The Big Brother 21 ratings from Sunday night revealed that an estimated 4.29 million viewers tuned in for Episode 9. For a quick comparison, Episode 9 for Big Brother 20 brought in an estimated 5.19 million viewers.
According to a report from TV by the Numbers, the July 14 numbers were good enough to win the time slot in key demographic viewers. The show drew a 1.0/6 mark, putting it ahead of second-place Celebrity Family Feud on ABC. The Feud did have more overall viewers for the night, though, with an estimated 4.98 million people tuning in.
Breaking down the Big Brother 21 ratings
The summer 2019 cast has seen a downtick in live viewers for CBS. The premiere boasted 4.93 million estimated viewers, but those numbers have slipped in the successive weeks.
What has been your favorite part of the season so far? #BB21
RETWEET for the drama
❤️ for the fashion
Comment for the showmances pic.twitter.com/EZCnzgcS0I— Big Brother (@CBSBigBrother) July 16, 2019
The great news for CBS is that, even when the Big Brother ratings are down, they are still better than most summer shows. An example would be the first Thursday night episode of the season (July 11). Big Brother beat out new episodes of Spin the Wheel (FOX), Hollywood Game Night (NBC), and Family Food Fight (ABC).
That Thursday night ratings victory included not only key demographic numbers but also overall viewers for the night. It helped CBS cruise to another primetime victory for the full night of television.
DVR viewers give Big Brother 21 ratings a boost
In addition to the live viewers for the show, CBS is pulling in a lot of DVR viewers for Big Brother 21. It means that a high number of people are recording to show and watching it a bit later.
With episode 2, an additional 2.02 million viewers watched it later through their DVR. These DVR numbers are pushing each episode past six million viewers in total, making it even more of a summer hit than some might think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhqXaBG4e4
While there certainly seem to be some problems within the cast this year, including Jack Matthews heavily insulting Jessica Milagros, viewers are still tuning in to find out what happens next.
The next episode of the show takes place on Wednesday night (July 17), when CBS viewers find out who won the Power of Veto. It leads up to the latest Eviction Ceremony playing out on Thursday night (July 18).
Big Brother currently airs CBS episodes on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.