Big Brother 11 (U.S.)
Encyclopedia
Big Brother 11 is the 11th season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It began on July 9, 2009 and aired on CBS
and Showtime 2 for 73 days, concluding on September 15, 2009 when Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner with four votes from the jury and one vote from the viewing public. The format of the program remained largely unchanged from previous seasons; a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, are enclosed in the Big Brother House under the surveillance of cameras and microphones. Each week the HouseGuests voted to evict one of their own until two HouseGuests remained on finale night. The winner was decided by last six evicted HouseGuests, known as the Big Brother Jury. The highlight programs were announced by Clayton A.S. Halsey, Julie Chen
fronted the season premiere, evictions and the season finale and Ross Mathews hosted Big Brother segments on Inside Dish with Ross Mathews.
The program included 13 participants, one of whom was expelled by the producers for constant rule breaking while the fate of the others were decided by their peers. The HouseGuests were competing to win a $500,000 prize with a $50,000 prize offered to the runner up. Due to an increase in ratings over the previous season the season finale was extended from one hour to two hours with the final two being determined on finale night. Due to the removal of a HouseGuest the American public became known as the seventh Jury member and voted for the winner along with six former HouseGuests that made up the Jury. This edition of Big Brother also attracted controversy with accusations of homophobia, racism and the editing style of the program from viewers and critics.
Winner Jordan Lloyd, and fellow Houseguest Jeff Schroeder returned to compete in Big Brother 13
, where they placed 4th and 7th respectively.
, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger returned as executive producer. This season of the program was announced on September 18, 2008, three days after the season finale of Big Brother 10
. Casting for the program began during the final week of Big Brother 10 with potential applicants submitting video tape submissions. Open auditions began on April 1, 2009 in Michigan by local CBS affiliate WLNS-TV
and continued across the nation in various cities including Los Angeles, California
, Chicago, Illinois, Waverly, Iowa
, and Columbus, Ohio
. Applications and video tape submissions were due by May 4, 2009. Applicants chosen to be a finalist went to Los Angeles, California from which applicants were narrowed down to a pool of forty finalists. Julie Chen interviewed casting director Robyn Kass and former HouseGuests Mike Malin and Brian Hart about the upcoming season and their experiences going through casting on March 19, 2009. Julie Chen confirmed that she would continue to host Big Brother during her pregnancy despite tabloid rumors stating she would take maternity leave.
in Canada
. The episodes summarize the events of the previous two to three days in the House. Along side these shows is a spin-off show, Big Brother: After Dark
, which screens three hours live directly from the House was shown on Showtime 2. For the first time in the history of the show, Big Brother had a two-hour live season finale, which aired on September 15, an increase from the usual hour.
Big Brother maintained an online platform with live subscription feeds from RealNetworks
, a redesigned and relaunched website, online videos, full episodes, a fantasy game and segments on Inside Dish with Ross Mathews
. For the first time Big Brother launched two Twitter
accounts; one featured updates from the production staff and one featured updates from the current Head of Household. Episodes of Big Brother continued to be streamed on CBS Mobile Channel on FLOTV
. Mobile users were also able to interact and influence the show through SMS text messaging and, for the first time, a simulation game based on Big Brother was also available to mobile customers.
, the program was filmed at CBS Studios
in Studio City, California. The production team was located in the second story of the House which included the story department, audio department and the switchers and shaders. The House was equipped with 52 cameras and 80 microphones to record the participants. The art department that created the competitions for the program was located outside the House. The House theme was eco-friendly and modern California living was released on June 29 during media day, where select members of the press were invited to spend 12 hours inside the House. Official pictures of the House interior were released by CBS on the same day, showing the living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, lounge room and backyard. The living room featured chipboard walls with fake plants along the side. The spa that was featured in the House since season nine
was removed and replaced with exercise bikes that when operated would power a light bulb. The former spa room featured recycled products like wood, plastic and aluminum turned into wallpaper. There was also a shipping container-based bathroom, an open kitchen that paid respects to the Pacific Rim
and a portable garden where the HouseGuests would collect compost and grow their own herb garden was added to the backyard. The House included four bedrooms each varying in design and comfort. The Head of Household bedroom featured a penthouse design with a waterfall and an faux ocean front view while the first bedroom featured a VIP club lounge design, the second bedroom resembled the bottom of a public pool and the third bedroom was a simplistic gray with metal slabs used as beds.
The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then had to nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.
On eviction night all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. Before the voting began the nominees had the chance to say a final message to their fellow HouseGuests. This compulsory vote was conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother
, the HouseGuests could discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House on Thursday and interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictiees of the season form the Jury that voted for the winner on the season finale, they were known as the jury members. The jury members were sequestered in a separate house and was not allowed to watch the show except for segments that included all of the HouseGuests. The jury members were not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that included strategy or details regarding nominations.
In a change from previous seasons, the food competitions were changed to Have vs. Have-Not competitions. HouseGuests was divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that became "Have Nots" for the week were only allowed to eat slop and a weekly food restriction, chosen by the viewing public, cold showers and sleeping on metal beds. A new rule was revealed this season, in the event a HouseGuest that would be part of the jury to determine the winner voluntarily leaves the House or is expelled by Big Brother the American public replaced that HouseGuest on the jury and voted for the winner along with the remaining jury members.
on July 1, 2009 by Julie Chen. During the season premiere the HouseGuests were split into four cliques and Jessie Godderz was revealed as the final HouseGuest during the season premiere on July 9, 2009 after the Athletes clique won the first Head of Household competition.
Contestant's age at the start of the season.
clique
s of three; Athletes, Populars, Brains and Off-beats. The HouseGuests competed as individuals except when one member of a clique won Head of Household all members of that clique were immune from eviction. In the first Head of Household competition "The Wedgie" the HouseGuests were suspended by underwear attached to a rope and were required to hang on to a toilet seat. A HouseGuest was eliminated when they let go of their toilet seat. Four past HouseGuests returned to support one of the cliques in the House; Michael "Cowboy" Ellis of Big Brother 5 supported the Off-beats, Jessica Hughbanks of Big Brother 8
supported the Populars, and Brian Hart and Jessie Godderz from Big Brother 10
supported the Brains and Athletes respectively. None of the twelve HouseGuests in the House would be able to become the first Head of Household instead the winning clique would earn one of the previous HouseGuests that were supporting their clique and that person would become the first Head of Household. Natalie and Russell won the competition for the Athletes allowing Jessie to return to the House as a full HouseGuest and the first Head of Household.
The first Have and Have Not competition of the series saw the Brains, Off-beats, and Popular cliques competing in the "Big Brother Rave". This challenge saw the cliques having to construct a series of pipes to get brightly colored "Rave Juice" from one side of the backyard to the other, with the stipulation that the "Rave Juice" had to travel through each letter of the word "Have" (each letter in the word was pre-constructed from piping).The Off-beats and the Populars were the first and second cliques to complete the challenge and became "Haves" along with the Athletes while the Brains were unable to complete the challenge and became the first "Have Nots." Chima and Lydia were initially nominated for eviction by Jessie on Day 5. Jessie, Russell, Chima, Natalie, Lydia and Jeff took part in the Power of Veto competition "Pop Goes the Veto!" where the HouseGuests had to bust giant pimples on a face to collect Scrabble tiles in ten minutes. The HouseGuest that formed the longest word with their tiles won the competition. Russell won the competition and used the Veto to save Lydia from eviction and Jessie nominated Braden as her replacement. Braden was evicted on Day 12 with a 6-5 vote after Jessie broke the tie to evict him.
Shortly after the eviction the second Head of Household competition called "Most Likely To..." was held. The HouseGuests were asked questions regarding how the American public voted in an online poll regarding the cliques. If a HouseGuest answered the question correctly they could eliminate another HouseGuest but if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Ronnie won the competition becoming the second Head of Household and earned immunity
for the Brains clique from eviction and becoming the Have Nots for the week. The weekly Have and Have Not competition was replaced with a luxury competition hosted by Dan Gheesling, winner of Big Brother 10, called "Who Knows The Ugly Truth?" The HouseGuests had to guess answers to questions posed to House Guests of the opposite gender for each correct answer the HouseGuests were given a point. Casey and Chima won the competition with the highest number of points out of their respective gender. They won a screening of The Ugly Truth
and they had to choose one clique to become the Have Nots for the week and they chose Jordan and Laura from the Popular clique. At the nomination ceremony on Day 13, Ronnie nominated Laura and Jeff for eviction. Ronnie, Laura, Jeff, Natalie, Casey and Russell competed to win the Power of Veto in "The Big Brother Mint". The HouseGuests competed in four rounds consisting of two minutes each with the goal of collecting a certain amount of money in a certain denomination. The HouseGuests farthest from the specified amount was eliminated while the winner of the round could have taken a mystery prize gift but in doing so would have been eliminated. Jeff won the competition and earned the Power of Veto. Jeff chose to use the Power of Veto to save himself and Ronnie nominated Jordan as the replacement nominee. Laura was evicted on Day 19 by a vote of 8-1.
