• by October 4, 2000

"Survivor" may be starting to pay off for CBS - the network started the season with its best young viewer ratings in several years and wiped out the network competition in every major ratings category.

A one-hour "Everybody Loves Raymond," "King of Queens," debut of sitcom "Yes, Dear" and "Family Law" propelled CBS to first place on Monday in households (11.5 rating/18 share), adults 18-49 (6.4/16), adults 18-34 (4.7/13) and in total viewers (16.8 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

It was the first Monday since April 1995 that CBS captured the highest number of 18-34-year-olds with regular programming. CBS won the first-night of the season competition, beating Fox's "The Sexiest Bachelor in America," NBC's new series "Tucker and Deadline" and even topping ABC's "Monday Night Football" in most areas.

The special "Raymond" scored a 14.5/21 in households, 8.5/19 in adults 18-49 and a 6.0/15 in adults 18-34, capturing the attention of 22 million viewers - its largest audience to date. The returning comedy "King of Queens" won the 9 p.m. ET/PT time period in all major demos and the new comedy "Yes, Dear" grew 11% from its "King of Queens" lead-in in adults 18-49 (6.1/16). "Yes, Dear" attracted 14.6 million viewers and a 9.7/15 household rating, while sophomore drama "Family Law" averaged a 10.5/17 in households, 14.1 million viewers and a 5.1/13 in adults 18-49. Fox's special "The Sexiest Bachelor in America" (8-10 p.m. ET/PT) drew 8.1 million viewers and a 3.9/10 in adults 18-49. ABC's "Monday Night Football" (Seattle vs. Kansas City) averaged 14.1 million viewers and a 6.1/15 in adults 18-49 between 9-11 p.m. ET/PT.

As for NBC, the new comedy "Tucker averaged 8.4 million viewers, a 3.3/8 in adults 18-49 and a 5.9/9 in households and the drama "Deadline" averaged 14.1 million viewers and a 5.3/12 in adults 18-49.