Many millions will be distributed to deserving reality contestants

The latest seasons of CBS' venerable "The Amazing Race" and "Survivor" franchises will have their finales on consecutive Sundays in December.

The 10th season of "Amazing Race" will cross the finish-line on Sunday, December 10 in a relatively restrained finale only running one hour.

The following week, though, "Survivor: Cook Islands" will dedicated two hours to its last episode but, as usual, the winner won't be revealed until the hour-long live special airing at 10 p.m. ET. The "Survivor" reunion special will film, once again, at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

The Phil Keoghan-hosted "Amazing Race" has won four consecutive Emmys in the outstanding reality-competition category. CBS transplanted "Race" to Sundays this fall and the latest season has averaged a solid 11.15 million viewers, leading into "Cold Case."

In its 13th incarnation, "Survivor" has had a somewhat difficult season. A wave of mostly negative press greeted the show's decision to split the season's tribes along racial lines and then a second wave of mostly negative press greeted the show's decision to integrate the tribes after only two episodes, before the latest social experiment made any impact at all. While that controversy failed to build any new audience, "Survivor" has still averaged nearly 16.7 million viewers this season, outdrawing ABC's freshman hit "Ugly Betty."