Later that day, Jessie won the Head of Household competition "Buzzworthy" which required the HouseGuests to launch a ball into a group of buckets that resembled a honeycomb
with the aim of getting the highest score. The Athletes became immune from nomination or being the Have-Nots for the week for the second time in three weeks. Only one member from each of the cliques competed in the Have and Have Not competition "Back Yard Bash" which required the three participants to wear beer goggles, ride in motorized kegs and throw giant foam ice cubes into the opposing cliques barrel. Chima, Jordan and Kevin took part in the competition with the Brains becoming the Have Nots for the week. In addition to slop the viewing public voted to give the Have Nots cabbage and cocktail weenies for the week. On Day 20, Jordan and Michele were initially nominated for eviction by Jessie. Michele won the Power of Veto called "When Pigs Fly" where the HouseGuests had to collect truffles that were buried in a pigsty. Each truffle contained a number value from one to ten or a prize and each player could only keep four total truffles. After the HouseGuests finished collecting their truffles they could take a mystery envelop that could help or hinder them in winning the Power of Veto, Chima and Jordan were the only two HouseGuests not to take an envelop. Casey also won a margarita party for the House and had to wear a banana suit for an entire week while Jessie won $2,500 for himself. Michele used the Power of Veto to save herself from eviction and Jessie nominated Casey for eviction in her place. Casey was evicted on Day 26 by a vote of 7-1 with Russell only voting in his favor. Prior to the Head of Household competition, the HouseGuests were informed that the cliques were disbanded and everyone was on their own plus voting was open to the viewing public to determine who would win a "mystery power." The public was informed the power was the Coup d'État first introduced in Big Brother: All-Stars.
Later that night the fourth Head of Household competition saw the HousGuests seated on a "graduation cap" swing holding onto a rope in the air while at random the HouseGuests would spin around, get hit by a foam diploma and be "rained out." Russell was the last HouseGuest to remain on his swing and won the competition. The first five HouseGuests that dropped were able to pick a graduation present. Kevin was the first to drop and won $5,000, Lydia was the second and won a plasma television, Ronnie and Natalie were the third and fourth to drop and won nothing. Jessie, Kevin and Natalie became the Have Nots for the week after Jordan won the right to choose three HouseGuests to become the Have Nots in the Head of Household competition. The viewing public voted to give the Have Nots squid and squash for the week. Lydia and Ronnie were nominated for eviction on Day 27. In the Power of Veto competition "Vini Vidi Veto" which saw Russell, Lydia, Ronnie, Michele, Kevin and Jessie competing to win the Veto. Various items, relating to Ancient Rome
, were scattered around the backyard and the HouseGuests had five minutes to study each item. The goal of the competition was to acquire three points by correctly guessing numerical answers in each round after revealing the answers the HouseGuests could stay or fold. If a HouseGuest stays and get the furthest from the actual total and become eliminated but if a HouseGuest folded they would remain in the game but wouldn't win a point. Michele won her second Power of Veto competition and decided not to use the Veto leaving the initial nominations intact. Jeff won the power of Coup d'État from the viewing public, it could only be used once and he had to use the power during this or the next eviction. Jeff chose not to overthrow the Head of Household and Ronnie was evicted with a 4-3 vote on Day 33.
The night before the Head of Household competition on Day 32, Big Brother played voice messages sent from the viewers into the House. During the Head of Household competition the next day, the HouseGuests were asked true or false questions about the messages, if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Chima won the competition and became the fifth Head of Household. Actor Jeremy Piven
entered the House to host the next luxury competition. For the competition the HouseGuests split into two teams of four and the winning team would become Haves for the week and win an advance screening to the movie The Goods. Each team had to fill a station wagon with various items scattered around the backyard plus the entire team each item contained a point value and the team with the most points won. While Chima was exempt from participating she had to choose a team she thought would win before the competition began. Chima's pick, the shirts, which consisted of Jordan, Russell, Jessie, and Natalie won and were able to pick an envelope which contained a check. Russell picked the envelope with the highest amount and won $10,000. The public chose liver and limes as the weekly food restriction for the Have Nots. Chima nominated Lydia and Russell for eviction on Day 34. Chima, Lydia, Russell, Jeff, Natalie and Kevin took part in the Power of Veto competition called "BB Farms" which required the players to navigate an egg up over a chicken wire to retrieve it and place it in their egg counter. Kevin was the first player to get twelve eggs and won the Power of Veto. He chose not to use the Veto leaving Lydia and Russell nominated for eviction. Jeff used the Coup d'État to overthrow Chima and void her nominations. Chima and Kevin were immune from being nominated as they won the Head of Household and Power of Veto respectively. Jessie and Natalie were nominated for eviction by Jeff. Chima, Jeff and the nominees were not allowed to vote during the eviction and Jessie was evicted by a 3-2 vote on Day 40.
Due to the Coup d'État, all the HouseGuests were eligible to win the Head of Household competition called "Hit the Road". Two HouseGuests went head to head answering questions regarding past competitions if a HouseGuest answered correctly their opponent was eliminated but if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. The sixth Head of Household competition was won by Michele. The HouseGuests split into teams of two for the Have or Have Not competition but they would win food and luxuries as a group. The HouseGuests won hot showers for the week, food for Tuesday through Sunday and a BBQ grill. Michelle nominated Chima and Natalie for eviction on Day 41. Following continual rule breaking by Chima since week one that included ignoring Big Brother when called to the Diary Room on various occasions, refusing to wear her personal microphone when asked by Big Brother on various occasions, threatening to act up during a live show on Day 35, obstructing a camera on Day 40 and throwing her personal microphone into the hot tub, she was expelled from the House on Day 42. Because of Chima's expulsion, Michele's duties as Head of Household were finished and a new Head of Household competition was held.
For the next HoH competition, the backyard was transformed into a country club, and the HouseGuests used giant golf putters to put an oversized golf ball around a giant snail aiming for a hole in one on the other side. A HouseGuest was eliminated each round with the HouseGuest with the lowest score winning the competition. When a player is eliminated they could take one prize but as players are eliminated they could keep their gift or steal a gift of an eliminated HouseGuest. Jordan won the Head of Household competition, taking the Head of Household from Lydia and giving her a spandex outfit and goggles that she must wear for a week. Nataile won a phone call from home, Russell won a spa experience and Jeff won a Hawaiian vacation. Lydia and Natalie were nominated for eviction by Jordan on Day 43. All HouseGuests except for Russell competed for the Power of Veto where the HouseGuests had to guess if an event happened before or after a second event took place. If a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Jordan won the Power of Veto and chose to let her initial nominations stand. Shortly after Lydia was evicted with a 3-1 vote on Day 47.
After the eviction the HouseGuests competed in the Head of Household competition "Can Do" which required the HouseGuests to drop aluminum cans
from a platform into plastic tubes, the first HouseGuest to get twenty-four cans or the first HouseGuest with the most cans in their tube within one hour won the competition. Jeff won the competition and became the Head of Household while Michele and Russell became the Have Nots for the week for having the fewest amount of cans in their tube. The viewing public chose to give the Have Nots churros and chitlins for the week. Jeff nominated Kevin and Natalie for eviction on Day 48. Jeff won the Power of Veto competition which required the HouseGuests to answer a riddle from Otev the Ape, retrieve a banana with a name of an evicted HouseGuest and bring it to Otev. A HouseGuest was eliminated if they answered incorrectly or were the last to bring their banana to Otev. Jeff saved Kevin from eviction and nominated Russell for eviction. Julie Chen revealed to the HouseGuests that Have and Have Not competitions were over and Russell was evicted with a 3-0 vote on Day 54.
In the Head of Household competition "The S'more, the Merrier" the HouseGuests had to fill a sixteen gallon vat with hot chocolate
by transporting the hot chocolate from a barrel to the vat on a slippery walkway using an eight ounce cup and retrieve the marshmallow inside the vat. Kevin won the competition and on Day 55 nominated Jeff and Michele for eviction. Kevin discovered a secret room adjacent to the Head of Household room called Pandora's Box
that when opened could release something good or bad upon the House or the HouseGuest that accessed the room. Prior to entering, Kevin was shown what the room contained on the monitor which was a giant box with the message "to release $10,000 put your hand in the hole." Kevin decided to comply and entered the room and placed his hand in the room while $10,000 in single U.S. dollar bills
fell upon the backyard and his hand was locked in the box while the remaining HouseGuests began to collect the money. In order for Kevin to be released a HouseGuest had to find the key and unlock him. Jeff found the key and freed Kevin from the box allowing him to collect the remaining money. Out of $10,000 Jeff collected the most with $3,181, Michele gathered $2,563, Natalie retrieved $1,904, Jordan collected $1,726 and Kevin collected the remaining $626. All the HouseGuests competed in the Power of Veto competition which required the HouseGuests to correctly identify the two HouseGuests whose faces make up the mashed up “aliens” that show up on different screens in the shortest amount of time. Michele won the competition and in addition to the Power of Veto she won a home entertainment center. She chose to save herself from eviction, Kevin nominated Jordan for eviction. Jeff was evicted from the House with a 2-1 vote on Day 61.
