Two things are guaranteed in autumn: leaves will begin falling, and a new season of Survivor will drop on CBS.
The 45th season of Survivor’s US version is set to premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 25, via the network and Paramount Plus. And with Season 46 already filmed, the series will continue to inch ever closer to its 50th season.
Survivor stands as one of CBS’s three reality competition pillars, the other two being Big Brother and The Amazing Race.
So, how long has Survivor been on, anyway?
The franchise debuted on CBS on May 31, 2000 — over 23 years ago. And with Survivor releasing 90-minute episodes for Season 45, all signs point toward the franchise hitting the 25-year milestone in 2025. Survivor is the longest-running series out of the three staple CBS reality shows. Big Brother premiered a few months after Survivor, on July 5, 2000, and The Amazing Race first appeared on Sept. 5, 2001.
Survivor is a seven-time Primetime Emmy winner. And according to The Hollywood Reporter, the finale of Season 1’s Boreno was the second-most-watched show of the 2000 through 2009 decade, clocking in at 51.7 million viewers.
It ranked in the top 10 of most-watched shows during the early part of its run while still consistently winning its Wednesday prime-time slot.
It doesn’t sound like host Jeff Probst plans to retire anytime soon
Several things have remained a constant on Survivor through its 23-year run, like Tribal Council, immunity challenges, and cut-throat strategies. Well, host Jeff Probst remains among the guarantees as well. He’s been the figurehead of the franchise since its inception while working behind the scenes as an executive producer as well.
Probst is synonymous with Survivor; some (including this writer) view him as the greatest reality competition host of all time. And according to an interview with Entertainment Weekly in Dec. 2022, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
Like most things during the COVID-19 pandemic, the series’ production stopped. But Probst welcomed the break, which led him to fall back in love with his passion — Survivor.
“It’s impossible to describe what Survivor represents to me,” Probst said. “Impossible. It goes beyond creative expression or professional recognition. It’s much deeper. It’s right in line with the ideas I try to impress on our players.
“It’s about pushing myself further than I think I can go, about trying to stay in the moment and adapt to my surroundings, about being a good ‘tribe member,’ about being open to new ideas and new people. The same opportunities Survivor offers the players, it offers me. I love Survivor, and I still need Survivor.”
Although Probst didn’t give a direct answer about when he planned to hang up his torch snuffer, saying he needs Survivor strongly indicates that he’s here for the long haul.