Big Brother 26 Finale Faces Possible Delay Amid Growing Scrutiny Over CBS’s Scheduling Decisions
Big Brother season 26 is heading into the home stretch as the finale is just over a month away, but fans are worried about yet another scheduling conflict that could cause a delay. So far during Big Brother season 26, seven houseguests have been evicted: Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelly, Cedric Hodges, Brooklyn Rivera, Tucker Des Lauriers and Joseph Rodriguez. The CBS reality show has been filled with plenty of drama so far, including allegations that Angela Murray is a producer plant. Not helping matters are the Big Brother 26 schedule changes, which have caused anger on social media.
The Big Brother 26 finale might be delayed due to a football game on CBS.
Reddit user RealCanadianDragon compiled a list of airdates for the remaining Big Brother 26 episodes and included notes about possible delays due to football. If any delays end up occurring, it sounds like only the Sunday night episodes will be affected because of NFL games. The Reddit thread featured numerous comments from fans who complained that CBS never seems to prioritize Big Brother and doesn’t hesitate to delay episodes if necessary.
While football isn’t something CBS can reschedule, it’s the fact that the Big Brother 26 finale, of all episodes, is expected to air on a night that’s also hosting an NFL game. Tinacat933 thought it was “crazy” that CBS would consider putting “the finale on a night of a possible delay. We need to quit with this Sunday c***.”
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The OP agreed, claiming that it would be “embarrassing” for CBS to push the Big Brother 26 finale into “some random timeslot.” While mocking the network’s point of view, a fan included a meme with the caption, “Whateva, I do what I want.” Some fans said that CBS should have premiered the season in June so the finale would air earlier and not be affected by Sunday Night Football. The reason why that likely didn’t happen is that some CBS shows aren’t premiering during the typical fall premiere week, so the network likely needed to fill some timeslots.
CBS’ original plan for Big Brother 26 was to air every episode at the same time, which would have been very convenient for fans. However, it only took a week for the network to change its mind and move some episodes to 8 p.m. EDT. Various episodes of Big Brother 26 have been plagued by scheduling delays, mostly due to sports games but also because of live political events. That won’t be the end of the changes, though, because at the end of September, Wednesday episodes will be dropped, and one Friday episode will be added before the finale.
It does seem odd for CBS to schedule the Big Brother finale for a night that could face a delay. As some fans on Reddit noted, there was a time when Big Brother finales aired on Wednesdays after Survivor premieres, which made that night extra special. For fall 2024, there will be a regular episode of Big Brother airing after the September 18 premiere of Survivor 47. As for the Big Brother 26 finale, hopefully, the NFL game doesn’t run too long so fans can watch the crowning of a new winner at a reasonable time.
Big Brother season 26 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.
