How long is the Survivor season 44 finale?

Survivor season 44 logo
(Image credit: Robert Voets/CBS)

After 12 weeks and 13 castaways being voted off, Survivor season 44 is coming to an end, airing its finale on Wednesday, May 24, on CBS. But this won't be your normal-size finale, as CBS has big plans to wrap up its long-running reality TV series.

Survivor season 44 has seen many twists and turns, from a contestant being forced to exit after suffering an injury in the opening moments to multiple blindside eliminations to a Survivor showmance to the endless amounts of entertainment that Carolyn Wiger has provided. With five castaways left, expect there to be plenty more drama as we find out who among them becomes the sole Survivor.

If you're trying to make your plans for the night and want to know how long the Survivor season 44 finale is going to be, read on.

How long is the Survivor season 44 finale?

With its previous Wednesday night partners Lingo and True Lies having already wrapped up, Survivor is the only new show airing on CBS on May 24, and it is using that to its advantage. The Survivor season 44 finale starts at 8 pm ET/PT and runs for a full three hours, all the way up to the 11 pm local news broadcasts.

The first two hours of the finale are going to be the conclusion of the Survivor season 44 game on the island, with the final immunity challenges and tribal councils to determine who is going to take home the $1 million prize. 

Once a winner is crowned, at 10 pm ET/PT CBS is going immediately into the After Show, which is hosted by Jeff Probst and will feature the Survivor season 44 cast on stage together again to talk about the season.

Anyone with access to CBS through either a traditional pay-TV subscription, a live TV streaming service that carries the network or a Paramount Plus Premium subscription can watch it all live. Essential Paramount Plus subscribers can watch it all on demand the next day. 

If you want a little more info heading into the finale, let's look at who remains and who people think may walk away the winner.

Who are the Survivor season 44 favorites?

The remaining five castaways are Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho, Carson Garrett, Lauren Harpe, Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger. Yam Yam, Carson and Carolyn have been together since the start as original Tika tribe members. That alliance could give them a leg up in getting to the final four, which is why Gold Derby, which has calculated odds of each remaining contestant based on its users' picks, has the three of them as the favorite (with Yam Yam having a slight edge). Heidi and Lauren are widely considered much longer shots, but perhaps the jury will want to reward one of them for outlasting the powerful Tika alliance.

To find out who wins Survivor season 44, you’ll need to watch starting at 8 pm ET/PT on CBS. 

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.