In listening to the contestants, there are many of them who come poverty or who really need the prize money.
They are not participating for our entertainment. They are willing to starve, freeze and put their health at risk to win.
And while understand that there is a deep desire to outlast, and share with the world their amazing survival skills, there is a problem at the root of this show.
At its heart, it is exploitative show with a zero sum reward system. It puts people in danger by simply giving nothing to anyone but the winner, thereby encouraging participants to push themselves far beyond their health and safety limits to be the last one standing.
I don't understand why they are not providing financial compensation to all who participate. 100K for each to participant on the show would make a difference in these folks lives and the History channel makes a ton on ad revenue and selling content to other streaming services.
They can still have the big prize money to whoever lasts the longest, but folks will probably make healthier and safer choices knowing they are not leaving empty handed.
Otherwise, it will stay a brutal one-sided gladiator match against time for the entertainment of observers.