Rating Reality

SURVIVOR
Peak Viewership: 51.7 million

The season finale and post-show discussion of Survivor, the show that made a star of Richard Hatch, racked up about $50 million* in advertising for CBS; 30-second spots sold for $600,000. So far Visa, GM, Anheuser-Busch, Frito-Lay and others have forked over $12 million to sponsor the Jan. 28 debut of Survivor: The Australian Outback. That's $8 million more in ad revenue than the first episode of its predecessor. WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MULTIMILLIONAIRE?
Peak Viewership: 22.8 million

Fox's answer to ABC ratings king Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was a two-hour special in which standup comic Rick Rockwell picked Darva Conger as his bride. The ratings phenomenon, which aired during February, 2000, sweeps week, turned into a public relations fiasco with news of a restraining order in Rockwell's past. The couple quickly called it quits. BIG BROTHER (U.S.)
Peak Viewership: 22.4 million

CBS spent $20 million for the rights to franchise the series in which contestants are isolated in a house and then eliminated one by one. Big Brother began in the Netherlands in 1999. In Britain, 10 million tuned in for the show's finale in September, 2000, making it Channel 4's second-most-watched program ever.

In the U.S., the show averaged nine million viewers a night, and hooked 11.1 million for its final episode. MAKING THE BAND
Peak Viewership: 11.6 million

A boy-band boot camp that whittled 25 hopefuls down to the five members of O-Town. The March 24 debut scored the highest ratings, but ABC shelved the program during May, 2000, sweeps when numbers sank. The show ended Sept. 8 with 6.5 million viewers--enough to renew it for another season. Besides, reality shows cost just $200,000 per episode, a fraction of the prime-time average of $1.8 million. THE 1900 HOUSE
Peak Viewership: 6 million

Imported from England's Channel 4, the series cost just $1 million to make and averaged five million viewers for each episode. The result: PBS reaped more than twice its regular prime-time audience. Viewers watched a modern British family, the Bowlers, as they lived like Victorians in a south London house. Buoyed by its success, PBS now plans on funding the production of The Frontier House, set on the Prairies. REAL WORLD
Peak Viewership: 4.1 million

The most popular series in MTV's lineup since it began in 1992. Real World, which follows a group of twentysomething roommates, is the sire of U.S. reality shows. Its ratings have climbed steadily each year, luring 1.8 million viewers in the crucial 18-34 demographic.

The show has also spawned Road Rules, a ratings-winning Real World on wheels. PIONEER QUEST: A YEAR IN THE REAL WEST
Peak Viewership: 317,000

The quietly received Canadian take on The 1900 House was launched Nov. 19 and features two couples adapting to late-1800s pioneer life in rural Manitoba. A 30-second spot costs $2,000 (Canadian).