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Here's an interesting article today from USA Today. Bascially, reality show ratings have slipped dramatically this season, but Survivor is still holding up pretty well and appears to top other reality shows.

Reality TV gets a big dose of...guess what

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

It had to happen sometime.

A fall season with more reality shows than ever has led to early casualties for some newcomers - and steep declines for some established veterans.

•The Apprentice, The Bachelor, Fear Factor, America's Next Top Model and Last Comic Standing have seen significant ratings declines.

• Newcomers The Benefactor, The Complex: Malibu, Renovate My Family and boxing series The Next Great Champ are chumps.

With 17 hours of spouse-swapping, vote-offs, makeovers and bug-eating on last week's lineup, a winnowing was inevitable. "The more quantity you get of something, the more likely you'll see failure," says Fox reality chief Mike Darnell, who has seen his share of it.

Elimination contests seem most vulnerable, while shows with heart or mean-spirited humor are bucking the trend. So are newer ideas that appeal to the core reality audience - women ages 18 to 34 - who also happen to be TV's most fickle viewers.

ABC's tear-jerking Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is up sharply; the network's new Wife Swap and Fox copycat Trading Spouses are doing well. Reality granddaddy Survivor, in its ninth season, also is holding up as the top reality draw with 20 million viewers.
As once-leery advertisers embrace reality shows, "the networks are more willing to be upfront about scheduling them for fall as opposed to using them as Band-Aids throughout the year," says Initiative Media's Tim Spengler.

But a stream of knockoffs have worn out their welcome, he says. "Programs that do well are usually fresh and different; copycat shows rarely succeed."

Already, there's jockeying in response to the early signs of trouble as networks seek juicier lures for jaded viewers.

After Champ's knockout, NBC delayed its own boxing show, The Contender, to January, replacing it with The Biggest Loser (Oct. 25), a dieting competition. Fox has benched The Partner, a planned lawyer contest due Nov. 7, and subbed in My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, which tweaks The Apprentice the same way Joe Millionaire mocked The Bachelor.

This time, a fake Trump gets ambitious contestants to do outrageous tasks. "We're taking Type-A Ivy Leaguers who believe they have the world by a string, and conning them," Darnell says.

I think they will. Typically the 2nd to merge episodes are generally the lowest viewed. Usually if there is a twist of somesort (like this week) ratings tend to be a bit higher. But I expect it to finally come out in the 20's at merge.

Well its still 9 seasons of Survivor. And 9 seasons for a reality show is very good. I mean the only reality show of lasting longer that I can think of is Road Rules and Real World.