The special winter edition will feature celebrity cast and will likely be counterprogramming to NBC's 2018 Winter Olympics.
- Sep 8, 2017
AceShowbiz - CBS will now need to keep the "Big Brother" house warm in winter. The network has announced a special edition of its hit reality series which will feature celebrity cast and is set to air in winter 2018. Julie Chen will serve as the host.
The special winter edition will feature multiple episodes per week during a concentrated run, including the signature Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions and live evictions. Viewers can also gain 24/7 access to the cast's lives in the house through the live feed on CBS All Access. Pop TV will additionally provide fans the exclusive live television broadcast of "Big Brother After Dark", an unfiltered late-night feed from inside the house.
The cast and premiere date are yet to be announced, but it's likely to be counterprogramming to NBC's 2018 Winter Olympics. ABC has previously announced an all-star edition of "The Bachelor" which will also air around the same time.
" 'Big Brother' has been dominating pop culture throughout its 19 seasons, and it is exciting to grow the franchise with the first-ever celebrity edition in the U.S.," says executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan. "Celebrities will be under the watchful eye of the 'Big Brother' cameras, facing the classic game elements, and of course new twists in this special winter event."
Julie Chen tells The Hollywood Reporter about her conversation with her husband and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves about making a special edition of "Big Brother", "He said, 'You and your show are single-handedly keeping this network afloat during the summer. You're keeping this network running.' " She adds, "If you know one thing about my husband, it has to make economic sense. They crunched the numbers and said, 'Based on the following we have, we can do it and make it work and make it profitable.' "
Hinting at the cast, Chen says, "We're being realistic. It's not going to be all Oscar winners. But maybe we'll have someone who won an Oscar decades ago." She then cites what "Dancing with the Stars" does with its cast as an example.
CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl chimes in, " 'Big Brother' has been a ratings winner since its premiere in 2000, and keeps going strong with a passionate fan base across multiple platforms, on-air, online and on social."
The show is averaging 7.35 million viewers per episode in the currently airing 19th season, with all three showings ranking among summer's top 5 broadcasts among adults 18-49. It recently reached its highest ratings since season 13 in 2011.