After the eviction the three eligible HouseGuests took part in the Head of Household competition "Fact or Fiction" which required the HouseGuests to step backwards if the answer to a statement is fact or step forward if the answer is fiction. Natalie won the competition after a tiebreaker round. The HouseGuests earned a three and a half minute shopping spree where the inside of the House was transformed into a mini-store where all four HouseGuests could keep any piece of clothing that they could wear. Pandora's Box presented Natalie with the chance to see her boyfriend and forfeit the right to play in the final Power of Veto competition. She chose to see her boyfriend who proposed to her inside the House. Pandora's Box allowed Natalie to extend her visit with her boyfriend by fifteen minutes which sends unwelcome visitors into the House to annoy the other HouseGuests. Kevin and Michele were nominated for eviction on Day 62. Kevin, Jordan, and Michele competed in the Power of Veto competition where the HouseGuests were separated into individual stations and given twenty clues, lined up ten by ten. Their goal is to take ten blocks with the HouseGuests’ names on them and match them correctly with the clues. Kevin was the first player to stack the blocks so they correctly answered all the clues and won the final Power of Veto. He chose to evict Michele on Day 66.
After Michele's eviction, the final three HouseGuests began the first part of the final Head of Household competition "Log Jam." The HouseGuests held onto their key that was suspended in the air for as long as possible while trying not to fall off of a moving log. Jordan was the first to fall off of the log while Kevin won the first part of the competition and advanced to round three. Jordan and Natalie were the only two HouseGuests to compete in the second round which determined who would face Kevin in the third round. In the second round each HouseGuest entered the backyard alone with a giant game table with the numbers one through ten. Each player used balls with names of previous Head of Household winners and place the ball with the correct name into the hole that corresponds with the numerical order in which they reigned.
The player had a two minute time limit and the player with the most correct answers won. Jordan won the second round with nine correct answers Kevin and Jordan competed in the final part of the Head of Household competition called "Jury Statements." The players had to guess the ending of statements made by the jury members. There were two possible answers and the players had to guess the correct ending by picking A or B. After the six jury statements the score was tied 3-3 and each player had to answer the tiebreaker question "including tiebreaker votes, how many total votes to evict have been cast so far this season?" The correct answer was 51 total votes to evict, Jordan won the final Head of Household competition by answering 50. Jordan chose to evict Kevin from the House, shortly after the jury members voted for the winner after asking a series of questions. Natalie was named the runner-up with only two votes from her fellow Housemates. Jeff won the public vote for "America's Favorite HouseGuest" and won $25,000. Jordan won the season after receiving four votes from her fellow Housemates plus a vote from the viewing public.
Key:
on Fox
bringing in 5.65 million viewers. The season premiere was even in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 demographics, added 280,000 viewers and was up 5% in households when compared to the season premiere of Big Brother 10. Ratings for the show entered into a steady decline after the premiere, the following Sunday episode that was transmitted on July 12 was down .39 million viewers and pulled a 2.0 rating in the adults 18-49.Repeats of The Simpsons
and King of the Hill on Fox won the adults 18-34 demographic but placed second in all other measures. The program hit a season low in adults 18-49 when the first eviction on Thursday, July 16 posted a 1.9 in adults 18-49. The Sunday, July 19 episode attracted 5.57 million viewers a season low in terms of viewership. Beginning with the Tuesday, July 21 episode viewership started to gradually increase with the episode attracting 5.76 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. The second eviction which featured Laura Crosby being evicted from the House attracted 6.39 million viewers and a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and a 4.0 rating with a 8 share in households. The second eviciton was up 8% in households, 11% in adults 18-49 and 14% in total viewers for the week at the time it was the second highest rated episode of the season behind the season premiere.
The following Sunday episode that aired on July 26 experienced a minor drop in ratings attracting 6.08 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49. The Sunday episode was up 5% in adults 18-49, 6% in households and added 510,000 viewers (up 9%) from the previous week. The episode highlighting the expulsion of Chima Simone was the highest rated episode in the adults 18-49 demographic with a 3.0 rating and the third highest in viewers and total households with 7.98 million viewers and a 4.8 respectively. The Sunday highlight episode fell to second place in its timeslot for the first time on August 9 when NBC Sunday Night Football
began airing on NBC. By August 20 ratings for the season were up 5% in overall viewers when compared to Big Brother 10. For first time the Tuesday, September 8 highlight episode surpassed the 8 million viewer mark with 8.13 million viewers while following Sunday episode on September attracted 8.55 million viewers. The season finale dropped to 7.78 million viewers but was the second highest episode in the adults 18-49 demographic for the entire season. Overall Big Brother 11 was up 7% in total viewers (7.19 million) when compared to Big Brother 10, up 5% in adults 18-34, up 3% in adults 25-54 and even in adults 18-49. Big Brother 11 delivered 100 million page views and 15.3 million videos on CBS.com and various affiliated sites by the end of the season. The viewing public placed more than 24 million votes during the season including over 11 million votes for the seventh jury vote.
on the same day the program was broadcast.
: Episode was delayed from its normal start time due to a sport overrun.: Individual information not available for rating/share for households due to a golf overrun.
version of the show, which was six weeks into its series at the time. During the first several weeks ratings for both shows were declining. The launch of Big Brother 2009
aired on Channel 4
in the United Kingdom premiered on June 4 attracted 4.8 million viewers, with a 22% viewing share. The show was down compared to the launch of Big Brother 2008
but won its timeslot. Ratings continued to decline with the first official eviction of the series, that aired on June 12 only pulling in 2.9 million people, 13% of the viewing audience.
In an article by The Hollywood Reporter
, an American trade publication, noted the tenth series of the British version was averaging 2 million viewers and a 10.1% audience share. At the time the show was six weeks into its run and was down 33% on its performance from the previous year and very down when compared to previous series in where some average 6 million viewers per episode. Mimi Turner, author of the article, noted the show was "running out of steam" and until the tenth series the show delivered significant youth audiences on air and online. Bill Gorman of TVByTheNumbers, an American television website, commented on the article by saying "Not sure if this is a glimpse of things to come for the US version of Big Brother or not."
Executives from Endemol, the production company for Big Brother worldwide, defended the format which is transmitted in 41 territories and noted the season premiere of the 11th season in America won its timeslot with year to year growth. Other comparisons noted was the finale of ninth season
of Grande Fratello pulled 7.9 million viewers with a 36% audience share and how in Argentina the show has been rested for a few years and returns with stronger ratings. Paul Jonson, global head of marketing and brand partnerships for Endemol Group, noted that using audience averages to figure out how the show performs wouldn't work since the audience builds up until the finale. Jonson also noted that the series continued to rate very well when compared to the timeslot average for Channel 4.
After ratings for Big Brother 11 in America began to increase Anna Pickard, for The Guardian
in the United Kingdom, compared the two concurrent seasons noting the format differences between the American and British versions of the show calling the two "different beasts." Various points mentioned that contributed to the increase in ratings was the number of episodes per week, format differences, lack of live feeds from the House in Britain. In another article on the same site noted the American version experienced a "ratings renaissance" in a market "which the format has not traditionally done well." After the cancellation of Big Brother in the United Kingdom, American trade publications like USA Today
began reporting on the cancellation while others like Variety
were also reporting various pickups around the world including the twelfth season
of the American version, Big Brother 10
in Germany, Grande Fratello 10
in Italy and HaAh HaGadol 2
in Israel.
Another HouseGuest, Braden, made several racist and derogatory comments after the first Power of Veto ceremony to fellow HouseGuests Kevin and Lydia in an argument. The argument was edited during the first live eviction show on Thursday but played unedited on the live feeds. During the live portion of the show, Chima brought up the comments made by Braden again during her final plea speech to her fellow HouseGuests. Chima also stated Braden used a sexually insulting word to describe Big Brother host Julie Chen. This comment was made at the conclusion of a "Julie Says"
game played by the HouseGuests a couple nights earlier as viewed on Big Brother After Dark.
