Big Brother renewed for Seasons 29 and 30 by CBS

CBS has ordered two more seasons of Big Brother.

Host Julie Chen Moonves announced the renewal for Seasons 29 and 30 after revealing the winner of Season 28, Deadline reported. It locks in the long-running reality competition for another two summers on the US network.

For anyone who has never watched, the set-up is simple. A group of strangers, called houseguests, move into a house rigged for filming and compete for power, safety and a cash prize. The house is fitted with 112 HD cameras and 113 microphones, with recording running 24 hours a day, according to CBS. Each week one houseguest is voted out. The last one standing wins $750,000.

Viewers also get a vote. America chooses a favourite houseguest across the season, who receives $50,000.

The numbers explain the decision. Season 28 averaged 5.1 million viewers in seven-day multiplatform viewing, meaning live TV plus streaming and catch-up counted over seven days, up 8% on the previous summer. The season also stacked up 14.8 billion minutes viewed, up 9% on the previous summer. It ranked as the summer's most social programme across all television excluding sport.

It is not going anywhere. Big Brother has become the first primetime series to reach 1,000 original episodes. The run has earned two Guinness World Records titles, for Most Episodes of a Primetime TV Series and Most Episodes of a Competitive Reality TV Series.

For fans, this means certainty. Two more seasons are confirmed, with more evictions, more live votes and another $750,000 winner to be crowned.