‘Big Brother’ Star Dick Donato Reveals True Reason Live Feeds Are Cut

Former Big Brother winner Dick Donato has raised concerns regarding the network’s decision to eliminate the rewind and archive feature on live feeds this season. According to Donato, there’s a specific reason they made this change. Here’s his theory.

Paramount+ has overhauled the live feeds for this season of Big Brother, preventing viewers from rewinding and archiving clips. This alteration has infuriated fans who are now unable to replay and catch unfiltered moments of the cast.

Many viewers are questioning why the network would implement such a change. Speculations have emerged suggesting that the network might be trying to control what the audience can see, possibly to prevent controversial moments in the house from becoming the focal point of the show.

Social media has seen a surge of complaints from fans unhappy with the new live feed setup. One user lamented on X, “I’m not happy about the flashback feature being taken away on the Big Brother live feeds. We won’t be able to go back and see stuff that happened while we were sleeping. Y’all are killing the fan experience for this show.”

Another fan drew comparisons with other reality shows, stating that programs like Survivor and The Challenge have the luxury of editing everything, while BB has previously faced intense scrutiny and criticism for what’s shown on the live feeds.

“I hope this isn’t a step towards killing the feed completely,” worried another viewer. “If they do that, they’ll kill Big Brother.”

However, Dick Donato, a former winner of the show, disputes the idea that the change is due to controversy or cultural sensitivity. He believes the motive behind Paramount+ and CBS’s decision is financial.

Donato highlighted that the network benefits from controversies as it generates buzz around the show, increasing viewer engagement. Therefore, controlling the live feed content is unlikely to be the reason for the new policy.

Instead, he pointed out that filming the entire show in high definition (HD) significantly increases the cost of archiving footage. Storing HD content is expensive, which may have prompted the network to remove the rewind and archive feature.

Donato’s theory seems plausible given the high cost associated with HD archiving. He also noted that fans used to record the live feeds themselves, something that remains a possible workaround for dedicated viewers.

Despite his pragmatic approach, Donato expressed dissatisfaction with the network’s decision. He believes that by removing the rewind feature, the network is depriving loyal fans of a crucial part of the viewing experience.

He told TMZ, “It’s a big f***king deal. I figure anyone who has a life, has a job, has a family, has a girlfriend or boyfriend to f**k will use this flashback feature — ’cause you have a life.”

This decision raises an important question: Why should viewers continue to subscribe to the live feeds? The archival feature was a key appeal for many subscribers, providing them with the ability to catch up on moments they missed.

Source: TV Shows Ace, TMZ