The editing of the events in question during the broadcast episodes created controversy for the show and CBS, the broadcaster of Big Brother. While the comments couldn't air due to FCC
regulations the way the events were edited caused critics and fans of the show to claim the show was being edited to make the HouseGuests look good to the viewing public. One critic suggests the recent decline in ratings is due to the editing process of the show.
Chima revealed to her fellow HouseGuests on the live Internet feeds and on Big Brother: After Dark after the eviction that she was informed in the Diary Room by Big Brother, the producers, that her comments were censored during the live broadcast.
CBS released a statement on July 17, 2009 regarding the censoring of the controversial statements saying the statements in question were offensive and did not meet the network's standards. CBS also stated that "any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a houseguest appearing on Big Brother, either on any live feed from the house or the broadcast, are those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program." National Public Radio's pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes noted that CBS officially disavowing such statements while allowing them to continue amounts to a publicity grab for the show and for the network:
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and Showtime 2 for 73 days, concluding on September 15, 2009 when Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner with four votes from the jury and one vote from the viewing public. The format of the program remained largely unchanged from previous seasons; a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, are enclosed in the Big Brother House under the surveillance of cameras and microphones. Each week the HouseGuests voted to evict one of their own until two HouseGuests remained on finale night. The winner was decided by last six evicted HouseGuests, known as the Big Brother Jury. The highlight programs were announced by Clayton A.S. Halsey, Julie Chen
Julie Chen
Julie Suzanne Chen is an American television personality, news anchor, and producer for CBS. She has 16 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS's The Early Show, alongside Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother...
fronted the season premiere, evictions and the season finale and Ross Mathews hosted Big Brother segments on Inside Dish with Ross Mathews.
The program included 13 participants, one of whom was expelled by the producers for constant rule breaking while the fate of the others were decided by their peers. The HouseGuests were competing to win a $500,000 prize with a $50,000 prize offered to the runner up. Due to an increase in ratings over the previous season the season finale was extended from one hour to two hours with the final two being determined on finale night. Due to the removal of a HouseGuest the American public became known as the seventh Jury member and voted for the winner along with six former HouseGuests that made up the Jury. This edition of Big Brother also attracted controversy with accusations of homophobia, racism and the editing style of the program from viewers and critics.
Winner Jordan Lloyd, and fellow Houseguest Jeff Schroeder returned to compete in Big Brother 13
Big Brother 13 (U.S.)
Big Brother 13 was the thirteenth season of the American reality television series, Big Brother. The show was broadcast on CBS and Showtime 2 for 75 days, concluding on September 14, 2011 when Rachel Reilly was crowned the winner with four votes from the jury over Porsche Briggs' three...
, where they placed 4th and 7th respectively.
Production
Big Brother 11 was produced by Endemol USA and Allison Grodner Productions with Allison GrodnerAllison Grodner
Allison Grodner is an award-winning director, producer and writer, who has worked in documentary and reality-based programming for the past fifteen years. She is best known for her work on the American version of the reality TV show Big Brother. She is an executive producer of Big Brother and Big...
, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger returned as executive producer. This season of the program was announced on September 18, 2008, three days after the season finale of Big Brother 10
Big Brother 10 (U.S.)
Big Brother 10 is the tenth season of the American reality television seriesBig Brother The show premiered July 13, 2008 on the CBS television network, airing three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. , Tuesdays at 9 p.m. , and Thursdays at 8 p.m...
. Casting for the program began during the final week of Big Brother 10 with potential applicants submitting video tape submissions. Open auditions began on April 1, 2009 in Michigan by local CBS affiliate WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Michigan licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Van Atta Road in Meridian. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and Broadstripe channel 13...
and continued across the nation in various cities including Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Chicago, Illinois, Waverly, Iowa
Waverly, Iowa
Waverly is a city in Bremer County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,874 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bremer County and is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, and Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. Applications and video tape submissions were due by May 4, 2009. Applicants chosen to be a finalist went to Los Angeles, California from which applicants were narrowed down to a pool of forty finalists. Julie Chen interviewed casting director Robyn Kass and former HouseGuests Mike Malin and Brian Hart about the upcoming season and their experiences going through casting on March 19, 2009. Julie Chen confirmed that she would continue to host Big Brother during her pregnancy despite tabloid rumors stating she would take maternity leave.
Broadcasts and platforms
The main television coverage of Big Brother was screened in three weekly highlight programs that were transmitted on Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), and Thursdays at 8 p.m (live ET/delayed PT) on CBS in the United States and Global Television NetworkGlobal Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The episodes summarize the events of the previous two to three days in the House. Along side these shows is a spin-off show, Big Brother: After Dark
Big Brother: After Dark
Big Brother: After Dark is an uncensored, uncut live feed from the American Big Brother House. The program debuted on July 5, 2007 as a companion show to Big Brother 8 and it airs on Showtime 2 and Global Reality Channel....
, which screens three hours live directly from the House was shown on Showtime 2. For the first time in the history of the show, Big Brother had a two-hour live season finale, which aired on September 15, an increase from the usual hour.
Big Brother maintained an online platform with live subscription feeds from RealNetworks
RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
, a redesigned and relaunched website, online videos, full episodes, a fantasy game and segments on Inside Dish with Ross Mathews
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
. For the first time Big Brother launched two Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
accounts; one featured updates from the production staff and one featured updates from the current Head of Household. Episodes of Big Brother continued to be streamed on CBS Mobile Channel on FLOTV
MediaFLO
MediaFLO is a technology developed by Qualcomm for transmitting audio, video and data to portable devices such as mobile phones and personal televisions, used for mobile television...
. Mobile users were also able to interact and influence the show through SMS text messaging and, for the first time, a simulation game based on Big Brother was also available to mobile customers.
House
As with each season since Big Brother 6Big Brother 6 (U.S.)
The sixth season of CBS's American version of Big Brother consisted of thirty episodes which aired from July 7 to September 20, 2005. It was again hosted by Julie Chen....
, the program was filmed at CBS Studios
CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It is located at 4024 Radford Avenue and takes up a triangular piece of land, with the Los Angeles River bisecting the site...
in Studio City, California. The production team was located in the second story of the House which included the story department, audio department and the switchers and shaders. The House was equipped with 52 cameras and 80 microphones to record the participants. The art department that created the competitions for the program was located outside the House. The House theme was eco-friendly and modern California living was released on June 29 during media day, where select members of the press were invited to spend 12 hours inside the House. Official pictures of the House interior were released by CBS on the same day, showing the living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, lounge room and backyard. The living room featured chipboard walls with fake plants along the side. The spa that was featured in the House since season nine
Big Brother 9 (U.S.)
Big Brother 9 is the ninth edition of the American reality television series...
was removed and replaced with exercise bikes that when operated would power a light bulb. The former spa room featured recycled products like wood, plastic and aluminum turned into wallpaper. There was also a shipping container-based bathroom, an open kitchen that paid respects to the Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
and a portable garden where the HouseGuests would collect compost and grow their own herb garden was added to the backyard. The House included four bedrooms each varying in design and comfort. The Head of Household bedroom featured a penthouse design with a waterfall and an faux ocean front view while the first bedroom featured a VIP club lounge design, the second bedroom resembled the bottom of a public pool and the third bedroom was a simplistic gray with metal slabs used as beds.
Format
The format remained largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests were incarcerated in the Big Brother House with no contact to and from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests took part in several compulsory challenges that determined who would win food, luxuries and power in the House. The winner of the Head of Household competition was immune from nominations and was instructed to nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest became Head of Household he or she was ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition.The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then had to nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.
On eviction night all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. Before the voting began the nominees had the chance to say a final message to their fellow HouseGuests. This compulsory vote was conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a 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 usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, the HouseGuests could discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House on Thursday and interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictiees of the season form the Jury that voted for the winner on the season finale, they were known as the jury members. The jury members were sequestered in a separate house and was not allowed to watch the show except for segments that included all of the HouseGuests. The jury members were not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that included strategy or details regarding nominations.
In a change from previous seasons, the food competitions were changed to Have vs. Have-Not competitions. HouseGuests was divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that became "Have Nots" for the week were only allowed to eat slop and a weekly food restriction, chosen by the viewing public, cold showers and sleeping on metal beds. A new rule was revealed this season, in the event a HouseGuest that would be part of the jury to determine the winner voluntarily leaves the House or is expelled by Big Brother the American public replaced that HouseGuest on the jury and voted for the winner along with the remaining jury members.
