BBB 24: what is the biggest audience in history, the big failure, and the mission of the new edition

BBB 24 will have many new features because of a need: for the first time since its reinvention, in 2020, the reality show needs to prove on Globo that it has relevance and an audience with the format adopted that year, when it began to confine famous and anonymous people.

Big Brother Brasil, it must be said, has always been an attraction with large numbers. The first edition, still in 2002, achieved an average of 41.1 points in Greater São Paulo, according to data collected by F5. Currently, each point is equivalent to 207 thousand individuals.

But the biggest audience, in decimal terms, was BBB 5, with an impressive 47.2 points in the capital of São Paulo. This edition featured names that were unknown at the time but remain famous and relevant to this day, such as actress Grazi Massafera and politician Jean Wyllys.

Between 2002 and 2019, the attraction only cast anonymous people in the cast of the reality show. With numbers falling edition after edition, Globo decided to change for 2020 and included famous people or people with some influence on social media among the “brothers”.

The idea worked: the reality show became an engagement, revenue and numbers machine. Helped somewhat by the Covid-19 pandemic, the season that had Thelma Freitas as champion and names like Babu Santana, Manu Gavassi and Rafa Kalimann, scored 25.2 points — five points more than the failed year of 2019.

In 2021, a record: with the elimination of Karol Conká, who emerged with 99.2% of the votes, the attraction scored 38 points, with peaks of 40. It was the last time, in fact, that Globo reached 40 audience points in São Paulo without involving football matches. The overall average of BBB21, with Juliette Freire champion, was 28 points.

The wear and tear of the current format began in 2022, when many people questioned actor Arthur Aguiar’s victory, due to the strength of his fans on the internet. The average dropped five points to 22.6 points.

In 2023, even lower numbers: with a lackluster season and with participants criticized for not delivering entertainment, Amanda Meirelles’ victory only achieved an average of 18.7 points, the worst in the history of the format since arriving in Brazil.

This is precisely why Globo was forced to change. In total, there will be 26 participants and a different dynamic for entry, and even for voting. The command remains with Tadeu Schmidt. BBB24 comes to prove that reality is still a huge force and can always reinvent itself.