch won. But who else?

Sponsors who took CBS up on its package advertising deals before Survivor hit the airwaves, such as salty snack titan Frito-Lay -- owned by Pepsi (NYSE: PEP) -- and Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), got more exposure than they were bargaining for.

But what will Viacom do for an encore? The next Survivor installment is five months away. When Millionaire was a runaway smash back in November, it was a full-fledged series two months later.

The island survivor spirit might help Dreamworks and Fox (NYSE: FOX) come December as they team up to release the eagerly anticipated Tom Hanks' Cast Away flick. Yep. One guy. Stranded on an island. Only this guy doesn't work cheap.

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