Networks clash with reality TV

Survivor starts on ITV on 21 May

ITV and Channel 4 could go head to head with their rival reality TV programmes Survivor and Big Brother 2.

Survivor, based on the phenomenally successful US show, will start on 21 May just four days before what is expected to be the launch date of the new series of Big Brother.

Richard Hatch: Winner of the US Survivor

Channel 4 has yet to confirm the date but the new batch of contestants are expected to enter the house on 25 May.

ITN Asia correspondent Mark Austin will present Survivor, in which 16 contestants abandoned on a desert island compete to win the £1m jackpot.

A 30-minute introductory show will be screened on 21 May followed by the first episode, during which the first person is evicted.

'Rigorous challenge'

The 16 contestants have to complete a series of challenges to survive on the show.

Adverts for the show have started to appear on the network and in the first week three-and-a-half hours of the programme will be shown.

Mark Austin said: "It was fascinating to work on a television project as exciting as this.

"It was a really tough and rigorous challenge for the survivors, both mentally and physically."

The American version was one of the biggest TV ratings successes ever recorded in the US.

Unlike Big Brother, Survivor is pre-recorded and ITV bosses will face trying to keep secret the identity of the eventual winner.

The new series of Big Brother will run for up to 21 hours a day on digital network E4 as well as regular programmes on Channel 4.