Category: Preseason

Oops! Channel 9’s web design agency accidentally published a preview version of the official Big Brother website to the publicly accessible internet this week, providing new details about the season to come.

The site, which was accessible for several days until the leak was plugged, was a semi-complete design version with mostly filler content from Channel 9’s other large reality TV show, The Voice.

Here’s what the site tells us:

• No live feed. The main navigation contains no placeholders for a live internet feed. Channel 9 may provide this on one of their digital free to air channels, however this has yet to be confirmed. Cutting the live feed would cut costs for the show as it wouldn’t require a 24/7 producer. There is a Live Updates section of the website, but it is in a form similar to that of the diary from previous official sites.
• No premium content. Previous official websites offered an option to become a ‘premium’ member for a small fee, which gave users access to additional video content, alternative live streams and other exclusive features. This doesn’t look like it’ll be making a comeback.
• Full streaming episodes. Not surprising considering what Channel 9 offer for many of their other shows.
• 13 housemates. Code for the sliding housemate banner in the header has provision for 13 housemates – at least to begin with. Seasons 1 and 2 began with 12 housemates, Season 3, 4 and 8 with 14, Season 5 and 6 with 15 and Season 7 with 16.
• Public voting via Facebook. Social media has taken a massive step forward since the last incarnation of Big Brother, and it seems the show will be integrated tightly with Facebook. The Evictions page contains buttons to vote for nominated housemates via Facebook, as well as SMS and phone.
• Little Sister. An entire navigation item is dedicated to Little Sister, and the page itself has a different (pink) background to the rest of the site. Little Sister is being pitched as an ‘insider’, but whether or not this will be online-only or extend to a TV slot is yet to be determined.

Ninemsn don’t have a great track record with gaffes like this – in May a video announcing the winner of Celebrity Apprentice was published online a day before it went to air.

Let’s hope they don’t announce the winner of Big Brother too early this season.

Playing catch-up to our reveal of the first BB aerial photo five days ago, Big Brother has posted some shots of the under-construction house taken down at ground level.

Of course there isn’t much they will let us see at this point, but the photos do provide some insight into the new house.

The most noteworthy image is a large window/arch structure in the corner of the backyard to the side of the back door. It’s elevated well above ground level – will this be some kind of loft or balcony? Australia has never had a Big Brother house with a true second story.

Other images reveal a round swimming pool (could it be in the shape of the BB eye?) and a curved section of roof/overhang. There’s also a very ordinary-looking tile roof. Is that even in the house or is it just some other random Dreamworld building?

You can see all the pics here (Facebook account not required).

A reveal like this is certainly an unusual move by producers so far out from launch night, is it a sign of a more open Big Brother in the weeks leading up to the series?

If you’re keen to ask when BB is starting, head right on to the Official Big Brother Facebook page. Or if you’d prefer some actual discussion, our forums are the only place to be!

Photomapping company Nearmap have just updated their overhead view of the Gold Coast, giving us our first clear glimpse of the construction work currently underway in the BB compound at Dreamworld.

Source: NearMap

What can we see from this picture?

• – The first thing you notice is the hole in the middle of the backyard. A fair guess that will be the new swimming pool?
• – The former Games Arena has been cleared away (there’s been no mention of FNL this year so chances are it’s not coming back).
• – Fresh decking has been laid down in the ‘resort’ area to the left of the backyard. That space has also grown a little larger.
• – Some sort of overhang/awning in the upper-left of the backyard.
• – Some of the roofing over the bottom part of the backyard is gone.

Looking a bit further south at the auditorium, it looks like some production offices are in place and the grass has been brought back to health.

Share your thoughts below or join the discussion in our forums!

Some one should let the work experience kids out of the video editing studio at Channel Nine. On Sunday night Melbourne viewers were treated to a new Big Brother promo with some not so familiar visuals.

While the ad promised housemates from Melbourne would be on the show, the visuals displayed a backdrop of Perth. Oops.

The video was also posted to the official Big Brother Youtube account without the error being noticed, but was quickly yanked when fans noticed. Luckily, copies are still making their way around the internet. Watch below:

Over the past few weeks, we’ve all been seeing some positive signs; a host who knows how to shuffle, an Executive Producer who’s in touch with his audience and a housemate hunt that promises to weed out the sterotypes. Adding yet another dimension to the new series is today’s announcement that the lovely Mike Goldman will be gracing our airwaves in the new series.

Goldman, a Big Brother institution, seems to have been given somewhat of a back seat in 2012, with The Age reporting that there “will be no on screen presence” of his role in this season’s production. To much of the audience, this comes as welcome news as it will allow the nostalgia of past years to come flooding back without the dose of nausea that usually accompanied his performances in front of the camera.

This also raises another important point about the 2012 series. Goldman is cheap labor – in past years, he was used by the production team in multiple roles; narrator, presenter of Up Late and the Friday night games and possibly as a coffee kid / footrest for the host.  If they were going to bring back these spin-off productions, wouldn’t you think that the same arrangement would be applied?

That’s unless there isn’t going to be a host, or there isn’t going to be a reincarnation of these shows during the series at all…

The new Big Brother 2012 promo ad shot in Parramatta is now making its way across the country. Watch below.

If the video has been removed, try this alternate link and be sure to hop on our forums to discuss it!