• by Wayne Friedman , May 7, 2010

Seems like CBS has found a way to give another established show some new life this season. We speak of "Survivor."

For the last couple of weeks, "Survivor" has returned to become the biggest player on Thursday night -- a title it carried earlier in its run, starting in 2000. (CBS had good luck in the fall with the veteran show "NCIS" suddenly gaining ratings points after many years on the job).

For the second week in the May sweeps, "Survivor" -- the original big-rated reality show -- was the top-rated show among 18-49 viewers with a Nielsen preliminary 4.1 rating/13 share, running from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. It was down slightly from the 4.0/13 numbers of a week ago.

Much of this comes from lackluster network competitors. The nearest show was Fox's "Bones" -- over 1.5 rating points behind at a 2.5/8.

The 9 p.m. hour on Thursdays had been the high-profile battleground in recent years -- especially with "Grey's Anatomy" going head to head with "CSI." But with "CSI" weakening and NBC's "The Office" closing the gap -- and equaling "Grey's" on most nights -- the 9 p.m. hour does not yield the highest-rated show of the night.

On the second Thursday of the May sweeps, "Grey's" earned a 3.7/11 among 18-49 viewers. But in its first half-hour, it tied with "The Office" again -- each with a 3.5/10. For the full hour, "CSI" had a 3.2/9.

At least preliminarily, CBS' "CSI" and "The Mentalist" were each up 3% from a week ago; ABC's "Grey" and "Private Practice" were each down 3%.

Whereas a week ago it was a much closer race, CBS gained almost a full rating point cushion in winning the night. Some of this is the result of second-place ABC getting fewer viewers for "Flash Forward," now at a 1.3/4.

CBS earned a 3.5/10 among 18-49 viewers; ABC came in at 2.6/8; NBC scored a 2.4/7; Fox took a 2.3/7; Univision had a 1.6/5; and CW finished with a 1.4/4.