We’re officially in Big Brother season, which means it’s time for die hard fans to fire up that Paramount+ subscription to spend the next three months obsessively tracking live feeds. As one of those fans, I take joy in tuning in knowing that others are also watching and chronicling the parts of the game that the CBS episodes miss. Unfortunately, the experience is no longer what it once was, with another key feature getting removed this year. It doesn’t appear as though it’s coming back, either.
Just one year after removing the live feeds’ flashback feature that allowed viewers to revisit footage from previous days, the streamer has confirmed yet another big change was made in the form of a chopping block. While it possibly won’t impact the majority of those who will be watching the show’s run on the 2025 TV schedule, I know there will be ruffled feathers aplenty amongst the live-feed crowd.
Paramount+ Has Removed The Chat Option From The Live Feeds
The Big Brother Season 27 live feeds are set for Paramount+, but those who checked in early and pored through the FAQ page realized the live chat feature was no longer active. Accounts like @BBigBrotherBuzz pointed out that the FAQ confirmed that the chat feature was snipped away.
Th live chat used to be where fans could sound off on events happening on the feeds, not unlike the chat feature on a platform like Twitch. It was a way to react to wild moments, and to pass the time when live feeds went on pause for one reason or another, or were down entirely during competitions. Now it’s gone, and if this plays out like past situations have, I don’t think it’s coming back.
This Is The Second Consecutive Year The Live Feeds Were Stripped Of A Key Feature. Will Live Feeds Be Phased Out Altogether?
The latest feature removal, paired with how late we got live feeds this season, is going to raise the question once again of whether Big Brother is considering phasing out live feeds altogether. Big Brother Canada removed its live feeds two years ago, and it had fans in the United States worried if the CBS version would follow suit.
The network has had to address several controversial moments from the show over the years, many of which were noticed on the live feeds and might not have been known about otherwise.
For now, the live feeds remain safe. Big Brother Season 27 has announced that this season it will show 90-minute episodes weekly, which has me wondering if the move was made strictly because of a more open summer schedule, or if the series is test-running longer episodes and less live feed content.
Of course, I recognize I just sound like a paranoid Big Brother superfan at the moment, but I’m not the only one worried. Past Houseguests, like Cory Wurtenberger and winner Taylor Hale, have made passionate cases for BB to give fans as much access as possible, for various reasons. Here’s hoping we don’t have to worry about a day when there are zero BB feeds, but it’s disappointing to see more features removed each year.
Big Brother Season 27 airs new episodes on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET. Here’s hoping this season continues to be as good as last year’s, and that the live feed experience isn’t heavily impacted by the lack of having a chat.
