Premiere of "Big Brother" Up in Viewers, Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54 versus Last Summer

Best "Big Brother" Premiere in Viewers and Adults 25-54 since 2005 and in

Adults 18-49 since 2007

"Big Brother" Is the #1 Program of the Night, Topping "Expedition Impossible" And All Other Reality Competition

CBS Wins Thursday in All Key Ratings Measures

            Last night's premiere of BIG BROTHER outperformed last summer's inaugural broadcast in viewers, adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and adults 25-54 and was Thursday's #1 program in all key ratings measures, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for July 7.

BIG BROTHER THURSDAY (P) was first in households (4.6/08), viewers (7.71m), adults 25-54 (3.3/09), adults 18-49 (2.7/08) and adults 18-34 (2.3/08).  Compared to the BIG BROTHER 12 THURSDAY premiere at 8:00 PM on the same night last year, CBS was up +5% in both households (from 4.4/08) and adults 18-34 (from 2.2/08), +14% in adults 25-54 (from 2.9/09), +8% in adults 18-49 (from 2.5/09) and added +340,000 viewers (from 7.37m, +5%). 

This is the best delivery for a premiere episode of BIG BROTHER in households and adults 18-49 since BIG BROTHER 8 in 2007; in adults 18-34 since BIG BROTHER 7 in 2006; and in both viewers and adults 25-54 since BIG BROTHER 6 in 2005.  BIG BROTHER 13 THURSDAY was the night's #1 program in households, viewers, adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.

            From 9:00-10:00 PM, BIG BROTHER easily topped "Expedition Impossible" in viewers (vs. 5.52m), adults 18-49 (vs. 1.6/05), adults 18-34 (vs. 1.3/04) and adults 25-54 (vs. 1.9/05).

            BIG BROTHER also beat the night's other reality competition, including "Wipeout" and "So You Think You Can Dance," in all key ratings categories.

For the night, CBS was first in households (4.3/07), viewers (6.79m), adults 25-54 (2.4/07) and adults 18-49 (1.9/06).    

Updated Thursday ratings will be available this afternoon.

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Press Contacts:

Ed Harrison                  818-655-1584             ed.harrison@cbs.com

Jeremy Murphy            212-975-4577             jeremy.murphy@cbs.com