TV Ratings: ‘Survivor’ Finale Ticks Up, Narrowly Loses to ‘Masked Singer’

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The three-hour season 40 finale of “Survivor” delivered strong numbers for CBS, almost strong enough, in fact, to top “The Masked Singer” for the first time this season.

The finale averaged a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 and just under 8 million total viewers, which represents the best numbers for a “Survivor” finale in five seasons, as well as being well above the averaged 7.2 million viewers who tuned in across the 40th edition. CBS managed to win the night overall, beating Fox on the night of the “Masked Singer” semi final.

Speaking of that semi final, the latest episode of the popular singing show, which saw the Rhino stampede out of the competition , scored a 1.8 rating and just under 7 million viewers. That’s pretty much even on last episode. The “Masked Singer” after show “After the Mask” came in with a 0.9 and 3.9 million viewers.

Meanwhile, ABC aired a quartet of finales, two of which ticked up from the week before. The season 2 curtain call for “Schooled” rose to a 0.7 rating and 3.3 million viewers, its highest tally in around two months, while the final episode of “Single Parents”‘s sophomore season rose to 0.5 and 2.3 million pairs of eyeballs. “The Goldbergs” finale came in even at a 0.8 and 4.2 million viewers, as did the “American Housewife” season 4 finale at a 0.5 and 3.1 million viewers. “Shark Tank” rounded off the night with a 0.5 and 2.3 million viewers.

NBC aired replays of its “Chicago” dramas, with all three shows scoring a 0.5 rating and averaging around 4 million viewers each.

The CW aired replays of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and “Bulletproof,” both of which scored a 0.1, with the former drawing 732,000 viewers and the latter 343,000.