Eating bugs, stabbing fish with a makeshift spear and tropical island backstabbing appear to be losing their appeal for "Survivor" fans.
The long-running CBS game isn't immune to the general malaise affecting network TV this spring, as only 13.6 million people watched Sunday as California advertising executive Earl Cole unanimously won the Fiji edition, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That's down 17% from the 16.4 million people who watched the end of the previous edition in December. Last spring's finale had 17.1 million viewers, Nielsen said.
It illustrates how long it has been since the first "Survivor" in the summer of 2000 electrified fans and drew 51.6 million people to its conclusion. The latest game was the 14th "Survivor" edition.
CBS notes, however, that "Survivor" consistently wins its time slot against a hot new hit, ABC's "Ugly Betty," and NBC's "My Name Is Earl."
Even television's May sweeps, usually a season's climax, can't seem to get viewers excited. Only the two "American Idol" episodes and "House" on Fox brought in more than 20 million viewers last week, Nielsen said. ABC's "Desperate Housewives" slipped to 16.1 million viewers.
The veteran CBS comedy "King of Queens" went out with a small wave of nostalgia, however. It was the most-watched sitcom on the air last week, and the 13.4 million who watched this Monday's finale was its biggest audience since 2003.
CBS was the nation's most popular network last week, averaging 11.3 million viewers in prime time. Fox had 10.2 million and won among viewers ages 18 to 49, a coveted demographic.
The week's only premiere, the ABC drama "Traveler," was 38th for the week and third in its Thursday 10-11 p.m. time slot with 8.6 million viewers. Viewership dropped 19% from the first half-hour to the second.
For the sixth consecutive week, HBO's "The Sopranos" was cable's most-watched show of the week, with 6.49 million viewers for its first airing Sunday, which would have put it 56th among the programs on the five major broadcast networks.
ABC's "World News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.9 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.2 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" was third for the 33rd consecutive week, with 6.1 million viewers.
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