Thursday
TIME-SLOT SHOWDOWN You might think a sayonara-saying sextet would blow ''Survivor'' out of the water. You might be wrong. No. 2 ''Survivor'' actually outdraws No. 3 ''Friends'' (down 6 million-plus viewers from last fall), though ''Friends'' beats ''Survivor'' in the 18-to-49 demo. ''The prospect of next season without 'Friends' is pretty exciting,'' says Kahl. A somewhat similar story unfolded at 10 p.m.: No. 4 ''ER'' lost more than 5 million viewers from last fall, helping No. 10 ''Without a Trace'' to leave its mark.
PEAK PERFORMER ''CSI'' shows little sign of decay: It is TV's top series with 26.4 million viewers (and is edging out ''Friends'' as No. 1 among 18- to 49ers), leading CBS' charge against NBC on Thursday. Says Kahl: ''A few years ago, coming in [to CBS] on Fridays wasn't fun. Now Friday mornings are an awful lot of fun.''
BLEAK PERFORMERS Looking for the next ''Friends,'' NBC adapted a hit Britcom -- but No. 26 ''Coupling'' didn't import enough viewers from No. 11 ''Will & Grace.'' ''We made a mistake in our hype of the show,'' says Zucker. (Joseph Lawrence's WB sitcom ''Run of the House'' could've used some hype: It ranks dead last -- whoa! -- at No. 128.)
FUN FACT ''Survivor: Pearl Islands'' is the top-ranked prime-time show among 2- to 11-year-olds.
