Entering finale, a Celebrity Big Brother season 2 renewal seems very likely

As we approach the big finale event tonight, doesn’t it appear as though a Celebrity Big Brother season 2 renewal is close to a sure thing? Based on the ratings right now you have to think so.

To date, the CBS reality series is averaging a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over 5 million viewers — while these numbers are not necessarily enormous, remember that the show was airing opposite the Olympics almost the entirety of the series and that some of its shows aired on Fridays and even Saturdays. (The fact that the show generated a 0.9 for its Saturday recap show last night is nothing short of remarkable.)

Basically, what Celebrity Big Brother proved is that this franchise can work in other times of the year with the right format — this is something that CBS has to take note of. While we’re sure that cost-wise getting the cast on board was a little more expensive than the average season, remember that production also could make money back via the live feeds. It feels like this was a very profitable experiment for the network and one that surpassed some of their expectations.

So what does this mean for the future? It feels clear that a Celebrity Big Brother season 2 will happen based on ratings alone, but it’s really a question of when. CBS could wait until 2022 and launch the show again until the Olympics — or, they could do an experiment where they start the show in the middle of January and air it until right around Super Bowl Weekend. That would keep the series on the air roughly the same period of time without really interfering with much in the way of February sweeps programming. Don’t buy the argument that CBS doesn’t have enough real estate — they do. It’s just a matter of scheduling out their other series properly. They’re really only giving up 2-3 weeks of repeats for other shows, and that’s something that many programs on CBS have already in late January.

Now that we’ve said all of this, don’t expect a quick decision on more Celebrity Big Brother. Maybe they’ll announce something, if we’re lucky, come upfronts in May. That would give them time to find another cast. We do think that this season proved to celebrities that this show can be worthwhile entertainment without being nearly as sleazy as the UK version.

Do you want to see a Celebrity Big Brother season 2 renewal? Share below! Obviously, CarterMatt will have more news in the event we start to hear more on the show’s long-term future.

Meanwhile, be sure to also like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you do want to get some more insight when it comes to the series. (Photo: CBS.)