Big Brother U.S. (franchise)

This article is about the English Version in the United States. For the Spanish Version, see Gran Hermano USA.

Big Brother U.S. (franchise)
Country	United States
Language(s)	English
Executive Producer(s)	Paul Römer (2000) Douglass Ross (2000) Arnold Shapiro (2001–2006) Allison Grodner (2001-) Rich Meehan (2004-)
Television Network(s)	CBS AOL (2000) RealNetworks (2001-2012) Showtime 2 (2007-2012) Pop (2013-2019) Paramount+ (2013-) Pluto TV (2023-)
Host	Julie Chen (2000-) Ian O'Malley (2000)
Series Run	July 5, 2000 -

Big Brother is a popular international reality show franchise with an American version owned by CBS.

How it Works

The amount of days per season.

Big Brother is a reality television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are 10-17 participants. The housemates try to win a cash prize by avoiding periodic evictions from the house.

American series

The amount of episodes per season

While most versions of Big Brother feature evictions that are voted on by polling television audiences over the phone or the internet, the American version shifted before Big Brother 2 to play off the popularity of Survivor and changed the format to have the other house guests evict players.

Retrieved from CBS
BIG BROTHER follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of high-definition cameras and microphones recording their every move, 24 hours a day. Each week, the houseguests will vote someone out of the house. At the end, the last remaining houseguest will receive the grand prize of $500,000.

Original Format (Big Brother 1)

The original American version of Big Brother follows a different format compared to its succeeding seasons. This format followed the Dutch format used by many Big Brother franchises around the world, notably Big Brother UK.

In this format, the narrative of the series focuses more on the organic relationships among the housemates while staying in their authentic selves rather than the competitive and strategic narrative that the current American format does. In this format, the housemates were not allowed to strategize nor influence fellow housemates on who to vote for nominations and evictions and doing so is considered a major violation. In addition, the American public has the sole power to evict a houseguest as well as select a winner at the end of the season.

The major elements of the format are as follows:

Weekly Tasks

Every week, Big Brother gives the houseguests a Weekly Task. The result of the weekly task determine the house's grocery budget for the upcoming week. These weekly tasks typically last for more than a day up to an entire week and often require teamwork in order to succeed. Prior to the start of their weekly tasks, Big Brother allows them to bet their budget depending on the house's confidence on succeeding the task. If the house won their weekly task, they would receive the amount of budget they decided bet on Big Brother, but if they failed their weekly task they would lose the amount of budget they bet and they would only be allowed to use the remaining amount in their grocery budget.

Nominations

All houseguests must nominate two housemates for eviction. During the nominations, the houseguests must individually go to the Diary Room to cast their nomination votes. The housemates with the two highest nomination votes would become the nominees for the week. Because of this, the number of nominees may increase if there are housemates who tied for having the most votes.

Eviction or Banishment

Once the nominees have been named, the voting lines would open for the American public to vote for the houseguest they want to evict. The voting will remain open until the end of the week wherein the housemate with the highest amount of evict votes would be banished from the Big Brother house.

Finale

During the live Finale event, only the final three would be eligible to win and the viewers had the power to select for who they want to win via Vote to Win process. After a week of voting, the housemate who gained the highest amount of public vote would become the winner.

Despite the popularity of the format among its international counterparts, the American version failed to bring the popularity among American viewers, eventually blamed on its poor casting and production choices. With the rising popularity of another reality series Survivor, Big Brother U.S. prompted to make radical changes on the American franchise of Big Brother and how it is played.

Current Format (Big Brother 2 - present)

Beginning on its second season, Big Brother US deviated from its original format and introduced a new form of game mechanics that focuses more on gameplay, strategy and competition rather than organic relationships and authenticity. This format has been in use since and has developed over time.

In this new format, the American public's power over the house has been transferred to the houseguests themselves as they are now responsible for evicting their fellow houseguests. Because of this drastic change, the housemates are now allowed to influence other houseguests and strategize on who to evict, resulting to the creation of alliances. Further, a various special powers have been added into the game, namely Head of Household and Power of Veto, thus changing the gameplay of the American version completely different to that of its international counterparts.

Head of Household

Every week, the houseguests compete in a Head of Household competition wherein the winner will be named as the Head of Household. The HoH gains safety for the week along with its perks such as having his/her own private suite and gifts/photos from home. However, the HoH also gains the responsibility to name two nominees that will face eviction.

Nominations

In the nomination ceremony, the Head of Household must announce his/her nominees to the rest of the houseguests and must state valid reasons for their nomination often through a speech. Throughout the week, the nominees are allowed secure their safety by encouraging and influencing other houseguests to save them against their fellow nominee.

