The number of viewers now taping Friends on Thursdays has nearly doubled since the NBC show began competing with CBS's Survivor: The Australian Outback, the New York Daily News reported today (Monday), citing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Steve Sternberg, a partner at ad-buyer TN Media, commenting on figures showing that 10 percent of Friends' viewers now watch it on tape verus 6 percent a month ago, told the newspaper that "it makes more sense for people to be taping Friends while watching Survivor" rather than the other way around -- since Survivor has become a topic for water-cooler conversation. Last Thursday, ratings for Survivor pulled well ahead of those for Friends, with the reality series posting a 17.9 rating and a 25 share in the 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. hour, while a 40-minute version of Friends, followed by the first 20 minutes of a "supersized" Will & Grace drew a 15.7/22 for the first half-hour and a 14.7/20 in the second.

Source: Studio Briefing