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Big Brother Over the Top

Big Brother renewed for two more summer seasons, 19 and 20

Julie Chen, Big Brother 18, Big Brother towel
Julie Chen wraps herself in her show in a promotional shot for Big Brother 18. (Photo by Bill Inoshita/CBS)

by Andy Dehnart 10 Aug. 2016 | 12:15 pm

CBS has renewed Big Brother for two more summer seasons, in addition to the fall season that will only air on CBS All Access.

The network is referring to the summer 2017 season as Big Brother 19, and the summer 2018 season as Big Brother 20. The press release says it will be “its 19th and milestone 20th seasons for broadcast in summer 2017 and 2018.”

That means this forthcoming fall season—which will “reimagine this format” but still be hosted by Julie Chen—will exist in its own universe.

The summer reality competition’s previous renewal was also for two seasons, through this current season.

Big Brother remains a dominant summer show

The renewal was a no-brainer; the show is absolutely dominating the ratings this summer. Although it’s not the most-popular show—that would be America’s Got Talent followed by The Bachelorette—all three episodes are top-10 shows. Even with the Olympics last week, Big Brother still had all three of its episodes in the top 10, a remarkable achievement.

In addition, CBS’ press release says that “all three weekly broadcasts rank among the top five programs in A18-34, and the top 10 programs in A18-49 and A25-54,” and “this summer’s Big Brother is the most social series on TV, according to Nielsen Social, and total streams across digital platforms are up 33% over last year.”

Even if that social engagement consists of people complaining about this season and/or the dismal live feeds, it still counts. And disappointment has not affected television viewership, which means there’s no incentive to change anything for seasons 19 or 20—though perhaps by using new casting producers and tweaking the format this fall, the show will find its way forward.

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older

Julie Chen will be ‘part of’ fall Big Brother, which will ‘reimagine this format’

newer >

What we know so far about the fall, digital-only Big Brother

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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about reality blurred

reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

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