CBS’ Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains clearly showed that one of TV’s first reality hits isn’t dead, even after a decade on the air.

The two-hour premiere earlier this averaged 14.2 million viewers and a 4.5 rating in adults 18-49. Each rating point in that demographic equals 1.3 million viewers. The show was up 5% in that category compared to a year ago.

Survivor’s numbers gave CBS a Thursday night win in both viewers and demographics. Survivor topped ABC’s goliath Grey’s Anatomy in the 18-49 demographic. Later, at 10 pm, CBS’ The Mentalist averaged 15.7 million viewers and a 3.6 rating in 18-49.

Also bitten by the the return of Survivor was the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, which saw its audience fall to 3.5 million from 4 million last week and a drop among women 18-34 as well.

Fox’s new series Past Life made its time period premiere, but the numbers won’t help the network renew the show. It also didn’t help that a rerun of Bones — which got 8 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49, was its lead-in — Past Life averaged just 5.3 million viewers and finished fourth in 18-49 with a 1.4 rating. Past Life will get a chance at attracting a bigger audience in two weeks when Fox adds a third night of American Idol to Thursday for elimination shows.

Overall, CBS won the night with 14.7 million viewers and a 4.2 in 18-49. ABC followed with 9.1 million viewers and a 3.0 in 18-49. Fox averaged 6.7 million viewers and a 1.8 in 18-49 while NBC averaged 5 million viewers and a 2.4 in 18-49.

At ABC, The Deep End continued to struggle at 8 pm, and was defeated not only by Survivor but by NBC’s Community and Parks & Recreation.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 4.2/12; ABC, 3.0/8; NBC, 2.4/6; Fox, 1.8/5; Univision, 1.7/5; CW, 1.3/3. In total viewers: CBS, 14.6 million; ABC, 9.1 million; Fox, 6.6 million; NBC, 4.9 million; Univision, 4.1 million; CW, 3.0 million.