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Big Brother will hit a TV milestone on Thursday, becoming the first primetime entertainment show in the United States to air 1,000 episodes. It’s reaching that mark while also riding improved ratings this summer.
Since it airs multiple times each week — most seasons of the show have between 30 and 40 episodes — Big Brother has reached the 1,000-episode mark in its 28th season. It’s far ahead of The Simpsons (which reached 800 episodes near the end of season 37 in February) and fellow CBS reality staple Survivor (727 through season 50), which premiered a few weeks before Big Brother in 2000.
Through Aug. 9 (the most recent week for which cross-platform data is available), Big Brother is averaging 5.21 million viewers per episode with a week of multi-platform viewing. The audience is up 10 percent year to year and is on pace for a second straight season of ratings growth. Ratings have also grown among adults 25-54 (by 21 percent) and adults 18-49 (by 15 percent) — in keeping with a trend of improved numbers for long-running reality shows in the past year that also includes Survivor 50 and Dancing With the Stars.
Companion show Big Brother Unlocked, which airs on Fridays, has also grown: It’s averaging 3.14 million cross-platform viewers over seven days, up 21 percent year to year.
