During each series, specific elements of the competition have a special show dedicated to them, usually presented on a specific evening. Each weeknight and on Sunday evenings a compilation of the general events in the House for the previous day are presented. All live shows are broadcast with a 30-second delay so that images or language that cannot be broadcast due to Australia's censorship laws can be cut. These programs add up to approximately 16 hours per week. Except for during its first season, Big Brother episodes screened each day except Saturday.
Main shows Launch Launch is the first episode of the Big Brother Australia series that introduces the new Housemates and the House for that year. Much like overseas iterations, the first episode is often pre-recorded 24-hours before it airs, except for 2003 when it was broadcast live for the first and only time. Previously, the show was hosted by Gretel Killeen from 2001–07, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O in 2008, and Sonia Kruger from 2012-14. In different seasons it ran under various titles such as Day One, In They Go and The Secret Revealed.
Daily Show The Daily Show aired Monday - Friday at 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm for all seasons of the series. It reported on the previous day's happenings inside the House, and was narrated by Mike Goldman.
Later seasons of Big Brother added a Sunday edition of the Daily Show, which covered the preceding Friday and Saturday, which screened Sundays at 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Occasionally, in various seasons of the series, the Daily Show episode would run to one hour, sometimes to accommodate a special event in the house.
For the 2001 through to the 2007 seasons, on screen it simply carried the title Big Brother. For the 2008 season the on-screen title was shown as Big Brother: Daily Show. During the 2008 season the Monday evening installment was extended to a one-hour duration when the housemate nominations were incorporated into the episode.
In 2012, the Daily Show aired from Tuesday - Thursday at 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm and Friday at 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm. Sunday and Monday did not include a Daily Show – instead a recap of the day was merged into the Sunday and Monday live shows.
Eviction Housemate evictions occur in a program titled Big Brother Live Eviction. The housemate who has attracted the most viewer votes to evict is evicted. The eviction shows are televised each Sunday night at 7:30 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Actual events start a short time before 7:30 pm. Proceedings are conducted in an auditorium in front of a live audience at Dreamworld.
These shows are broadcast live. In this show usually one housemate, but occasionally two, is evicted from the house, usually at around 7:45–8:00 pm. Shows that feature two evictions are called Double Eviction. The first Australian Double Eviction, described in advertising hyperbole as a "world first", took place during Big Brother 2002. Big Brother 2006 added the save vote, allowing viewers to vote to save a housemate as well as evict; in the final tally housemates' save votes are subtracted from their evict votes.
The 2008 season introduced a new nomination and eviction process. For the 2008 season the public vote for which housemate to save from eviction. The three housemates with the fewest save votes are nominated for eviction. The housemates then vote to evict one of the three. From week five this new routine was abandoned the original eviction procedure reinstated: housemates nominate each other and viewers may vote only to evict those nominated.
Big Brother 2012 changed the voting once again, getting viewers to save the nominees they want to stay in the house. They can only vote for those housemates that are up for nomination and the housemate with the fewest votes to save them are evicted. This voting process is also used in the current season, Big Brother 2013.
In Big Brother 2004 after the eviction of Bree Amer, it was found the votes for that eviction had been incorrectly counted. Amer had not received the most eviction votes, and she took up the option of returning to the house the following Monday night. A special eviction was held on the following Thursday evening in which the housemate to actually receive the most votes, Wesley Denning, was evicted. A representative of Legion Interactive, the company that manages eviction votes and compiles the results, appeared on the second eviction show to explain how the error occurred.
Finale The Big Brother Finale is a significant event conducted in front of an audience at Dreamworld and broadcast live on television. The usual series host presents the finale. The television presentation has been scheduled to run as long as three hours, sometimes running even longer. The 2007 season finale was extended by almost an hour due to a delay in finalising eviction vote tallies.
In all Australian series the Finale features footage from the final day in the house, by which time there are only two housemates remaining, culminating in the announcement of the winner. Usually the runner-up leaves the house in the manner of an evicted housemate, and is interviewed by the host on stage. Later the winner is asked to leave the house, finally joining the host on stage.
The final two housemates of Big Brother 2004, Big Brother 2005 and Big Brother 2007 left the House together, and were on stage when the winner of those seasons was announced. Big Brother 2006 had featured the original format where the winner is announced while the final two housemates are in the House, and they both left separately. Big Brother 2008 had the finalists on the stage with the hosts. Season 9 retained the original format but with three housemates.
Previous housemates of the season sometimes put on a musical or dance performance. Sometimes the performance is set to popular music and is based on several of the tasks the housemates had participated in during the season. In 2006, Danielle Foote sang her single, while the other housemates did dance routines around her, using costumes and elements from various tasks of that season.
