By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001; 4:41 p.m. EST

PASADENA, Calif. –– CBS has nailed down a deal for a third and fourth "Survivor" even before the second edition – set in the Australian outback – has made it on the air.

Locations in Africa and South America are being scouted for "Survivor III," which will be on the CBS fall schedule, network executives said Tuesday.

CBS disclosed few details of its agreement with producer Mark Burnett. The network already had an option for several additional series, but Burnett was looking to sweeten his cut.

"Certainly this deal will make him richer," said Nancy Tellem, the network's entertainment chief.

She indicated CBS held firm on its refusal to give show producers a cut of advertising revenue.

The first "Survivor" was a ratings phenomenon last summer, and the already-filmed Australian edition will premiere on Jan. 28 after the Super Bowl. It will then be shown regularly on Thursday nights at 8 Eastern.

CBS also said that it was moving its freshman hit drama, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," into the coveted Thursday time slot directly after "Survivor" in February. "Diagnosis Murder" will move to Friday nights.

The shift is less an attempt to weaken NBC's strong Thursday lineup than to shore up CBS' abysmal ratings that night, CBS President Leslie Moonves said. The hope is that "CSI," which has a younger audience than most CBS shows, will help earn the network a cut of the lucrative movie studio advertising market – which is big on Thursday nights.

Although the first "Survivor" captivated viewers during TV's summer lull, there was no thought to putting another edition on in the summer, Tellem said.

"When you have a valuable property like this, we can benefit more by putting it on in the fall than we could in the summer," she said.

There's a good chance the reality series, "Big Brother," will be back next summer, although CBS executives all but admitted the first edition was a dog creatively. The house remains on a Hollywood soundstage, still wired for cameras and microphones.

A lot went wrong with the show last summer, Moonves said, from poor casting to poor decisions on which story lines to feature. But it still did better in the ratings than most summer fare, he said.

"If there is a 'Big Brother II,' we will be more actively involved in the creative process," he said.