CBS‘ summer schedule can be summed up in two words: “Big Brother.” The network will celebrate the 25th season of the beloved reality series with a 90-minute special on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
Following the premiere, CBS will air episodes on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This season will also feature live evictions from the house. “Expect the unexpected this summer with a season full of twists and turns and throwbacks to the last 24 seasons,” CBS teased in a press release. Julie Chen will return as the series’ host, and Paramount+ subscribers will continue to be able to catch new episodes live.
“Big Brother” has long been a major hit for CBS. That remained the case last summer. According to the network, viewers watched over 12.3 billion minutes of the reality series across the network, Paramount+, CBS.com and the CBS app. That marked an increase in streaming viewership of 17% from 2021 to 2022.
Though houses full of strangers remains the biggest highlight of CBS’ summer, its schedule will start in earnest days earlier on Friday, July 28. That marks the return of “Secret Celebrity Renovation.” Hosted by Nischelle Turner, each episode follows a different celebrity who surprises someone in their hometown with a renovation. This season will include NFL player Damar Hamlin, “The Amazing Race’s” Phil Keoghan, actor and comedian JB Smoove and “Fire Country’s” Max Thieriot as its celebrities. Once again, Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano (“Survivor”) will serve as the series’ home improvement contractor, and interior designer Sabrina Soto (“Design Star,” “Trading Spaces) will return to the design team.
That will then be followed by the premiere of CBS’ new game show, “Superfan,” on Aug. 9. Hosted by Nate Burleson and Keltie Knight, the musical game show will feature contestants competing against one another to prove they’re their favorite artist’s biggest fan. This season’s celebrities will include Kelsea Ballerini, Gloria Estefan, Little Big Town, LL COOL J, Pitbull and Shania Twain.
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Finally, CBS will round out the summer with Season 2 of “The Challenge: USA” starting on Aug. 10. For the series’ first three weeks, CBS will air two episodes a week on Thursdays and Sundays. Beginning Aug. 31, the competition series will switch to a Thursday-only schedule, which will continue through its finale. “The Challenge: USA” pits some of the biggest names in reality against one another, drawing from contestants of “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race.” During its summer debut on CBS, “The Challenge: USA” grew 27% in its time period and was the network’s No. 2 series of the season right behind “Big Brother.”
Check out the full schedule below:
Wednesday
- 8:00 – 9:00 p.m.: “Big Brother” (starting Aug. 2)
- 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.: “Superfan” (starting Aug. 9)
Thursday
- 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.: “Big Brother” (starting Aug. 10)
- 10:00 – 11:00 p.m.: “The Challenge: USA” (starting Aug. 10)
Friday
- 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.: “Secret Celebrity Renovation” (starting July 28)
Sunday
- 8:00 – 9:00 p.m.: “Big Brother” (starting Aug. 6)
- 9:00 – 10:00 p.m.: “The Challenge: USA” (Aug. 13 – 27)