Power of Veto

Since Big Brother 3 (US), a special power called Power of Veto has been in play, giving the nominees a chance to remove themselves off the block. In Big Brother 3 and Big Brother 4 (US), all houseguests are allowed to compete in a Power of Veto competition and the winner will have the power to save a nominee, prompting the Head of Household to replace a nominee. If the Power of Veto holder decides not to use the veto, the nominations will remain the same.

In Big Brother 5 (US) and Big Brother 6 (US), only six players were allowed to compete in the veto competition, with the Head of Household and the two Nominees each selecting one houseguest to compete.

Since Big Brother 7 (US), the other three houseguests competing are selected by random draw.

Alliances

As the format allows housemates to strategize, the most of the housemates have formed alliances during their time in the house to further themselves in the game. An alliance is a group of housemates that are considered loyal to each other by working together throughout the game.

Eviction

During the live eviction, the houseguests must individually go to the Diary Room to cast their eviction vote and the nominee with the highest amount of votes will be evicted. In addition, the Head of Household is not allowed to cast a vote, unless there has been a tie.

Jury

The Jury is a council usually consisting of 7 to 9 houseguests that have been evicted out of the game, and they have the responsibility to select the winner at the end of the season.

Finale

As of Big Brother 11 (US), only three houseguests are allowed to reach the live finale, but only two houseguests will remain for the Jury vote. The two remaining houseguests must persuade the Jury via speech to vote them as their winner. At the end of their speech, the jury will individually cast their vote live and the finalist with the most jury votes will be named the winner. Prior to season 11, the third place finisher was determined days earlier, leaving only the final two to reach finale and thus the Jury vote.

Big Brother House

Main Article: Big Brother House/United States

History

The idea for the show is said to come during a brainstorm session at the production house of John de Mol Produkties (an independent part of Endemol) on 4 September 1997. The first Big Brother broadcast was in the Netherlands in 1999 on the Veronica TV channel. It was picked up by Germany, Portugal, USA, UK, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy the following year and became a worldwide sensation. Since then it has been a prime-time hit in almost 70 countries. The show's name comes from George Orwell's 1948 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

As of Big Brother 26 (US), a total of 383 people have participated across 26 main broadcast seasons (337 players), two special seasons (12 new players), and three celebrity seasons (34 players). As of Big Brother: Reindeer Games, 45 players from the main broadcast seasons returned to play the game again, including 10 who crossed over to the special seasons. Of those 45 players, nine of them returned to play for a third time, while two of those nine then went on to play the game for a fourth time. That marks 56 times those 45 players returned overall.

For a complete list of every player ever, click here.

Nine other players were eligible to play the game again but ultimately did not make it in again, either due to losing a fan vote, or in the case of Big Brother 11 (US), having their Clique lose the opening challenge. One player had two chances to play again but failed to enter both times. In Big Brother 1 (US), one woman was given the chance to enter the game late but ultimately did not enter. In addition, one of the twelve contestants on Celebrity Big Brother 2 (US) was actually a "fake houseguest" who departed the game early during the first week as part of a twist to shake up the game. Big Brother: Reindeer Games also featured three former players who came back solely as co-hosts instead of contestants.

Four contestants are connected to international Celebrity Big Brother series. Celebrity Big Brother (UK) featured one contestant who originated on Big Brother 16 (US) crossing over to Celebrity Big Brother 18 (UK) and later crossing back over for Big Brother: Reindeer Games, and one who originated on Celebrity Big Brother 20 (UK) crossed over to Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US). Meanwhile, two contestants who debuted on Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US) crossed over to Big Brother Australia VIP 2 and La Casa de los Famosos 4 (US) respectively. Another contestant was eligible to participate in Big Brother Canada 4, but did not get voted in.

Usually the contestants are all strangers who are meeting each other for the first time when they move in, but in some seasons, twists have been implemented where at least two contestants know each other before entering the house, whether through a friendship, current or past relationship, or a familial connection. Not counting Returning Players or celebrity contestants, houseguests who have a pre-existing relationship hail from the following seasons: Big Brother 4 (US) through Big Brother 9 (US), Big Brother 17 (US), Big Brother: Over The Top, Big Brother 21 (US) and Big Brother 25 (US).

