Would Big Brother 25 ever take away live feeds?
We should really start things off here by noting the following: If you are somehow worried that the Canadian show’s decision could influence things in America, 100% we understand! Live feeds are the lifeblood of the Big Brother experience, and that is what makes the whole move in Canada a little more baffling. However, the more you dig into the differences between the American and Canadian show, you realize that they always had less incentive to make feeds work north of the border. By the same token, the reason to keep them going for CBS is significant.
First and foremost, it’s important to point out that for Big Brother Canada, feeds were always free. There were some adverts that would show up here and there, and that was the only form of income generated by them. Meanwhile, the US feeds come with them the cost of a Paramount+ subscription, which generates a good bit of income during the summer in addition to the ratings on CBS. Do you really think the network is going to risk losing out on all that money? They’ve also shown a far greater commitment over the years to keeping feeds on versus their Canadian counterparts.
There’s also another financial factor here: Not doing live feeds means that Big Brother Canada could save some cash on the cost of keeping them going. There is the production price, but then also the server cost of having so many people streaming video all at once. It certainly didn’t help them that a good number of viewers were watching outside of Canada in the first place, and they rarely profited from any of that viewership. The cost for feeds in Canada, both financially and in other ways, outweighed the benefit.
The mental health aspect
We do think that the Canadian show was being genuine in saying that concern for the well-being of the contestants and their families was a cause for their decision to switch to a Digital Dailies format, which will offer highlights from the house. We know that houseguests have struggled leaving the game, and players do need support both before and after being in the house. However, we think resources and self-analysis are, in the end, more important than trying to shield a part of a person from the viewing public … especially since the truth could still come out after the game.
How worried should you be about Big Brother 25 feeds?
Anything is possible, but we think CBS loves the viewing hours, money, and also engagement they get from their feeds. There have been controversies for sure, but it is an essential part of the show experience and has always been. The economics are different in the states, and we should note that for now, nobody on the US show has said anything about doing away with feeds.
Also, don’t take any cryptic Julie Chen Moonves tweet to mean anything. We’ve learned that over the years.
Related – Check out more on the Big Brother Canada feeds situation
Are you worried at all about the Big Brother 25 live feeds?
Share right now in the comments, and also come back for some other updates. (Photo: CBS.)