I love me some Survivor. I just can't believe it's been that many seasons. Gosh!
I started watching with the 3rd season, the original Africa show.
I couldn't get CBS till then.
Directv line-up didn't have local channels yet, and I couldn't get it with my antenna.
Then, I found out, (through talking to the Directv rep) that since I couldn't get CBS through my antenna, I was able by law to get it through the satellite.
After that, I could get the East
and West coast feeds of CBS.
A year later, they then added local channels to Directv. (I still have the East/West Coast CBS feeds, though ;-P)
Btw, I managed to watch the first two seasons of Survivor on OLN (Outdoor Life Network) a couple of years ago. I don't know if they still run any of the seasons, or not.