Big Brother Season 23 has already been a vast improvement for the series compared to recent years but, unfortunately, some things have still yet to change. One section of the fandom, the chunk dedicated to viewing the live feeds with a Paramount+ subscription, would argue that the live feeds are worse than they've ever been. This season live streams cuts have been happening often in the early weeks of the game. Suffice to say if this is the trend for the season, live feed viewers have a right to be worried.
For those who watch Big Brother but not the live feeds, it should be noted that complaints regarding cuts to the feeds are not uncommon. In fact, this is a gripe that comes up literally every season in some form or another so, for those not watching the feeds, it may be treated as white noise. That being said, feed cuts often seem to happen much more frequently weeks into the game, not right from the start, and it would seem Season 23 has had some much larger gaps than past seasons.
If we look at the statistics from Feeds Bot (which tracks the up and downtime of Big Brother's live feeds), the stats from the start of the game to Day 12 indicate the feeds have been up 53% of the time. That means that around 47% of the time that someone turns on the feeds to watch, they're down for various reasons. Sleep accounts for 20% of that downtime, but one definitely wouldn't consider feeds being available from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. peak viewing hours in the house.
There are valid reasons for Big Brother to cut the feeds, that we know of. For example, it's expected that most HOH competitions, nomination and veto ceremonies won't be broadcasted. Then fans are aware that Big Brother will cut feeds occasionally when a Houseguest sings copyrighted music, or, as Brandon "Frenchie" French demonstrated, ask the feeds be shut off temporarily. There are also times in which no one is quite sure why the feeds were cut, and they just return with no explanation.
A lot of the latter has been happening, with some complaints that the constant cuts by "Skippy" (the nickname of the Big Brother person responsible for feed cuts) have made the portions of the feeds that are actually active unwatchable. Feeds have been cutting out mid-conversation for minutes at a time and will then return to an entirely different section of the house with nothing going on. Speaking of nothing going on, look at this statistic from Tuesday, July 13th, a day in which no competitions were planned, showing how long the feeds were down.
To add to the situation, by the time I finish this story, about an hour will have passed on the live feeds on my television. In that timeframe, the feeds have dropped 8 times for a grand total of 23 minutes. These frequent small chunks of cuts add up and destroy the ability of a live feed viewer to sit and watch the feeds 24/7, as is advertised by Paramount+. I'm not sure what the solution is to the situation, but I certainly would like spend more time enjoying the feeds as a Big Brother fan and less time listening to the main theme on a loop. Hopefully, with all the improvements the show has made in Season 23, the live feed experience can also be tweaked.
Big Brother airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Have you been frustrated by the live feed experience so far this season, or do you think the issue is overblown? Sound off in our poll below and make your voice heard!
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