Canada is always watching: Nearly 1 million viewers tuned in to the Big Brother Canada season 4 premiere on Global

Global Also Takes the #1 and #2 Spots in the Coveted 18-34 Demo with Survivor and Big Brother Canada

Canada's Wildcard Houseguests are Revealed at the First Live Eviction Show Tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on Global

Big Brother Canada was the Most Talked about Series Amongst Canadians on Twitter

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TORONTO, March 3, 2016 /CNW/ - Let the drama begin! Canada's favourite house party kicked off with a bang last night as preliminary overnight data from Numeris reveals 988,000 viewers (2+) watched the Big Brother Canada Season 4 premiere on Global, up 17% over last season's premiere. Reality fan favourite Big Brother Canada was also the #2 series (342,000 viewers) for 18-34, growing the coveted younger demo by 30% year-over-year, only behind Global's Survivor with 359,000 viewers (18-34). Additionally, Survivor and Big Brother Canada drew in impressive numbers for the 18-49 demo as the #2 and #3 series respectively of the night.  

In a surprising turn of events during last night's Big Brother Canada premiere, Host Arisa Cox revealed that two of the houseguests – Ottawa brothers Philippe and Nicholas – must act as one team throughout the season. Playing as one houseguest, only one brother can compete in house competitions, and decide together who they will nominate for eviction, and if they are crowned the winners, they must split the prize.  

DATA HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Last night's Big Brother Canada premiere increased by 17% (2+), 30% (18-34), 33% (18-49), and 20% (A25-54) over last season's premiere
• In the 18-49 demo, Survivor was the #2 series of the night with 694,000 viewers, followed by Big Brother Canada as the #3 series with 552,000 viewers
• In addition to winning the 18-34 demo, Survivor was also #1 series of the night for 25-54, and won its timeslot across all key demos
• Big Brother Canada won its timeslot across multiple demos in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver

Last night's premiere also sparked lots of social media buzz with Big Brother Canada (#BBCAN4) taking over Twitter feeds becoming the most talked about series on Twitter last night in Canada. Meanwhile, BigBrotherCanada.ca also had over a quarter of a million unique visitors (229,000) and has received over 2 million page views for Season 4 to date.*

The drama continues tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on Global with the first eviction of the season, where the houseguests will be joined by two international wildcard players voted in by Canadians. As a Big Brother franchise world-first, the international wildcard choices are: Jase Wirey (Big Brother US), Nikki Grahame (Big Brother UK), Tim Dormer (Big Brother Australia), and Veronica Graf (Big Brother Italy).

Big Brother Canada airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET/PT, Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT, and Sundays at 7 pm ET/PT. Also returning is the Big Brother Canada Side Show, which premieres Friday, March 4 at 10 pm ET on Slice™ and Saturday, March 5 at 8 pm ET on Global, as well as Big Brother Canada After Dark which airs seven days a week beginning Friday, March 4 at 3 am ET on Slice™.   

Viewers who miss the drama unfold can catch up on Big Brother Canada following the broadcast the next day on GlobalTV.com and Global Go.

Sources:

Numeris (BBM Canada) PPM Data Overnight Data, (Sp15: 3/23/15) & (Sp16: 3/2/16), 2+,A1834, A1849, A2554, F1849, F2554, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Total Canada.)
*Adobe Analytics, February 24, 2016 to March 2, 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Twitter: @BigBrotherCA | @Global_TV | #BBCAN4
Instagram: @BigBrotherCA | #BBCAN4
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigBrotherCA | www.facebook.com/globaltelevision

Global is a Shaw Media Network.

About Shaw Communications
Shaw is a leading pure-play connectivity provider focused on delivering superior consumer and business broadband communications over its wireline, WiFi and wireless infrastructure.  Shaw serves consumers with broadband Internet, WiFi, video and digital phone.  Shaw Business Network Services provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, video and fleet tracking services.  WIND provides wireless services in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.  Shaw Business Infrastructure Services provides enterprises colocation, cloud and managed services through ViaWest. Shaw Media provides Canadians with engaging programming content through one of Canada's largest conventional television networks and 19 specialty networks.  Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX - SJR.B, NYSE - SJR). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca.

SOURCE Global Television

For media inquiries, please contact: Amy Doary, Publicist, Big Brother Canada, 416.710.6079, [email protected] / [email protected]; Jacqui VanSickle, Senior Publicist, Global Television, Shaw Media, 416-966-7261, [email protected]