HouseGuests
Twelve of the thirteen HouseGuests were revealed during The Early ShowThe Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
on July 1, 2009 by Julie Chen. During the season premiere the HouseGuests were split into four cliques and Jessie Godderz was revealed as the final HouseGuest during the season premiere on July 9, 2009 after the Athletes clique won the first Head of Household competition.
| Name | Age | Occupation | Home town | Clique | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Bacha | 28 | Surfer | Santa Monica, California Santa Monica, California Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and... |
Popular | |
| Casey Turner | 41 | Fifth Grade Teacher Teacher A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional... |
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St... |
Off-Beat | |
| Chima Simone | 32 | Freelance Journalist | West Hollywood, California West Hollywood, California West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood... |
Brains | |
| Jeff Schroeder | 31 | Advertising Salesman | Norridge, Illinois Norridge, Illinois Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,582 at the 2000 census. The current Mayor of Norridge is Ronald A. Oppedisano.The village is completely surrounded by Chicago and Harwood Heights.-Name origin:... |
Athlete | |
| Jessie Godderz | 23 | Professional Bodybuilder | Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population... |
Athlete | |
| Jordan Lloyd Jordan Lloyd Jordan Hailie Lloyd is an American reality television participant, and the winner of the 11th season of Big Brother. Lloyd has also participated in The Amazing Race 16 and Big Brother 13 reality shows.-Early life:... |
22 | Waitress | Matthews, North Carolina Matthews, North Carolina Matthews is a large suburban town of Charlotte located in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The population was 27,198 according to the 2010 Census.- Geography :Matthews is located at .... |
Popular | |
| Kevin Campbell | 29 | Graphic Designer Graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and... |
Chula Vista, California Chula Vista, California Chula Vista is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fourteenth largest city in the State of California, and the seventy seventh largest city in the U.S.... |
Off-Beat | |
| Laura Crosby | 21 | Bikini Model | Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in... |
Popular | |
| Lydia Tavera | 24 | Special Effects Make-Up Artist Prosthetic makeup Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects... |
Torrance, California Torrance, California Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring... |
Off-Beat | |
| Michele Noonan | 27 | Neuroscientist Neuroscientist A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields... |
Pasadena, California Pasadena, California Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet... |
Brains | |
| Natalie Martinez | 24 | Tae Kwon Do Champion Taekwondo Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"... |
Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert, Arizona -Demographics:As of July 1, 2009, Maricopa Association of Governments, Census 2000. United States Census Bureau. there were 217,521 people, 74,147 housing units, and 3.01 persons per household.... |
Athlete | |
| Ronnie Talbott | 30 | Video Game Expert Gamer Historically, the term "gamer" usually referred to someone who played role-playing games and wargames. Since they became very popular, the term has included players of video games... |
Belpre, Ohio Belpre, Ohio Belpre is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,441 at the 2010 census.... |
Brains | |
| Russell Kairouz | 24 | Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Mixed martial arts Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be... |
Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa... |
Athlete |
Contestant's age at the start of the season.
Summary
During the first night, the group of twelve was divided into four high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
clique
Clique
A clique is an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique as a reference group can be either normative or comparative. Membership in a clique is typically exclusive, and qualifications for membership may be social or...
s of three; Athletes, Populars, Brains and Off-beats. The HouseGuests competed as individuals except when one member of a clique won Head of Household all members of that clique were immune from eviction. In the first Head of Household competition "The Wedgie" the HouseGuests were suspended by underwear attached to a rope and were required to hang on to a toilet seat. A HouseGuest was eliminated when they let go of their toilet seat. Four past HouseGuests returned to support one of the cliques in the House; Michael "Cowboy" Ellis of Big Brother 5 supported the Off-beats, Jessica Hughbanks of Big Brother 8
Big Brother 8 (U.S.)
Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the US version of the reality TV-show Big Brother on CBS. The season was announced on February 1, 2007. Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan are executive producers. Arnold Shapiro stepped down as producer following last...
supported the Populars, and Brian Hart and Jessie Godderz from Big Brother 10
Big Brother 10 (U.S.)
Big Brother 10 is the tenth season of the American reality television seriesBig Brother The show premiered July 13, 2008 on the CBS television network, airing three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. , Tuesdays at 9 p.m. , and Thursdays at 8 p.m...
supported the Brains and Athletes respectively. None of the twelve HouseGuests in the House would be able to become the first Head of Household instead the winning clique would earn one of the previous HouseGuests that were supporting their clique and that person would become the first Head of Household. Natalie and Russell won the competition for the Athletes allowing Jessie to return to the House as a full HouseGuest and the first Head of Household.
Shortly after the eviction the second Head of Household competition called "Most Likely To..." was held. The HouseGuests were asked questions regarding how the American public voted in an online poll regarding the cliques. If a HouseGuest answered the question correctly they could eliminate another HouseGuest but if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Ronnie won the competition becoming the second Head of Household and earned immunity
Immunity (reality television)
Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
for the Brains clique from eviction and becoming the Have Nots for the week. The weekly Have and Have Not competition was replaced with a luxury competition hosted by Dan Gheesling, winner of Big Brother 10, called "Who Knows The Ugly Truth?" The HouseGuests had to guess answers to questions posed to House Guests of the opposite gender for each correct answer the HouseGuests were given a point. Casey and Chima won the competition with the highest number of points out of their respective gender. They won a screening of The Ugly Truth
The Ugly Truth (film)
The Ugly Truth is a 2009 American romantic comedy film starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. The film was released in North America on July 24, 2009, produced by Lakeshore Entertainment for Columbia Pictures .- Plot :...
and they had to choose one clique to become the Have Nots for the week and they chose Jordan and Laura from the Popular clique. At the nomination ceremony on Day 13, Ronnie nominated Laura and Jeff for eviction. Ronnie, Laura, Jeff, Natalie, Casey and Russell competed to win the Power of Veto in "The Big Brother Mint". The HouseGuests competed in four rounds consisting of two minutes each with the goal of collecting a certain amount of money in a certain denomination. The HouseGuests farthest from the specified amount was eliminated while the winner of the round could have taken a mystery prize gift but in doing so would have been eliminated. Jeff won the competition and earned the Power of Veto. Jeff chose to use the Power of Veto to save himself and Ronnie nominated Jordan as the replacement nominee. Laura was evicted on Day 19 by a vote of 8-1.
Later that day, Jessie won the Head of Household competition "Buzzworthy" which required the HouseGuests to launch a ball into a group of buckets that resembled a honeycomb
Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey...
with the aim of getting the highest score. The Athletes became immune from nomination or being the Have-Nots for the week for the second time in three weeks. Only one member from each of the cliques competed in the Have and Have Not competition "Back Yard Bash" which required the three participants to wear beer goggles, ride in motorized kegs and throw giant foam ice cubes into the opposing cliques barrel. Chima, Jordan and Kevin took part in the competition with the Brains becoming the Have Nots for the week. In addition to slop the viewing public voted to give the Have Nots cabbage and cocktail weenies for the week. On Day 20, Jordan and Michele were initially nominated for eviction by Jessie. Michele won the Power of Veto called "When Pigs Fly" where the HouseGuests had to collect truffles that were buried in a pigsty. Each truffle contained a number value from one to ten or a prize and each player could only keep four total truffles. After the HouseGuests finished collecting their truffles they could take a mystery envelop that could help or hinder them in winning the Power of Veto, Chima and Jordan were the only two HouseGuests not to take an envelop. Casey also won a margarita party for the House and had to wear a banana suit for an entire week while Jessie won $2,500 for himself. Michele used the Power of Veto to save herself from eviction and Jessie nominated Casey for eviction in her place. Casey was evicted on Day 26 by a vote of 7-1 with Russell only voting in his favor. Prior to the Head of Household competition, the HouseGuests were informed that the cliques were disbanded and everyone was on their own plus voting was open to the viewing public to determine who would win a "mystery power." The public was informed the power was the Coup d'État first introduced in Big Brother: All-Stars.
Later that night the fourth Head of Household competition saw the HousGuests seated on a "graduation cap" swing holding onto a rope in the air while at random the HouseGuests would spin around, get hit by a foam diploma and be "rained out." Russell was the last HouseGuest to remain on his swing and won the competition. The first five HouseGuests that dropped were able to pick a graduation present. Kevin was the first to drop and won $5,000, Lydia was the second and won a plasma television, Ronnie and Natalie were the third and fourth to drop and won nothing. Jessie, Kevin and Natalie became the Have Nots for the week after Jordan won the right to choose three HouseGuests to become the Have Nots in the Head of Household competition. The viewing public voted to give the Have Nots squid and squash for the week. Lydia and Ronnie were nominated for eviction on Day 27. In the Power of Veto competition "Vini Vidi Veto" which saw Russell, Lydia, Ronnie, Michele, Kevin and Jessie competing to win the Veto. Various items, relating to Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, were scattered around the backyard and the HouseGuests had five minutes to study each item. The goal of the competition was to acquire three points by correctly guessing numerical answers in each round after revealing the answers the HouseGuests could stay or fold. If a HouseGuest stays and get the furthest from the actual total and become eliminated but if a HouseGuest folded they would remain in the game but wouldn't win a point. Michele won her second Power of Veto competition and decided not to use the Veto leaving the initial nominations intact. Jeff won the power of Coup d'État from the viewing public, it could only be used once and he had to use the power during this or the next eviction. Jeff chose not to overthrow the Head of Household and Ronnie was evicted with a 4-3 vote on Day 33.
