Viewers lose interest in Survivor

Jason Deans
guardian.co.uk, Friday May 25 2001 16.37 BST

More than 1.4m viewers have switched off Survivor, ITV's new reality show, since the programme made its debut on Monday.

And in yet another boost to Anne Robinson, the show was beaten in the ratings by the Weakest Link.

The slump in figures will come as a blow to the network, which is hoping Survivor will turn into a summer ratings sensation.

Last night, the show was seen by just 5.2m viewers - 1.4m down on its opening night.

Worse for ITV, the station's all-important audience share dived to 28%, according to unofficial overnights.

Any chance of a Survivor ratings revival was effectively dashed by the BBC, which was boosted by the dramatic return of Sharon Mitchell to EastEnders.

The feisty blonde, played by Letitia Dean, re-entered the Queen Vic after an absence of six years in the final scene of last night's episode, which ran from 7.30pm to 8pm

EastEnders pulled in 11.8m viewers and had a 65% audience share.

The soap gave the Weakest Link one of its strongest inheritances yet for its head to head fight with Survivor.

The quiz was watched by 6m viewers - a 34 % audience share.

In its second half - between 8.30pm and 9pm - Survivor beat the BBC1 reality show, Surviving the Iron Age.

Surviving the Iron Age had just 3.7m viewers.

An ITV spokeswoman said Survivor's audience grew across the 60 minutes it was on air, which was a promising sign.

In its first quarter hour (8.00-8.15pm) it had 4.4m viewers but this figure grew to 6.5m in the final 15 minutes, when JJ Adams was evicted.

"With a better inheritance in front of it, this show will grow," the spokeswoman said.

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