CBS hitrealityshow"Survivor"

Photo Gallery >>>BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- General Motors Corp. said Wednesday it is withdrawing its sponsorship of CBS hit series "Survivor," but denied the move has anything to do with the reality show's latest decision to divide its contestants by race.

GM spokeswoman Ryndee S. Carney said the decision was part of a new marketing strategy by the world's No. 1 automaker and was reached months before the network unveiled plans for the show's upcoming 13th edition this fall.

"I think it's just a coincidence. I know it's not cause and effect," Carney said.

CBS last week revealed that the first portion of the 13th edition of "Survivor," which premieres Sept. 14, would debut with four racially based "tribes" consisting of whites, blacks, Asian-Americans and Hispanics, sparking an outcry from some minority groups and others.

"How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?" New York City Councilman John Liu asked last week.

But show creator Mark Burnett said Tuesday that many of those criticizing the new approach haven't ever seen the show and don't understand how it works.

"By putting people in tribes, they clearly have to get rid of people of their own ethnicity," he told The Associated Press during a conference call. "So it's not racial at all."

GM has sponsored "Survivor" since it premiered in May 2000 and was the show's exclusive automotive sponsor.

By contrast, GM remains a sponsor of the CBS hit drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Enditem

(Agencies)