By
Associated Press
NEW YORK - It's the nuclear bomb of the television season - "Survivor II" - and CBS is clearly enjoying the uncertainty over where it will drop.
The second version of the TV competition that captivated viewers last summer, with a different cast and setting in the Australian outback, will premiere on Jan. 28 after the CBS telecast of the Super Bowl.
Beyond that, CBS is keeping mum about what night the remaining 12 episodes of the limited-run series will air.
"I just like keeping our competitors on edge because, clearly, they're all talking about it," CBS President Leslie Moonves said yesterday.
Moonves shot down a report Monday in the trade publication Daily Variety that CBS will air "Survivor II" Sunday nights. He said it's much more likely to be on in the middle of the week.
It definitely won't air Monday or Tuesday, he said. Since Friday and Saturday are generally the least-watched nights of the week, it's doubtful CBS will show it then, either.
That leaves Wednesdays, where the original "Survivor" flourished at 8 p.m. EDT over the summer, or Thursdays, which have been disastrous in the ratings for CBS this fall.
There are several different considerations for CBS, including where it will likely get the most viewers, where it could earn the most ad revenue and where it could most hurt the competition, Moonves said.
"Do you go after NBC's Thursday night?" he asked. "Or do you go where it did very well in the summer? These are all questions that we are struggling with right now."
Airing it Thursday night might allow CBS to crack into the lucrative ad market for movies - which studios like to buy close to the weekend - but it would mean bucking NBC's long track record that night.
Moonves, paid to promote his own shows, said he believes "Survivor II" is better than the original because producer Mark Burnett is more experienced and had more money to spend. An open question is whether the summertime escapist fare will translate to the more competitive winter.
Moonves said he didn't have to decide when to schedule "Survivor II" until around Christmas or even later.
