“Big Brother” is returning to German screens after a five-year break. Sat.1 will air the German version of the show, which will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Endemol format that paved the way for a raft of other unscripted shows around the world.
Sat.1 said it would also run a celebrity version of the show. Endemol Germany is on production duty for the upcoming relaunched version. The format has proven to be a global success since its launch, and has come and gone at various times in different countries over its almost two decades in existence. In the U.K., Channel 5 has ditched its version after a long run, while in markets including Poland and Finland it has recently relaunched.
In Germany, the show previously went out on RTL II and then the Sixx channel. It is not unusual for the long-running format to switch channels; in the U.K., it initially ran on Channel 4 before heading to Viacom’s Channel 5, for example.
There are currently 28 versions of the core show and its celebrity spinoff on air in 21 territories around the world. The show is on broadcast network CBS in the U.S., whose version is one of the longest-running in the world.