"Big Brother 19" fans tune in to watch the houseguests on live feeds all day, every day. When live feeds are promoted they tell fans that they can be a "fly on the wall" and see what happens in the house 24/7. Actually, that has never been true and seems a lot like false advertising.
Live feed subscribers are accustomed to seeing animals on the screens during competitions and ceremonies.
The live feeds go down, the taping of an event takes place, and the feeds return. The "Big Brother 19" houseguests discuss what is going on and the live feed viewers are all caught up on what to expect on the next show. This has been the way it works forever.
Production has a leak
The extended periods of the feeds being down are another story, however. "Big Brother 19" took the feeds down on Tuesday this week and left them down until after the show aired where Alex was evicted, and Paul won HOH. By not allowing live feed viewers to look in, production was obviously trying to keep things hush-hush until after Wednesday's special eviction episode.
But why bother if they can't get their staff to zip their lips?
There were spoilers well in advance of the live feeds coming back and the show airing. Social media was openly discussing the split vote during the eviction of Alex when HOH Josh had to face and evict her. It was also common knowledge that Paul had, in fact, taken the HOH and secured himself a place in the final three.
Are subscribers getting what they pay for?
CBS All Access is a subscription service that hosts the live feeds. Users make a payment each month to get a look inside the "Big Brother 19" house. Considering they advertise that subscribers will have 24-hour access, is it really fair they take down the live feeds intentionally?
And really, why bother if the juicy stuff is just going to be leaked anyway? This has been an ongoing issue season after season.
Over the years fans have found other ways to keep up with what is happening in the "Big Brother" compound. Instead of paying for live feeds that aren't as advertised, they turn to spoiler sites like Joker's Updates. Live feed viewers type out what is happening as it is going on. They share what they see on the live feeds and give non-subscribers a way to stay on top of what is happening in the game.
One huge advantage of subscribing to live feeds is viewers see the truth. Not an edit that has been given to a houseguest by CBS, but the real story. This season several houseguests were portrayed as very different than the live feed subscribers knew them to be.