With its finale on Wednesday, BIG BROTHER is wrapping up its most successful summer in both viewers and adults 18-49 since 2004, with growth on all platforms from on-air to online and on cable. This summer’s success also witnessed robust social media activity, particularly on Facebook and Twitter.
“Growing a show in its 13th edition on all these platforms is testament to the amazing creativity and energy of our producers. At every step of the way, they deliver innovative twists and turns that consistently evolve this proven franchise and engage one of the most loyal and interactive fan bases on television and online,” said Jennifer Bresnan, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, CBS Entertainment.
ON-AIR
In its 13th edition, BIG BROTHER has swept its three weekly (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday) time periods in viewers and key demographics every broadcast this summer against non-sports competition.
Based on most current ratings through nine weeks this summer, BIG BROTHER has posted year-to-year growth in viewers, adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and adults 25-54 on all three nights with overall gains of +11% in adults 18-49 (3.1/09 from 2.8/09), +4% in adults 18-34 (2.5/09 from 2.4/08), +12% in adults 25-54 (3.7/10 from 3.3/09) and +4% in viewers (8.11m from 7.80m).
The Aug. 21 edition of BIG BROTHER SUNDAY delivered the largest audience (8.37m) and highest adult 18-49 rating (3.2/09) for any BIG BROTHER broadcast since September 2007.
Meanwhile, the Aug. 31 broadcast of BIG BROTHER WEDNESDAY marked the first time ever that BIG BROTHER was the week’s top-rated program in both adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.
ON CABLE
BIG BROTHER: AFTER DARK, a live look inside the Big Brother house (12:00-3:00 AM, live ET/9:00PM-12:00 AM, live PT) broadcast on SHOWTIME 2, is averaging 168,000 viewers per night, +8% ahead of last summer.
ONLINE
Full length episodes, highlight clips and other content from BIG BROTHER were made available across the CBS Audience Network, allowing a community of fans to watch the program online and incorporate clips into their blogs, wikis and widgets and interact as well as discuss BIG BROTHER on message boards. Traffic to the BIG BROTHER website at CBS.com is up +18% versus last summer.
CBS and RealNetworks, Inc. provided exclusive live 24/7 streaming video from inside the BIG BROTHER house. Subscribers to the live 24/7 feed is tracking +10% ahead of last year, with 25% of those subscribers also paying for mobile access. More than 2.5 million hours of content has been streamed.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Among Facebook friends, BIG BROTHER is up +101% from last summer.
Among Twitter followers, BIG BROTHER is up +2,753% from a year ago.
Since its premiere in July, BIG BROTHER has received 1,248,000 social media mentions, ranking as the number one television show on 20 of its 28 broadcast dates, according to Trendrr.TV (July 7-Sept.11).
BIG BROTHER concludes on Wednesday with a special 90-minute finale (9:30-11:00 PM, ET/PT) following the season premiere of SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC (8:00-9:30 PM).
BIG BROTHER is executive produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan for Fly on the Wall Entertainment, in association with Endemol U.S.A.
(source: CBS)