The night before the Head of Household competition on Day 32, Big Brother played voice messages sent from the viewers into the House. During the Head of Household competition the next day, the HouseGuests were asked true or false questions about the messages, if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Chima won the competition and became the fifth Head of Household. Actor Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
entered the House to host the next luxury competition. For the competition the HouseGuests split into two teams of four and the winning team would become Haves for the week and win an advance screening to the movie The Goods. Each team had to fill a station wagon with various items scattered around the backyard plus the entire team each item contained a point value and the team with the most points won. While Chima was exempt from participating she had to choose a team she thought would win before the competition began. Chima's pick, the shirts, which consisted of Jordan, Russell, Jessie, and Natalie won and were able to pick an envelope which contained a check. Russell picked the envelope with the highest amount and won $10,000. The public chose liver and limes as the weekly food restriction for the Have Nots. Chima nominated Lydia and Russell for eviction on Day 34. Chima, Lydia, Russell, Jeff, Natalie and Kevin took part in the Power of Veto competition called "BB Farms" which required the players to navigate an egg up over a chicken wire to retrieve it and place it in their egg counter. Kevin was the first player to get twelve eggs and won the Power of Veto. He chose not to use the Veto leaving Lydia and Russell nominated for eviction. Jeff used the Coup d'État to overthrow Chima and void her nominations. Chima and Kevin were immune from being nominated as they won the Head of Household and Power of Veto respectively. Jessie and Natalie were nominated for eviction by Jeff. Chima, Jeff and the nominees were not allowed to vote during the eviction and Jessie was evicted by a 3-2 vote on Day 40.
Due to the Coup d'État, all the HouseGuests were eligible to win the Head of Household competition called "Hit the Road". Two HouseGuests went head to head answering questions regarding past competitions if a HouseGuest answered correctly their opponent was eliminated but if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. The sixth Head of Household competition was won by Michele. The HouseGuests split into teams of two for the Have or Have Not competition but they would win food and luxuries as a group. The HouseGuests won hot showers for the week, food for Tuesday through Sunday and a BBQ grill. Michelle nominated Chima and Natalie for eviction on Day 41. Following continual rule breaking by Chima since week one that included ignoring Big Brother when called to the Diary Room on various occasions, refusing to wear her personal microphone when asked by Big Brother on various occasions, threatening to act up during a live show on Day 35, obstructing a camera on Day 40 and throwing her personal microphone into the hot tub, she was expelled from the House on Day 42. Because of Chima's expulsion, Michele's duties as Head of Household were finished and a new Head of Household competition was held.
For the next HoH competition, the backyard was transformed into a country club, and the HouseGuests used giant golf putters to put an oversized golf ball around a giant snail aiming for a hole in one on the other side. A HouseGuest was eliminated each round with the HouseGuest with the lowest score winning the competition. When a player is eliminated they could take one prize but as players are eliminated they could keep their gift or steal a gift of an eliminated HouseGuest. Jordan won the Head of Household competition, taking the Head of Household from Lydia and giving her a spandex outfit and goggles that she must wear for a week. Nataile won a phone call from home, Russell won a spa experience and Jeff won a Hawaiian vacation. Lydia and Natalie were nominated for eviction by Jordan on Day 43. All HouseGuests except for Russell competed for the Power of Veto where the HouseGuests had to guess if an event happened before or after a second event took place. If a HouseGuest answered incorrectly they were eliminated. Jordan won the Power of Veto and chose to let her initial nominations stand. Shortly after Lydia was evicted with a 3-1 vote on Day 47.
After the eviction the HouseGuests competed in the Head of Household competition "Can Do" which required the HouseGuests to drop aluminum cans
Beverage can
A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...
from a platform into plastic tubes, the first HouseGuest to get twenty-four cans or the first HouseGuest with the most cans in their tube within one hour won the competition. Jeff won the competition and became the Head of Household while Michele and Russell became the Have Nots for the week for having the fewest amount of cans in their tube. The viewing public chose to give the Have Nots churros and chitlins for the week. Jeff nominated Kevin and Natalie for eviction on Day 48. Jeff won the Power of Veto competition which required the HouseGuests to answer a riddle from Otev the Ape, retrieve a banana with a name of an evicted HouseGuest and bring it to Otev. A HouseGuest was eliminated if they answered incorrectly or were the last to bring their banana to Otev. Jeff saved Kevin from eviction and nominated Russell for eviction. Julie Chen revealed to the HouseGuests that Have and Have Not competitions were over and Russell was evicted with a 3-0 vote on Day 54.
In the Head of Household competition "The S'more, the Merrier" the HouseGuests had to fill a sixteen gallon vat with hot chocolate
Hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
by transporting the hot chocolate from a barrel to the vat on a slippery walkway using an eight ounce cup and retrieve the marshmallow inside the vat. Kevin won the competition and on Day 55 nominated Jeff and Michele for eviction. Kevin discovered a secret room adjacent to the Head of Household room called Pandora's Box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
that when opened could release something good or bad upon the House or the HouseGuest that accessed the room. Prior to entering, Kevin was shown what the room contained on the monitor which was a giant box with the message "to release $10,000 put your hand in the hole." Kevin decided to comply and entered the room and placed his hand in the room while $10,000 in single U.S. dollar bills
United States one-dollar bill
The United States one-dollar bill is the most common denomination of US currency. The first president, George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, while the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest...
fell upon the backyard and his hand was locked in the box while the remaining HouseGuests began to collect the money. In order for Kevin to be released a HouseGuest had to find the key and unlock him. Jeff found the key and freed Kevin from the box allowing him to collect the remaining money. Out of $10,000 Jeff collected the most with $3,181, Michele gathered $2,563, Natalie retrieved $1,904, Jordan collected $1,726 and Kevin collected the remaining $626. All the HouseGuests competed in the Power of Veto competition which required the HouseGuests to correctly identify the two HouseGuests whose faces make up the mashed up “aliens” that show up on different screens in the shortest amount of time. Michele won the competition and in addition to the Power of Veto she won a home entertainment center. She chose to save herself from eviction, Kevin nominated Jordan for eviction. Jeff was evicted from the House with a 2-1 vote on Day 61.
After the eviction the three eligible HouseGuests took part in the Head of Household competition "Fact or Fiction" which required the HouseGuests to step backwards if the answer to a statement is fact or step forward if the answer is fiction. Natalie won the competition after a tiebreaker round. The HouseGuests earned a three and a half minute shopping spree where the inside of the House was transformed into a mini-store where all four HouseGuests could keep any piece of clothing that they could wear. Pandora's Box presented Natalie with the chance to see her boyfriend and forfeit the right to play in the final Power of Veto competition. She chose to see her boyfriend who proposed to her inside the House. Pandora's Box allowed Natalie to extend her visit with her boyfriend by fifteen minutes which sends unwelcome visitors into the House to annoy the other HouseGuests. Kevin and Michele were nominated for eviction on Day 62. Kevin, Jordan, and Michele competed in the Power of Veto competition where the HouseGuests were separated into individual stations and given twenty clues, lined up ten by ten. Their goal is to take ten blocks with the HouseGuests’ names on them and match them correctly with the clues. Kevin was the first player to stack the blocks so they correctly answered all the clues and won the final Power of Veto. He chose to evict Michele on Day 66.
After Michele's eviction, the final three HouseGuests began the first part of the final Head of Household competition "Log Jam." The HouseGuests held onto their key that was suspended in the air for as long as possible while trying not to fall off of a moving log. Jordan was the first to fall off of the log while Kevin won the first part of the competition and advanced to round three. Jordan and Natalie were the only two HouseGuests to compete in the second round which determined who would face Kevin in the third round. In the second round each HouseGuest entered the backyard alone with a giant game table with the numbers one through ten. Each player used balls with names of previous Head of Household winners and place the ball with the correct name into the hole that corresponds with the numerical order in which they reigned.
