• by July 13, 2000

CBS gets a face-lift for a more youthful appearance and is going out on the town with a younger crowd. With the premiers of "Survivor," which became the most popular show for the third straight week with 24.4 million viewers, and "Big Brother," last week the network became a favorite among 18-49 year-olds.

Excluding the weeks CBS televised the Olympics, this is the first time the network has won the top spot on Nielsen's ratings for the 18-49 age demographic since 1994.

CBS has long had the reputation of delivering an old and stuffy audience. And has lost ad dollars to the hipper networks as a result. The more youthful appearance could mean big bucks for the network as the advertising community becomes willing to pay more for commercials.

The Orwell-inspired "Big Brother" debuted last week with 22.4 million viewers. However, Saturday's audience eroded to 6.4 million. But there's promise that Monday's show gained more viewers.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" retains a strong following even in reruns with 21.6 million viewers last Thursday, the night of its fifth million-dollar winner.

According to Nielsen Media Research, CBS averaged 9.7 million viewers in prime-time last week - 6.8 rating and 13 share. ABC founds itself second with 9.1 million viewers - 6.2 rating and 12 share. NBC acquired 8.1 million viewers - 5.6 rating and 11 share - and Fox had 6.2 million - 4.2 rating and 8 share. UPN had 2.8 million viewers with 2.0 rating and 4 share, the WB had 2.4 million viewers - 1.7 rating and 3 share and Pax TV had 1 million viewers - 0.8 rating and 2 share.

Winning first place in the evening news ratings, NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.8 million viewers with 6.6 rating and 15 share. ABC's "World News Tonight" had 7.9 million viewers with 6.0 rating and 14 share, while the "CBS Evening News" found itself with 7.3 million viewers, 5.7 rating and 13 share.

The top ten shows for the week of July 3-9 were: 1. "Survivor," CBS, 15.2

2. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,"(Thursday), ABC, 14.0

3. "Big Brother," (Wednesday), CBS, 13.9

4. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," (Sunday), ABC, 12.7

5. "48 Hours," (Wednesday), CBS, 10.5

6. "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.8

7. "20/20 Downtown," ABC, 9.3

8. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," (Tuesday), ABC, 8.7

9. "Law and Order," NBC, 8.5

10."Touched By an Angel," CBS, 8.4.