The 2007 Finale was the last Big Brother program to be hosted by series host of seven years, Gretel Killeen. In 2008, the Finale was hosted by the replacement Big Brother hosts Kyle and Jackie O. The 2008 Finale featured a special dedication to past series as the 2008 season would be the last for the foreseeable future.
Companion shows
Friday Night Live Big Brother Friday Night Live is a live competition show hosted by Mike Goldman and former Big Brother 2004 housemates Ryan Fitzgerald and Bree Amer, showcasing a live housemate games competition conducted in an arena attached to the Big Brother compound every Friday evening. The housemate evicted the previous week joins the hosting panel. The show was introduced with Big Brother 2005, aired on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
The show was originally set to be hosted by just Goldman and Fitzgerald, with Amer appearing in the first episode as the third chair would be the latest evictee and the first eviction hadn't taken place. Amer was brought back last minute for the second show when it felt like "it wasn't working" with just the duo. She then continued to appear weekly as a guest on a casual basis before officially becoming the third host for the eighth show onward.
The prize had varied throughout the series, but the winner of the overall games is usually rewarded with the following: Becoming Head of House - With responsibilities and duties over the household; Sharing a Rewards Room with a Housemate of their choice for the weekend - Where they would enjoy the luxaries of the room and be allowed to discuss Nomination Strategy; And power over the Nomination Process.
Friday Night Live returned for Big Brother 2006. A fourth prize was added for the winner, a "luckydip" type prize draw where they are presented with three boxes, each containing a prize, and may choose one box, not knowing what any of the boxes contains. The three boxes are usually themed based on the Night's Games - with a Major Prize (usually an international holiday to enjoy a country after the conclusion of the series), a Minor Prize (which may be a smaller pize to enjoy after the series or a special privilege that may be used within the house (such as laundry services or a special dinner)), and a Booby Prize. Booby prizes have included a bow tie and a chunk of Camembert cheese. On one occasion, the three boxes were replaced with a special prize where the winner was allowed to go on an excursion outside the Big Brother House to Tiger Island at Dreamworld, where they were treated to a feast and a tiger show. They then had the entire park to themselves for a night. The winner on this occasion was Gaelan, who invited Krystal to share in his prize. On a second occasion, the winner of Friday Night Live, Jamie, was given the four usual prizes, and a fifth "mystery prize". The prize involved Jamie and the person he invited to the Rewards Room, Chris, leaving the House to get a first go on FlowRider, a new ride at Dreamworld.
For the Big Brother 2007 season Friday Night Live remained largely unchanged. For this season the prize boxes generally contained an overseas holiday, a large item such as expensive watches or a scooter, and a booby prize. But a twist in the power to change the nominations lineup made this a more valuable than ever prize for the winner of Friday Night Live in Big Brother 2007 as they were able to remove themselves altogether (if nominated) or another housemate from the nominees for that week, and replace them with another housemate, rather than in the last two series where the winner had the power to change nominations by deducting 3 points from a nominee. The Friday Night Live format was reused in the Network Ten spinoff series Friday Night Games which began in February 2006 and ended before Big Brother resumed for 2006. This weekly program is also filmed at Dreamworld, and features two teams of celebrities (who are joined by members of the public) to compete in a series of games. The program was again hosted by Goldman, Amer, and Fitzgerald.
The 2008 season of Big Brother did not include a rewards room, instead allowing the winning housemate entry to the new "Strategy Room" with one other housemate of their choice. Due to the changes in the nomination and eviction process, the winner was able to save one housemate from eviction, and votes with double points during evictions.
UpLate Big Brother: UpLate is a late-night show screened every weeknight throughout the Big Brother seasons in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and hosted by Mike Goldman. The show was first introduced with Big Brother 2003. The show aired at 11:15pm on Monday—Thursdays, 10:30pm on Fridays and 10:10pm. Episodes usually had a duration between 60 and 120 minutes.
The show features live footage from the House; interviews with evicted housemates; and brain teasers where viewers attempt to solve challenges such as word games, and may phone in for a chance to win up to $1000. An online stream was made available for the 2006 season at QuizTV.com.au specifically for viewers in states that do not receive UpLate live on television (i.e. South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory), enabling them to enter the competitions. It was possible for this stream to be viewed by those outside of Australia. An online stream was made available once more for the 2007 season. During the 2007 season of Big Brother a Sunday evening edition of the show was added.
UpLate did not return for the 2008 season of Big Brother.
Uncut/Adults Only