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MediaBuyerPlanner: Facing tough new competition on Thursday nights, plus a steady decline in ratings in recent years, reality series Survivor will implement a new organizational structure among its teams, or “tribes.”
Contestants, increased this season from 16 to 20, will be divided into groups of five based on ethnicity. There will be a group made up of blacks, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and whites, writes The New York Times.
Series producer Mark Burnett says the decision was based partly on the fact that the show had been criticized for its lack of diversity. In the past, more than 80 percent of applicants were white, so the show reached out to social and church groups to bring in more applicants of different backgrounds, and the results were gratifying (hence the increase in contestants, he says).
CBS and Burnett both acknowledge that the new format could be criticized. Burnett is quoted as saying, “I’m not an idiot.” He also denies the charge that the strategy is to boost ratings, pointing out that Survivor still attracted about 17 million viewers per week last season.
CBS expresses confidence in its ability to handle the situation sensitively.
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