CBS 'Big Brother' Fans Can Now Watch Via Livestream or Through Roku
Fans of the reality TV show series "Big Brother" on CBS have more reasons to be happy. They will be able to watch their favorite show via livestreaming online via the CBS app or through their Roku player. According to a report in Tech Times, these services will available to subscribers to CBS "All Access," which is the network's subscription-based streaming service that they started offering last 2014. Roku, on the other hand, is another streaming service.
"Big Brother" is on its record 17th season. It is a "fly on a wall show" which shows a group of, who are strangers put together to live inside a house for the summer. The house is rigged with cameras all around that show their movements, their conversations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The houseguests are cut off from outside world and they are not allowed to communicate with family and friends in any way. News of any kind is also not allowed. Houseguests compete for a $500,000 prize, and they do this by going through a series of weekly tasks. Every week, a houseguest can be evicted from the house depending on how many votes each houseguest gets every week.
The show is based on a Dutch TV show that was created by John de Mol in 1997. "Big Brother" was first aired in the US in July 2000. Since then, it has been a hit show for CBS during the summer, with viewers in the millions. Season 1 had the highest number of viewers at 9.1 million. Last season, the viewership was pegged at 7.56 million.
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Before the upcoming livestreaming arrangements, viewers were able to watch 24/7 livestreams of the show through RealPlayer, which is no longer available.
With this new arrangement, viewers need to shell out $5.99 a month to access 24/7 livestreams via the CBS app or on their Roku player. The Roku player now has a dedicated "Big Brother" channel. If one is a subscriber, every "Big Brother" episode, which airs thrice a week, will also be accessible, and can be replayed if needed.
CBS Interactive Entertainment's senior vice president and general manager of digital platforms Rob Gelick said, "With CBS All Access, we're now able to offer Big Brother fans one seamless service for watching their favorite show live and on-demand. For the first time, they'll have access to every episode of Big Brother ever, plus the ability to watch the show live across platforms in more than 30 markets and tune in to the Big Brother live feeds 24/7."
Season 17 will start airing on June 24 on CBS.