The player had a two minute time limit and the player with the most correct answers won. Jordan won the second round with nine correct answers Kevin and Jordan competed in the final part of the Head of Household competition called "Jury Statements." The players had to guess the ending of statements made by the jury members. There were two possible answers and the players had to guess the correct ending by picking A or B. After the six jury statements the score was tied 3-3 and each player had to answer the tiebreaker question "including tiebreaker votes, how many total votes to evict have been cast so far this season?" The correct answer was 51 total votes to evict, Jordan won the final Head of Household competition by answering 50. Jordan chose to evict Kevin from the House, shortly after the jury members voted for the winner after asking a series of questions. Natalie was named the runner-up with only two votes from her fellow Housemates. Jeff won the public vote for "America's Favorite HouseGuest" and won $25,000. Jordan won the season after receiving four votes from her fellow Housemates plus a vote from the viewing public.
Voting history
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Eviction votes received | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 34 | Day 40 | Day 41 | Day 43 | Day 67 | |||||||||||
| Head of Household | Jessie | Ronnie | Jessie | Russell | Chima | Jeff (Coup d'État Coup d'état A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either... ) |
Michele | Jordan | Jeff | Kevin | Natalie | Jordan | (none) | ||
| Nominations (pre-veto) |
Chima Lydia |
Jeff Laura |
Jordan Michele |
Lydia Ronnie |
Lydia Russell |
Jessie Natalie |
Chima Natalie |
Lydia Natalie |
Kevin Natalie |
Jeff Michele |
Kevin Michele |
Kevin Natalie |
|||
| Veto Winner | Russell | Jeff | Michele | Michele | Kevin | (none) | (none) | Jordan | Jeff | Michele | Kevin | (none) | |||
| Nominations (post-veto) |
Braden Chima |
Jordan Laura |
Casey Jordan |
Lydia Ronnie |
Lydia Russell |
Lydia Natalie |
Natalie Russell |
Jeff Jordan |
Jordan Michele |
||||||
| Jordan | Chima | Nominated | Nominated | Ronnie | Nominations void |
Jessie | No voting |
Head of Household |
Russell | Nominated | Nominated | Kevin | Winner $500,000 |
3 | |
| Natalie | Braden | Jordan | Casey | Lydia | Nominations void |
Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | Jeff | Head of Household |
Nominated | $50,000 |
3 | |
| Kevin | Braden | Laura | Casey | Ronnie | Nominations void |
Jessie | No voting |
Natalie | Russell | Jeff | Michele | Natalie | 1 | ||
| Michele | Chima | Laura | Casey | Ronnie | Nominations void |
Jessie | Head of Household |
Lydia | Russell | Jordan | Nominated | Jordan | 1 | ||
| Jeff | Chima | Laura | Casey | Ronnie | Nominations void |
Coup d'État | No voting |
Lydia | Head of Household |
Nominated | Evicted (Day 61) |
Jordan | 2 | ||
| Russell | Braden | Laura | Jordan | Head of Household |
Nominated | Natalie | No voting |
Lydia | Nominated | Evicted (Day 54) |
Natalie | 3 | |||
| Lydia | Braden | Laura | Casey | Nominated | Nominated | Natalie | No voting |
Nominated | Evicted (Day 47) |
Jordan | 6 | ||||
| Chima | Nominated | Laura | Casey | Lydia | Head of Household |
Nominated | Expelled (Day 42) |
Jordan | 5 | ||||||
| Jessie | Braden | Laura | Head of Household |
Lydia | Nominations void |
Nominated | Evicted (Day 40) |
Jordan | 3 | ||||||
| Ronnie | Braden | Head of Household |
Casey | Nominated | Evicted (Day 33) |
4 | |||||||||
| Casey | Chima | Laura | Nominated | Evicted (Day 26) |
7 | ||||||||||
| Laura | Chima | Nominated | Evicted (Day 19) |
8 | |||||||||||
| Braden | Nominated | Evicted (Day 12) |
6 | ||||||||||||
| Notes | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4, 5 | 6, 7 | 8 | 9, 10 | none | 11, 12 | |||||
| Have Nots | Chima, Michele, Ronnie |
Jordan, Laura |
Chima, Michele, Ronnie |
Jessie, Kevin, Natalie |
Jeff, Kevin, Lydia, Michele |
none | Michele, Russell |
none | |||||||
| Expelled | none | Chima | none | ||||||||||||
| Evicted | Braden 6 of 11 votes to evict |
Laura 8 of 9 votes to evict |
Casey 7 of 8 votes to evict |
Ronnie 4 of 7 votes to evict |
Nominations void |
Jessie 3 of 5 votes to evict |
Eviction canceled |
Lydia 3 of 4 votes to evict |
Russell 3 of 3 votes to evict |
Jeff 2 of 3 votes to evict |
Michele Kevin's choice to evict |
Kevin Jordan's choice to evict |
Natalie 2 votes to win |
||
| Jordan 5 votes to win |
|||||||||||||||
| Source | |||||||||||||||
Key:
- – Athletes
- – Brains
- – Off-beat
- – Popular
Ratings and reception
The season premiere of Big Brother 11, which aired on CBS on July 9, attracted 6.68 million viewers, with a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49. The rating was the highest in its timeslot, with its nearest competition, a repeat of BonesBones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
bringing in 5.65 million viewers. The season premiere was even in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 demographics, added 280,000 viewers and was up 5% in households when compared to the season premiere of Big Brother 10. Ratings for the show entered into a steady decline after the premiere, the following Sunday episode that was transmitted on July 12 was down .39 million viewers and pulled a 2.0 rating in the adults 18-49.Repeats of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and King of the Hill on Fox won the adults 18-34 demographic but placed second in all other measures. The program hit a season low in adults 18-49 when the first eviction on Thursday, July 16 posted a 1.9 in adults 18-49. The Sunday, July 19 episode attracted 5.57 million viewers a season low in terms of viewership. Beginning with the Tuesday, July 21 episode viewership started to gradually increase with the episode attracting 5.76 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. The second eviction which featured Laura Crosby being evicted from the House attracted 6.39 million viewers and a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and a 4.0 rating with a 8 share in households. The second eviciton was up 8% in households, 11% in adults 18-49 and 14% in total viewers for the week at the time it was the second highest rated episode of the season behind the season premiere.
The following Sunday episode that aired on July 26 experienced a minor drop in ratings attracting 6.08 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49. The Sunday episode was up 5% in adults 18-49, 6% in households and added 510,000 viewers (up 9%) from the previous week. The episode highlighting the expulsion of Chima Simone was the highest rated episode in the adults 18-49 demographic with a 3.0 rating and the third highest in viewers and total households with 7.98 million viewers and a 4.8 respectively. The Sunday highlight episode fell to second place in its timeslot for the first time on August 9 when NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...
began airing on NBC. By August 20 ratings for the season were up 5% in overall viewers when compared to Big Brother 10. For first time the Tuesday, September 8 highlight episode surpassed the 8 million viewer mark with 8.13 million viewers while following Sunday episode on September attracted 8.55 million viewers. The season finale dropped to 7.78 million viewers but was the second highest episode in the adults 18-49 demographic for the entire season. Overall Big Brother 11 was up 7% in total viewers (7.19 million) when compared to Big Brother 10, up 5% in adults 18-34, up 3% in adults 25-54 and even in adults 18-49. Big Brother 11 delivered 100 million page views and 15.3 million videos on CBS.com and various affiliated sites by the end of the season. The viewing public placed more than 24 million votes during the season including over 11 million votes for the seventh jury vote.
Television ratings
"Rating" is the estimated percentage of all televisions tuned to the show, and "share" is the percentage of all televisions in use that are tuned in. "Viewers" is the estimated number viewers that watched a program either while it was broadcast or watched via DVRDigital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
on the same day the program was broadcast.
