Survivor airs 500th episode
Turning 500 can’t be easy, especially when you were once considered as fresh and exciting as a new set of emojis.
You start to repeat yourself. Things start to sag. In the case of Survivor, which aired its 34th season premiere and 500th episode on March 8, those things are ratings.
Don’t get me wrong — the show isn’t on life support. CBS just gave it an early renewal for another go-round, and its season premiere bringing back 20 game-changer castaways took in 7.6 million U.S. viewers and two million Canadian ones.
But that was a record low for a Survivor season debut in the U.S. Compared to a year ago, the show dropped eight per cent in total audience.
In Canada, it ranked No. 3 for the week, falling behind relative whippersnappers The Big Bang Theory (which had aired a mere 225 episodes at that point) and NCIS (which had aired 323, not including its crossover episodes with JAG).
Also in the Top 10 was the spring return of first-year drama Designated Survivor, as well as MacGyver — that show aired a crossover episode with Hawaii Five-0, also in the Top 10, that week.
Across Canada, Big Bang was No. 1 in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area.
Here are the top programs in Canada for the week of March 6-12, the most recent ratings available, courtesy of audience measurement organization Numeris.
1. The Big Bang Theory (Thurs.), CTV
2. NCIS, Global
3. Survivor, Global
4. Bull, Global
5. Blue Bloods, CTV
6. Grey’s Anatomy, CTV
7. Designated Survivor, CTV
8. The Voice, CTV
9. Hawaii Five-0, Global
10. MacGyver, Global
11. This is Us, CTV
12. NCIS: Los Angeles, Global
13. NCIS: New Orleans, Global
14. CTV Evening News, CTV
15. The Voice Results, CTV
16. MasterChef Canada, CTV
17. Chicago Med, Global
18. Chicago Justice, Global
19. CTV National News, CTV
20. CTV Evening News Weekend, CTV
21. Saturday Night Live, Global
22. Hockey Night in Canada, CBC
23. The Big Bang Theory (weeknights), CTV
24. The Blacklist: Redemption, Global
25. Powerless, CTV
26. Saving Hope, CTV
27. Shades of Blue, Global
28. Grimm, CTV
29. Modern Family, City
30. Taken, Global