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The reality TV showSurvivorhas been on air for the past 24 years and has lasted 47 seasons. The next year will see the 48th season of the show, with contestants facing new challenges and playing games to take home the prize money. While the show has been lucrative for its contestants,Survivor’s prize money has not changed since 2000.
Based on the Swedish reality showExpedition Robinson,Survivorwas created by Charlie Parsons and has become a pop cultural staple since its debut in 2000. The series has spawned a franchise, with many other nations developing their own versions of the popular show.
What Is The Format OfSurvivor?
Survivorwas first created by British TV producer Charlie Preston, who introduced the concept of a group of contestants fighting the elements to survive in the wilderness to a Swedish audience withExpedition Robinson. While the Swedish series was a bit crude, producer Mark Burnett reportedly saw potential and began pitching it in the USA (viaAV Club).
The American version of the show, which began airing in 2000, has had the same basic format for the past 24 years. Each season is set in different locations around the world and sees a group of 16 to 20 contestants being split into two tribes. Each tribe is given a location and is tested by the elements to survive. They also face off during challenges.
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The first half of the game involves the two rival tribes facing off as a group and trying to win in challenges. The winners sometimes get immunity from the Tribal Council, which is where the players are eliminated. The second half of the game is more individual-based and the contestants compete in games to receive rewards and immunity.
By the finale, only three contestants or ‘Castaways’ remain and the Final Tribal Council votes on the sole survivor. The Tribal Council at this point consists of eliminated players who rejoin just the council and not the game and decide the performance of the Castaways. The sole survivor is the winner of the show.
Has The Prize Money ForSurvivorChanged In The Past 24 Years?
Producer Mark Burnett reportedly had a fascination with how a group of people would behave when pushed to adverse conditions and thought thatSurvivorwould be a great social experiment on human nature (via AV Club). However, it was Season 1 winner Richard Hatch who reportedly reminded the makers that it was ultimately game for the prize money.
While the contestants a.k.a the Castaways ofSurvivorcompete in the games and challenges for multiple rewards peppered throughout the show and immunity against elimination, the final aim of every contestant is to win the prize money. For the last 24 years, the sole survivor of the show has walked off with a $1 million paycheck before taxes.
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There has been no change in the prize money for the series despite the costs of the production and its scale drastically increasing since its first season aired on CBS in 2000. With its 40th season, however, the show titledSurvivor: Winners at War, which included winners of previous seasons as Castaways reportedly amped the prize to $2 million.
While Tony Vlachos became the second sole survivor to win the position twice and the only one to get the $2 million prize, the show’s format reverted to its original payout for winners with subsequent seasons. AReddituser speculated that this has to do with the viewership numbers of the series.
51.7 million people watched the Season 1 finale. This season pulled between 4.5 and 5 million viewers week to week. Proportional to how much money they made CBS, one could argue that Season 1’s cast are the shortchanged ones.
With two seasons being aired each year, the production is spending $2 million on prize money anyway and the rest of the crew will be getting payouts for two seasons in a year. This makes the contestants to be the only ones getting less.
How Much Money Do The Cast OfSurvivorMake?
While the goal of every Castaway is to win the coveted $1 million,Survivordoes offer lucrative payouts to the contestants who do not make it to the final Tribal Council. The runner-up reportedly gets a payout of $100,000 before taxes while the third place gets $85,000, which is no small amount.
Moreover, the contestants also receive a payout for the number of days they survive on the show. The first candidate to be eliminated reportedly gets paid $3,500 if they are a new player and the payout increases with every week they stay. The candidates reportedly also get paid an additional $10,000 for appearing on the final reunion after the season (viaCinema Blend).
The contestants of the seasonSurvivors: Winners at Warreportedly saw a pay increase for their appearances, with each player reportedly receiving $25,000. In addition, they also reportedly received $10,000 for appearing on the reunion episode, netting them a total payout of $35,000 (viaEW).
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Musician and singer Sia used to also award her favorite contestants prize money in each season. Called The Sia Prize, theShe Wolfsinger reportedly paid up to $1 million in prizes for fourteen seasons. However, the singer reportedly stopped the tradition this year on Season 46 (viaRolling Stone).
One other person who earns a great amount for his time onSurvivoris hostJeff Probst. The four-time Emmy winner reportedly earns a minimum of $200,000 per episode and with a fourteen-episode season, he takes home roughly $2.8 million a season (viaBustle).
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2415
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
