CBS Franchise With Over 1000 Episodes Officially Breaks Major 5-Year Network Record

Published Jul 14, 2026, 5:17 PM EDT

The long-running reality competition show Big Brother just broke a major record for CBS.

Big Brother debuted in 2000 with host Julie Chen Moonves and will soon air its 1,000th episode. Over the years, jury members have crowned such winners as Will Kirby, Mike "Boogie" Malin, Dan Gheesling, Derrick Levasseur, Xavier Prather and Taylor Hale. Its 28th season premiered on July 9 with a group of contestants that includes several past reality show contestants.

The first episode of Big Brother season 28 garnered 3.88 million viewers, which is the show's highest-rated premiere in five years and an increase of 22% compared to the 2025 opener.

On social media, the episode was the most-engaged premiere of the past six years, generating 8.1 million viewers (up 32,449% from last year) and earning 866,000 interactions (a 48% increase compared to 2025).

Among the houseguests this season are returning player Angela Murray (from Big Brother 26), Survivor's Rick Devens and Dee Valladares, Jason De Puy (aka Salina EsTitties from RuPaul's Drag Race), Beast Games' Drew Campbell, American Idol's Lyric Medeiros and The Quiz with Balls' Yash Patel.

Ashley Trail, Barrett Pfeiffer, Chuk Anyanwu, Haley Thogmartin, Kamuela "Kamu" Kirk, LaTrice Verrett, Mallory Aurichio, Melody Morris, Jack "Rome" Seymour and Taylor Brown make up the rest of the houseguests competing during Big Brother season 28.

In the July 9 premiere, the initial group of contestants took part in a challenge that would ultimately reveal the remaining participants, including Murray and Devens, as part of the season's Time Trip twist. Big Brother alum Rachel Reilly showed up as well, but her appearance didn't last long.

The second episode saw Valladares join the competition. She, Murray and Devens competed against each other on Sunday to win Head of Household, with Valladares prevailing. The Survivor alum chose Aurichio, Brown and Patel as eviction nominees.

The continued success of Big Brother over the past 26 years has led to the spinoffs Big Brother: Over the Top, Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother: Reindeer Games.

Former houseguests from Big Brother have gone on to compete on other reality shows, including Survivor, The Amazing Race (Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss won season 34), The Challenge and Fear Factor.

In fall 2025, The Amazing Race even had an entire season comprised of former Big Brother contestants and their family members, with Big Brother 25 champion Jag Bains winning season 38 with his brother, Jas Bains.

The crossovers have gone in the other direction as well. Aside from the current houseguests like Devens and Valladares, iconic Survivor player Cirie Fields competed on Big Brother 25 with her son, Jared Fields; both were evicted from the game, with Cirie making it all the way to fifth place.

Now Big Brother is back for its 28th season, and three houseguests are already on the chopping block, unless one of them can be saved in the Power of Veto competition ahead of the first eviction of the summer.

Big Brother 28 is already off to a strong start, with high ratings and social media views, and it's still only the beginning of the high-stakes game.

Big Brother season 28 airs Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (and sometimes on Fridays) at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.