List of Returning Players

List of Returning Players by Season
Season	Returned to Future Season	Season	Returned to Future Season
	None
	None
	None
	Most recent returnee season		Current season

Average Age Per Season

Average Age Per Season
Season	Average Age
	New Contestants	Returning Contestants	Combined Average
Celebrity Big Brother 3 (US)	44.55		44.55
Celebrity Big Brother 2 (US)	43.67		43.67
Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US)	40.00		40.00
Big Brother: Reindeer Games		34.44	34.44
Big Brother 22 (US)		33.50	33.50
Big Brother 10 (US)	33.46		33.46
Big Brother 25 (US)	33.41		33.41
Big Brother 2 (US)	33.08		33.08
Big Brother 13 (US)	31.88	31.00	31.50
Big Brother 7 (US)		31.36	31.36
Big Brother 3 (US)	30.75		30.75
Big Brother 14 (US)	29.75	31.25	30.13
Big Brother 24 (US)	29.63		29.63
Big Brother 1 (US)	29.30		29.30
Big Brother 19 (US)	29.44	24.00	29.12
Big Brother 12 (US)	29.00		29.00
Big Brother 21 (US)	28.20		28.20
Big Brother 4 (US)	28.15		28.15
Big Brother 18 (US)	28.00	28.75	27.88
Big Brother 6 (US)	27.64		27.64
Big Brother 5 (US)	27.43		27.43
Big Brother 11 (US)	27.75	23.00	27.38
Big Brother 23 (US)	27.31		27.31
Big Brother 20 (US)	27.19		27.19
Big Brother 15 (US)	27.13		27.13
Big Brother 16 (US)	26.88		26.88
Big Brother 8 (US)	26.71		26.71
Big Brother: Over The Top	26.67	27.00	26.69
Big Brother 17 (US)	26.35		26.35
Big Brother 9 (US)	26.31		26.31

Editions

Big Brother (US) Seasons
Season	Season Run	Days	HouseGuests	Winner	Runner-Up	Final Vote
Big Brother 1 (US)	July 5, 2000 - September 29, 2000	88	10	Eddie McGee	Josh Souza	59–27-14%1
Big Brother 2 (US)	July 5, 2001 - September 20, 2001	82	12	Will Kirby	Nicole Nilson Schaffrich	5-2 (6-3)
Big Brother 3 (US)	July 10, 2002 - September 25, 2002			Lisa Donahue	Danielle Reyes	9-1
Big Brother 4 (US)	July 8, 2003 - September 24, 2003		132	Jun Song	Alison Irwin	6-1
Big Brother 5 (US)	July 6, 2004 - September 21, 2004		143	Drew Daniel	Michael Ellis	4-3
Big Brother 6 (US)	July 7, 2005 - September 20, 2005	80	144	Maggie Ausburn	Ivette Corredero	4-3
Big Brother 7 (US)	July 6, 2006 - September 12, 2006	72	145	Mike Malin	Erika Landin	6-1
Big Brother 8 (US)	July 5, 2007 - September 18, 2007	81	146	Dick Donato	Daniele Donato	5-2
Big Brother 9 (US)	February 12, 2008 - April 27, 2008		167	Adam Jasinski	Ryan Quicksall	6-1
Big Brother 10 (US)	July 13, 2008 - September 16, 2008	71	13	Dan Gheesling	Memphis Garrett	7-0
Big Brother 11 (US)	July 9, 2009 - September 15, 2009	73	138	Jordan Lloyd	Natalie Martinez	5-2
Big Brother 12 (US)	July 8, 2010 - September 15, 2010	75	13	Hayden Moss	Lane Elenburg	4-3
Big Brother 13 (US)	July 4, 2011 - September 14, 2011		149	Rachel Reilly	Porsche Briggs	4-3
Big Brother 14 (US)	July 12, 2012 - September 19, 2012		1610	Ian Terry	Dan Gheesling	6-1
Big Brother 15 (US)	June 26, 2013 - September 18, 2013	90	16	Andy Herren	GinaMarie Zimmerman	7-2
Big Brother 16 (US)	June 25, 2014 - September 24, 2014	97		Derrick Levasseur	Cody Calafiore	7-2
Big Brother 17 (US)	June 24, 2015 - September 23, 2015	98	1711	Steve Moses	Liz Nolan	6-3
Big Brother 18 (US)	June 22, 2016 - September 21, 2016	99	1612	Nicole Franzel	Paul Abrahamian	5-4
Big Brother: Over The Top	September 28, 2016 - December 1, 2016	65	1313	Morgan Willett	Jason Roy	Unknown1
Big Brother 19 (US)	June 28, 2017 - September 20, 2017	92	1714	Josh Martinez	Paul Abrahamian	5-4
Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US)	February 7, 2018 - February 25, 2018	26	1115	Marissa Jaret Winokur	Ross Mathews	6-3
Big Brother 20 (US)	June 27, 2018 - September 26, 2018	99	16	Kaycee Clark	Tyler Crispen	5-4
Celebrity Big Brother 2 (US)	January 21, 2019 - February 13, 2019	29	1115, 16	Tamar Braxton	Ricky Williams	9-0
Big Brother 21 (US)	June 25, 2019 - September 25, 2019	99	1617	Jackson Michie	Holly Allen	6-3
Big Brother 22 (US)	August 5, 2020 - October 28, 202018	85	1619	Cody Calafiore	Enzo Palumbo	9-0
Big Brother 23 (US)	July 7, 2021 - September 29, 2021		16	Xavier Prather	Derek Frazier	9-0
Celebrity Big Brother 3 (US)	February 2, 2022 - February 23, 2022	29	1115	Miesha Tate	Todrick Hall	7-1
Big Brother 24 (US)	July 6, 2022 - September 25, 2022	82	16	Taylor Hale	Monte Taylor	8-1
Big Brother 25 (US)	August 2, 2023 - November 9, 202320	100	1721	Jag Bains	Matt Klotz	5-2
Big Brother: Reindeer Games	December 11, 2023 - December 21, 202322	6	923	Nicole Franzel	Taylor Hale	No Vote24
Big Brother 26 (US)	July 17, 2024 - October 13, 2024	90	16	Chelsie Baham	Makensy Manbeck	7-0
Big Brother 27 (US)	2025	To Be Determined

