"Survivor" is still a big deal, just not the enormous deal it once was -- with last Thursday's finale of "Survivor: Thailand," the game's fifth edition, drawing 24 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings.

Those numbers, though impressive, represent fewer than half of the 51 million people who watched Richard Hatch win the first $1 million prize in August 2000.

Thursday's final episode, in which used-car salesman Brian Heidik, 34, snagged the $1 million prize, helped lead CBS to an easy ratings victory for the week among all viewers, and for the first time this season in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic that is so desirable to advertisers, notes the Associated Press.

A rerun of "Friends" proved to be NBC's most popular show, underscoring the importance of the surprise deal last weekend to bring the show back for a tenth season.

For the week, CBS averaged 12.7 million viewers; NBC, 9.2 million; ABC, 9.1 million; FOX, 6.4 million; UPN, 3.8 million; and the WB, 3.4 million. (The WB, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner.)

The Top 10 shows for the week of Dec. 16-22 were as follows:
1. "Survivor: Thailand," CBS, 14.4 million homes
2. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 12.7 million
3. "Survivor: Thai Reunion," CBS, 12.4 million
4. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 12.1 million
5. "NFL Monday Night Football," ABC, 12 million
6. "Friends," NBC, 11.4 million
7. "Judging Amy," CBS, 10.8 million
8. "Law & Order," NBC, 10.3 million
9. "Still Standing," CBS, 10.2 million
10. "JAG," CBS, 9.8 million