We’re finally arrived at premiere week for Big Brother Season 26, and there’s already a big controversy surrounding this season’s live feeds. For years, whether via Paramount+ subscription or elsewhere, many have tuned in to see what the Houseguests do every day, hear their discussions and plotting ahead of competitions, and all the other things we don’t see in episodes. Unfortunately, that will be a lot more difficult for those who use the service, as a significant change will drastically shake up how people experience this season.
On the heels of revealing a 17th Houseguest may join the game, the series dropped another update about its upcoming season when people logged on to check out the revamped live feeds. Noticing something was amiss, many hit up the Q&A section about the feeds, only to find the following explanation regarding the flashback and archive features.
We’ve recently made changes to the live feeds experience. Starting this season, archives and flashbacks are no longer available, but you can still watch all four cameras with the live feeds!
As someone who wrote about Big Brother’s live-feed updates last season, I didn’t have this in mind as the new norm. Pulling the archives drastically reduces the way fans who pay for Paramount+ can utilize the live feeds; plus, it’s going to impact those who don’t pay for the feeds as well. Let’s talk it all out.
What Are The Flashback Feature And The Big Brother Archives?
For previous seasons of Big Brother, fans who woke up in the morning wanting to catch all the late-night conversations that happened could easily do so with the flashback feature. This, paired with the Big Brother’s archives, allowed anyone with access to revisit moments that played out while viewers were sleeping, working, or doing something else as opposed to sitting at a computer or television watching the live feeds.
With that gone, Big Brother will now only provide five views for people to watch, and they will only be able to see what is currently happening at that time. Typically, this means Camera One and Two will focus on conversations happening on one side of the house, and Camera Three and Four will focus on someone working out or potentially having a conversations elsewhere. The fifth view lets the viewer to watch all four previously mentioned feeds simultaneously.
Why This Is Bad News For Big Brother Content Creators
It may seem odd to start with how this affects content creators, but it’s worth noting that many Big Brother fans wouldn’t be aware of a lot of game moves, conversations, or controversies if it wasn’t for the hard work of those people. Unfortunately, folks like Taran Armstrong on RHAP and the transcription account @BB_Updates will have to be more diligent than ever while watching, since the option to rewind for accuracy is no longer available. That is, unless they’re recording it via a third party and then rewatching, which I imagine is frowned upon by Paramount+.
Without the ability to rewind and revisit conversations in Big Brother, I think it’s a possibility the show is hoping to curb any chance of low-key controversies getting over-publicized, or anything else in that realm. In reality, what I can foresee happening is people misinterpreting or blatantly spreading false information about something that occurred in the house, and fans wishing to have correct information having no means to fact-check it. This includes many of the content creators fans have relied on for years to keep them informed, so strap in for a rough season.