Notes

^1 The viewing public decided the winner of the season, voting between a Final Three instead of a Final Two. ^2 Eight houseguests entered the house, followed by five houseguests that were ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends of five people from the original eight. ^3 Thirteen houseguests entered the house, including a set of identical twins secretly playing as one houseguest and a pair of siblings that didn't know of the other's existence. After surviving the first four evictions, the twins were allowed to compete as individuals. ^4 Fourteen houseguests entered the house, each with a secret partner unknown to the rest of the houseguests. ^5 The fourteen returning houseguests were chosen among twenty candidates — eight through public vote, and six by the producers. ^6 Eleven houseguests entered the house, with three "rivals" to three people from the original group watching them from inside of the HOH room that later joined the group. ^7 Sixteen houseguests were divided up into eight couples, including two relationships from outside the house. ^8 Twelve houseguests entered the house divided into four cliques. The clique who won the first HOH competition allowed a returning player allocated to their clique to enter the game. ^9 Eight houseguests entered the house divided into duos, followed by three additional sets of duos returning from past seasons. ^10 Twelve houseguests entered the house, followed by four returning houseguests as coaches who divided the houseguests into teams. The coaches later entered the game as fully fledged houseguests. ^11 Fourteen houseguests entered the house, including a set of identical twins secretly playing as one houseguest, followed by two houseguests that were crossing over from The Amazing Race 26. After surviving the first five evictions, the twins were allowed to compete as individuals. ^12 Twelve houseguests entered the house, followed by four returning players who divided up into teams. ^13 Twelve houseguests entered the house, including a pair of sisters, followed by one returning houseguest voted in by the audience. ^14 Sixteen houseguests entered the house, followed by one returning houseguest taking one of their spots on Night One. ^15 Instead of normal houseguests, celebrities occupied the house. ^16 Twelve people entered the house, but one of them was revealed to be a fake houseguest. ^17 Sixteen houseguests entered the house, including two friendships from outside the house. ^18 Season delayed from initial June-September dates due to the 2019-2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. ^19 The sixteen returning houseguests were chosen among players who felt like they had something to prove. ^20 Season delayed from initial July-September dates due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. ^21 Sixteen houseguests entered the house, followed by a houseguest that was crossing over from Survivor, who was also the mother of one of the original sixteen houseguests. ^22 Season pre-recorded entirely, as opposed to the game playing out in in real time and having a live finale. Filmed between December 2nd to 4th and 7th to 9th, 2023 and aired six episodes across two weeks, one game day per episode. ^23 The nine returning houseguests were chosen among legendary players, with three other players appearing to co-host throughout the season. ^24 The winner of the season was determined by a final competition tournament, starting between the Final Four and working down to just the Final Two.

