Big Brother Could Get A Major Shakeup Ahead Of Season 28, And Netflix Is Involved

Big Brother Season 28 is landing on the 2026 TV schedule this summer, but it remains to be seen just how much longer we'll see the central house that the CBS series films in. It was recently revealed that the studio space where the house resides is up for sale, and Netflix is reportedly in talks to buy it up.

It's being reported that the streamer is currently in negotiations to purchase Radford Studios, which Deadline notes is nearing the end of its lease with Sunset Bronson Studios. This could be a problem for CBS, as Netflix would own the space where the Big Brother house resides. So what could this mean for the long-running reality series?

Will CBS Be Able To Work Out A Deal With Netflix To Use The Big Brother House?

Should Netflix acquire Radford Studios, it's possible that CBS would have to negotiate a deal for Big Brother to film in its house on the lot. While the studios are rivals, I'm sure an agreement could be set in place for the network to remain using the house.

Of course, I'm also wondering if there's a possibility that Netflix has its own plans for the house and would use it for its own purposes. Or, it could just acquire the house and hold onto it, and be content that people are watching summer shows with a Netflix subscription rather than streaming the live feeds with their Paramount+ subscription.

Will CBS Need To Build A New House For Big Brother?

Should Netflix acquire the studio, and then bar CBS from using the Big Brother house, one would imagine CBS would need to build a new house for future seasons. That's a big deal, considering the show has only had two homes in its run, and the second one was constructed in Season 6.

Would Paramount Skydance feel the cost is justified to build another Big Brother house if it had to, especially with a merger with Warner Bros. on the horizon? I'm optimistic the answer is yes, especially after Deadline reported the series averaged 5.1 million viewers per episode in Season 27, and the live feeds had a 35% bump in minutes watched compared to the previous year.

While it may not measure up to the level of hype CBS builds for Survivor and The Amazing Race, Big Brother has maintained its position as one of the top reality shows of the summer for quite some time. Sure, the series has created some headaches for the network over the years with various controversies, but the numbers don't lie.

As such, I'm more bullish than not that CBS would build a new house if it had to for Big Brother, and I'm kind of excited about the possibility of that happening. That said, I'm not sure if it'll happen or not, and CBS was able to continue using the house despite Viacom selling off the studio to Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management back in 2021. It's possible Netflix acquires this and works out a deal with Big Brother, and it's a non-issue, but I will be paying attention to the situation as it unfolds.

Big Brother Season 28 is expected to air on CBS and Paramount+ this summer, but we don't have a release date yet. Host Julie Chen Moonves usually starts vague-posting about the series in May, so I'm hoping we'll have an update soon.