Is Big Brother strategic for Globo?
Free TV channel Globo – part of the largest media conglomerate in South America – has been producing and airing BBB since the program premiered in 2002. The channel provides a dominant platform to the format. Nationwide, in January 2022, Globo alone had a higher household rating than the other 16 most-viewed TV channels in Brazil combined. Still, it could be argued that Globo equally benefits from having BBB in its programming. In early 2022, Big Brother was one of Globo's most-watched shows, second only to the primetime telenovela. The reality TV attraction became a key component of Globo's programming during the first half of each year.More than a TV genre, a lifestyle
BBB is, by far, the most popular reality TV show in Brazil. It was not the first of its kind in that market, but it set the standards for the format throughout the 21st century. At the end of 2021, roughly six out of 10 Brazilian internet users watched reality TV shows. The commercial success of the program also led to the preference for its subgenre. Over 60 percent of reality TV viewers online said confinement shows were their favorite type of reality TV attraction – more than music and dating reality TV shows altogether. Other figures suggest that the Brazilian audience sees itself in these programs. Most online viewers surveyed in late 2021 said they preferred reality TV shows featuring unknown people. Similarly, more than half of respondents agreed that this TV genre reflects the diversity of Brazilian society and represents an opportunity to improve the lives of its contestants. It is as if viewers studied the program with the hopes of one day competing and winning it. After all, as George Orwell wrote in "1984" – the book that inspired the title of Big Brother – "reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else".