Used for season 1 in 2000 alongside various countries

Used from season 2 in 2001 up until season 15 in 2013

Used from season 16 in 2014 up until season 21 in 2019

Used from season 22 in 2020 up until season 25 in 2023

Used since season 26 in 2024

Used from the first celebrity season in 2018 up until the second celebrity season in 2019

Used since the third celebrity season in 2022

Ratings

Big Brother (US) Average Viewers Per Season
Season	Premiere Date	Finale Date	Avg Viewers (in millions)		Episodes	Network
			Live + SD	Live + DVR		Main Show	Live Feeds		After Dark
Big Brother 1	July 5, 2000	September 29, 2000	8.95		70	CBS	AOL
Big Brother 2	July 5, 2001	September 20, 2001	7.90		30		RealNetworks
Big Brother 3	July 10, 2002	September 25, 2002	8.70		33
Big Brother 4	July 8, 2003	September 24, 2003	8.80
Big Brother 5	July 6, 2004	September 21, 2004	8.23		31
Big Brother 6	July 7, 2005	September 20, 2005	7.16		30
Big Brother 7	July 6, 2006	September 12, 2006	7.45		28
Big Brother 8	July 5, 2007	September 18, 2007	7.24	7.96§	33				Showtime 2
Big Brother 9	February 12, 2008	April 27, 2008	6.33	6.50§
Big Brother 10	July 13, 2008	September 16, 2008	6.26	6.83§	29
Big Brother 11	July 9, 2009	September 15, 2009	6.83		30
Big Brother 12	July 8, 2010	September 15, 2010	7.24
Big Brother 13	July 4, 2011	September 14, 2011	7.43		29
Big Brother 14	July 12, 2012	September 19, 2012	6.05		30
Big Brother 15	June 26, 2013	September 18, 2013	6.47		36		CBS.com		TVGN
Big Brother 16	June 25, 2014	September 24, 2014	6.41		40
Big Brother 17	June 24, 2015	September 23, 2015	6.18	7.58^†			CBS All-Access
Big Brother 18	June 22, 2016	September 21, 2016	5.79	7.20^‡	42				Pop
Big Brother: Over The Top	September 28, 2016	December 1, 2016	N/A		10	CBS All-Access
Big Brother 19	June 28, 2017	September 20, 2017	6.06	7.53^†	39	CBS	CBS All-Access		Pop
Celebrity Big Brother 1	February 7, 2018	February 25, 2018	5.05	7.14^†	13
Big Brother 20	June 27, 2018	September 26, 2018	5.41	6.89	40
Celebrity Big Brother 2	January 21, 2019	February 13, 2019	4.40	5.81	13
Big Brother 21	June 25, 2019	September 25, 2019	4.28	5.65	40
Big Brother 22	August 5, 2020	October 28, 2020	3.95	5.24§	37
Big Brother 23	July 7, 2021	September 29, 2021	3.72	4.92§			Paramount+
Celebrity Big Brother 3	February 2, 2022	February 23, 2022	2.64	3.60	15
Big Brother 24	July 6, 2022	September 25, 2022	3.66	4.66§	34
Big Brother 25	August 2, 2023	November 9, 2023	3.05		42		Paramount+	Pluto TV
Big Brother: Reindeer Games	December 11, 2023	December 21, 2023	1.88		6
Big Brother 26	July 17, 2024	October 13, 2024	2.79		39		Paramount+	Pluto TV

Key:

Increase in Viewership

Decrease in Viewership

Notes

^§ Nielsen did not release Live +7 data for every single episode. So some episodes have been left out. However, a significant number of episodes are still available. ^† Nielsen did not release Live +7 data for every single episode. So some episodes have been replaced with Live +3 data. ^‡ Nielsen did not release Live +7 data for every single episode. So some episodes have been left out. However, some of the missing episodes had Live +3 numbers available, but not all of them.. In

Trivia

• Big Brother US is the first international franchise to move away from the original format of Big Brother.
• Big Brother US used to have a theme song entitled "Live" performed by Jonathan Clarke. However it was only used in the show's first season and was dropped after major changes to the production and format took place before the second season started.
  • The theme song was then adopted by Big Brother Brazil in 2002 and was translated in Portuguese. The Portuguese version of the song has been in use since and is used as the music in the series' opening billboard.
• The current 2-story Big Brother House is the second incarnation of the house and was first used in Big Brother 6 (US). The first five seasons used the original house with only one story and used to be located a few blocks away from the current house.
  • Big Brother US is the first Big Brother franchise to use a two-story house.
• From Big Brother 2 (US) up to Big Brother 14 (US), the show's studio stage featured different set backgrounds every season. From Big Brother 15 (US) up to Big Brother 21 (US) front of house stage remained the same, before the next major redesign in Big Brother 22 (US).
• It wasn't until Big Brother 10 (US) where a live audience started appearing on the show's studio set. Prior to that, the houseguests got evicted without an audience to welcome them, only meeting Julie Chen-Moonves upon their exit.
  • Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no live audience during the live evictions of season 22. This continued until Week 6 of season 24.