| # | Air Date | Rating | Share | 18-49 (rating/share) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank (timeslot) |
Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday, July 9 | 4.4 | 8 | 2.3/8 | 6.59 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sunday July 121 | 3.9 | 7 | 2.0/6 | 6.29 | 1 | |
| 3 | Tuesday, July 14 | 3.9 | 6 | 2.1/6 | 6.16 | 3 | |
| 4 | Thursday, July 16 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.9/7 | 5.63 | 1 | |
| 5 | Sunday, July 19 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.9/6 | 5.57 | 1 | |
| 6 | Tuesday, July 21 | 3.7 | 6 | 2.0/6 | 5.79 | 3 | |
| 7 | Thursday, July 23 | 4.0 | 8 | 2.1/7 | 6.39 | 1 | |
| 8 | Sunday, July 26 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.0/7 | 6.08 | 1 | |
| 9 | Tuesday, July 28 | 3.8 | 6 | 2.1/6 | 6.07 | 2 | |
| 10 | Thursday, July 30 | 4.1 | 8 | 2.1/8 | 6.46 | 1 | |
| 11 | Sunday, August 2 | 4.2 | 8 | 2.2/7 | 6.77 | 1 | |
| 12 | Tuesday, August 4 | 4.0 | 7 | 2.4/7 | 6.40 | 2 | |
| 13 | Thursday, August 6 | 4.1 | 8 | 2.3/8 | 6.44 | 2 | |
| 14 | Sunday, August 9 | 4.2 | 8 | 2.6/8 | 7.15 | 2 | |
| 15 | Tuesday, August 11 | 4.4 | 7 | 2.4/7 | 6.68 | 2 | |
| 16 | Thursday, August 13 | 4.8 | 9 | 2.6/9 | 7.61 | 2 | |
| 17 | Sunday, August 162 | 2.6/8 | 7.64 | 1 | |||
| 18 | Tuesday, August 18 | 4.8 | 8 | 3.0/9 | 7.98 | 2 | |
| 19 | Thursday, August 20 | 4.3 | 8 | 2.2/8 | 6.75 | 2 | |
| 20 | Sunday, August 23 | 4.3 | 8 | 2.6/8 | 7.48 | 2 | |
| 21 | Tuesday, August 25 | 4.5 | 7 | 2.5/7 | 7.27 | 2 | |
| 22 | Thursday, August 27 | 4.8 | 8 | 2.7/9 | 7.79 | 1 | |
| 23 | Sunday, August 30 | 4.5 | 8 | 2.6/8 | 7.44 | 2 | |
| 24 | Tuesday, September 1 | 4.9 | 8 | 2.6/7 | 7.79 | 2 | |
| 25 | Thursday, September 3 | 4.2 | 7 | 2.3/8 | 6.81 | 1 | |
| 26 | Sunday, September 6 | 3.6 | 7 | 1.9/7 | 5.99 | 1 | |
| 27 | Tuesday, September 8 | 5.0 | 8 | 2.7/7 | 8.13 | 2 | |
| 28 | Thursday, September 10 | 4.8 | 8 | 2.6/7 | 7.62 | 2 | |
| 29 | Sunday, September 131 | 5.4 | 9 | 2.3/6 | 8.55 | 2 | |
| 30 | Tuesday, September 15 | 4.8 | 8 | 2.8/8 | 7.78 | 2 |
Comparison to Big Brother in the United Kingdom
After two weeks into the season several news sites began to compare the American and BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
version of the show, which was six weeks into its series at the time. During the first several weeks ratings for both shows were declining. The launch of Big Brother 2009
Big Brother 2009 (UK)
Big Brother 2009, occasionally referred to as Big Brother 10, was the tenth series of the British reality television series Big Brother. It began on 4 June 2009 and was aired on Channel 4 and E4 for 93 days, concluding on 4 September when Sophie "Dogface" Reade was crowned the winner with 74.4% of...
aired on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom premiered on June 4 attracted 4.8 million viewers, with a 22% viewing share. The show was down compared to the launch of Big Brother 2008
Big Brother 2008 (UK)
Big Brother 2008 was the ninth series of the British reality television series Big Brother, that aired on Channel 4 and E4. The series was launched on 5 June 2008, and ran for 13 weeks until 5 September 2008. The winner of Big Brother 2008 was Rachel Rice who beat bookies' favourite Michael Hughes...
but won its timeslot. Ratings continued to decline with the first official eviction of the series, that aired on June 12 only pulling in 2.9 million people, 13% of the viewing audience.
In an article by The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
, an American trade publication, noted the tenth series of the British version was averaging 2 million viewers and a 10.1% audience share. At the time the show was six weeks into its run and was down 33% on its performance from the previous year and very down when compared to previous series in where some average 6 million viewers per episode. Mimi Turner, author of the article, noted the show was "running out of steam" and until the tenth series the show delivered significant youth audiences on air and online. Bill Gorman of TVByTheNumbers, an American television website, commented on the article by saying "Not sure if this is a glimpse of things to come for the US version of Big Brother or not."
Executives from Endemol, the production company for Big Brother worldwide, defended the format which is transmitted in 41 territories and noted the season premiere of the 11th season in America won its timeslot with year to year growth. Other comparisons noted was the finale of ninth season
Grande Fratello Season 9
The ninth season of Grande Fratello began on January 12, 2009, and concluded on April 20, 2009. It is the ninth edition of the reality franchise Big Brother, hosted by Alessia Marcuzzi. The winner of the ninth season, Ferdi Berisa, received €300,000....
of Grande Fratello pulled 7.9 million viewers with a 36% audience share and how in Argentina the show has been rested for a few years and returns with stronger ratings. Paul Jonson, global head of marketing and brand partnerships for Endemol Group, noted that using audience averages to figure out how the show performs wouldn't work since the audience builds up until the finale. Jonson also noted that the series continued to rate very well when compared to the timeslot average for Channel 4.
After ratings for Big Brother 11 in America began to increase Anna Pickard, for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in the United Kingdom, compared the two concurrent seasons noting the format differences between the American and British versions of the show calling the two "different beasts." Various points mentioned that contributed to the increase in ratings was the number of episodes per week, format differences, lack of live feeds from the House in Britain. In another article on the same site noted the American version experienced a "ratings renaissance" in a market "which the format has not traditionally done well." After the cancellation of Big Brother in the United Kingdom, American trade publications like USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
began reporting on the cancellation while others like Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
were also reporting various pickups around the world including the twelfth season
Big Brother 12 (U.S.)
Big Brother 12 is the 12th season of the American reality television series Big Brother. The HouseGuests moved into the Big Brother House on July 3, 2010 and the season premiered on July 8, 2010. The show was broadcast on CBS and Showtime 2 for 75 days, concluding on September 15, 2010 when Hayden...
of the American version, Big Brother 10
Big Brother Germany (Season 10)
The tenth season of Big Brother Germany began on 11 January 2010 and ended on 9 August 2010, having lasted 211 days. The season was originally set to end on June 6, 2010. The winner received the €250,000 grand prize, the 2nd place won a car and the 3rd place received a holiday. Alexandra Bechtel...
in Germany, Grande Fratello 10
Grande Fratello Season 10
Grande Fratello 10 premiered on October 26, 2009, and concluded on March 8, 2010. It was the tenth Italian edition of the reality franchise Big Brother. Alessia Marcuzzi returned as the main host of the show...
in Italy and HaAh HaGadol 2
HaAh HaGadol 2
HaAh HaGadol 2 was the second series of the Israeli version of the reality show Big Brother. The show was first broadcast on 15 November 2009, and ended on 4 March 2010. Sixteen housemates entered the house on launch night and another five joining after 43 days. The housemates competed for a one...
in Israel.
Controversy
During the first week of the program several HouseGuests made controversial remarks during several arguments on the live Internet feeds. A homophobic comment made by Jeff during an argument with Russell after the first Power of Veto ceremony was edited out of the first Tuesday broadcast episode while the comments remained uncensored online.Another HouseGuest, Braden, made several racist and derogatory comments after the first Power of Veto ceremony to fellow HouseGuests Kevin and Lydia in an argument. The argument was edited during the first live eviction show on Thursday but played unedited on the live feeds. During the live portion of the show, Chima brought up the comments made by Braden again during her final plea speech to her fellow HouseGuests. Chima also stated Braden used a sexually insulting word to describe Big Brother host Julie Chen. This comment was made at the conclusion of a "Julie Says"
Simon says
Simon says is a children's game for three or more players where one player takes the role of 'Simon' and issues instructions, to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase 'Simon says', for example 'Simon says jump in the air'...
game played by the HouseGuests a couple nights earlier as viewed on Big Brother After Dark.
The editing of the events in question during the broadcast episodes created controversy for the show and CBS, the broadcaster of Big Brother. While the comments couldn't air due to FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
regulations the way the events were edited caused critics and fans of the show to claim the show was being edited to make the HouseGuests look good to the viewing public. One critic suggests the recent decline in ratings is due to the editing process of the show.
Chima revealed to her fellow HouseGuests on the live Internet feeds and on Big Brother: After Dark after the eviction that she was informed in the Diary Room by Big Brother, the producers, that her comments were censored during the live broadcast.
"I said, I don't think it's fair because I don't think they showed when it first was said, and I was like, 'If someone's a racist, they should be portrayed as one. You shouldn't edit it to make them look good.'"
CBS released a statement on July 17, 2009 regarding the censoring of the controversial statements saying the statements in question were offensive and did not meet the network's standards. CBS also stated that "any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a houseguest appearing on Big Brother, either on any live feed from the house or the broadcast, are those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program." National Public Radio's pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes noted that CBS officially disavowing such statements while allowing them to continue amounts to a publicity grab for the show and for the network:
"This show is meant to get a good part of its attention from the difference between what you see online and what you see on the show. If it manages to cast a hard-charging racist whose work only appears online, it can seize all the attention of a scandal while claiming that it's tastefully trying to protect viewers from anything 'offensive.'"