• by February 12, 2001

By Anya Khait "Survivor: The Australian Outback" didn't only survive its second matchup with NBC's Thursday night line up, it was the most-watched program with 29 million viewers, the same number that watched last week's episode, according to Nielsen Media Research figures.

"Survivor" also dominated the hour in the advertiser-coveted demographic of viewers age 18 to 49, up 3% compared to its debut, according to Nielsen figures released Friday.

"Survivor's" competition, "Friends" and a special "Saturday Night Live" presentation, averaged 21.2 million viewers for the 8-9 p.m. period.

Another network star was the freshman series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which spent its second winning week in the 9 p.m. Thursday slot. The forensic crime drama drew 21.5 million viewers, more than its competitors including "Will & Grace" and "Just Shoot Me" on NBC and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on ABC.

Broadcast TV is a winner due to "Survivor" winner. Since the show's Thursday debut, collective viewership for CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox is up 22% among all viewers and up 30% among the 18-to-49 crowd compared to the season average.

Overall, "Survivor" drew 29 million viewers and scored 12.2 rating, 29 share among adults 18-49 in national Nielsen numbers. In the first half-hour, "Friends" hit an 11.4/28 with 22.4 million viewers, and a 9.3/21 with "Saturday Night Live" bits beefing up the second "Friends" episode.

Anya Khait may be reached at Anya@mediapost.com