Reality TV existed before Survivor, but the show’s low overhead and potential for mass appeal single-handedly ushered in the reality-competition boom.
Survivor instantly became a ratings juggernaut, and viewership for the first season finale reached north of 50 million. What he got instead was a cultural phenomenon. Producer Mark Burnett expected a hit when he sent 16 contestants and a then-unknown 38-year-old host named Jeff Probst to the Borneo island of Malaysia for an adaptation of the Swedish competition show Expedition Robinson.
