In 2000, two franchises descended onto CBS that would set the bar for reality competition shows. And 23 years later, they’re still leading the genre.
Recommended VideosBig Brother and Survivor have several similarities. At the heart of them, they’re social experiments wrapped into elimination-style games that ultimately award one person a life-changing sum of money.
Both CBS staples have had hundreds of contestants battle it out for reality television glory; Survivor is slated to begin airing its 45th season this month, and Big Brother‘s 25th season is currently in its second month of play.
But, how do Big Brother and Survivor differ? In this article, I’ll break down the U.S.-based versions of the shows by comparing and contrasting them with each other to highlight the biggest differences.
So, let’s get into it!
Beach Life vs. Home Body
The most obvious difference is the actual setting of each franchise. Survivor forces players to live with bare necessities while marooned on a rural island somewhere around the globe. The game has been filmed in several countries, including Panama, Palau, Thailand, Samoa, Nicaragua, The Philippines, Cambodia, and Vanuatu.
But, the Survivor brass eventually landed on Fiji to maintain as its base of operations. Since season 33’s Millenials vs. Gen X, the Mamanuca Islands archipelago has been the series’ exclusive filming location.
On the other end, Big Brother is filmed on a set designed as a house in Los Angeles, California. Although the layout of the house has changed in ways over time, it’s remained more or less the same since 2005’s Big Brother 6.
The house is outfitted with several rooms — including the Head of Household suite — a bathroom, kitchen, living area, and a sprawling backyard.
Survivor and Big Brother’s gameplay and production
The actual way Survivor and Big Brother are played is quite different. Survivor is inherently much more physical and demanding on the body, whereas Big Brother maintains a lot of a person’s typical comforts, like tasty food, a clean bed, and a flush toilet.
But they maintain a few central themes. Each franchise secludes players from the outside world — the only people they communicate with are their fellow contestants and the production crew, and the only happenings they’re privy to are what’s going on in the game. Each game tests the strategic and social abilities of every competitor as well.
Length of play
Big Brother is a considerably longer competition than Survivor. There isn’t a set number of days that’s always followed, but a season typically lasts 80 to 99 days.
Big Brother 25 is scheduled to run for 100 days in total — the U.S. version’s longest season ever.
For most of its existence, a Survivor season ran for 39 days. And when contestants signed on, they knew that was the number they needed to hit to have a chance of becoming the “Sole Survivor.” Season 41 marked a major change to the game’s length, however.
The number of days dropped to 26, and that’s what they’ve stuck with ever since.
Because filming Survivor is so much quicker, fans are treated to two seasons a year whereas Big Brother only hits their television screens once a year — and it’s virtually always on in the summer. There have been points where two additions of Big Brother have aired in the same calendar year, however. Like when CBS aired two different spin-offs, Celebrity Big Brother and Over the Top, along with a normal season, and when Big Brother 9 and 10 both aired in 2008.
Individual-based vs. teams
Both Survivor and Big Brother only produce one winner, and they’re games that require every player to put themselves first before anyone or anything else. But, Big Brother is usually a fully individual-based game, meaning when the players enter the house, it’s every man and woman for themselves right off the bat.
In Survivor, contestants are required to compete in tribes for the first half of the game. Players not only look out for their best interests, but they also need to work to keep their tribe safe to avoid Tribal Council. At some point, the tribe portion of the season ends to make way for the merge portion when every player remaining dons the same buff.
There have been times when houseguests have played in teams, however. For example, Big Brother 14 began by splitting everybody into four teams that were led by a returning veteran. Also, Big Brother 11 ushered in the “cliques” twist which separated the individuals into four stereotypical squads.
Number of contestants
Although the number of contestants who compete in the respective franchises has ranged throughout the years, it’s always been the case that more people play in a season of Survivor than Big Brother. For example, season 1’s Borneo ushered in 16 survivors, and Big Brother 1 had 10 houseguests.
Fast forward 23 years and Survivor 44 featured 18 people and Big Brother 25 welcomed in 17. And for their most recent iterations featuring returnees, Survivor 40: Winners at War rolled out the red carpet for 20 former winners and Big Brother 22: All-Stars had 16 veterans.
Grand prize
Another big difference between Survivor and Big Brother is the amount of money written on the check dangling in front of the reality stars. When Borneo debuted, the contestants learned they had the opportunity to win $1 million. The grand prize has remained the same since besides one exception. The 20 “Sole Survivors” who competed on Winners at War battled for a $2 million payday.
Unlike Survivor, Big Brother has increased its grand prize. It began at $500,00 and sat there until Big Brother 23 when it was increased to $750,000, which the Big Brother 25 hopefuls are playing for right now.
Editing and number of episodes
Unfortunately for Survivor-only fans, Big Brother gives its viewers a ton more content. It’s on air three days a week whereas Survivor episodes only drop once weekly. Big Brother superfans can also spend their summer and fall watching the live feeds.
As part of the “Big Brother” theme, the houseguests’ moves are captured 24/7 as the house is outfitted with dozens of cameras. They’re also required to wear microphones.
The series’ hosts
This is a given one of course, but it’s worth noting considering the hosts are synonymous with their respective series. Both Survivor’s Jeff Probst and Big Brother’s Julie Chen Moonves have hosted their respective reality competition shows since the beginning.
Their presence is as notable as any reality star that’s competed, and if they ever left, it’d absolutely have an impact — especially with Probst, who also works behind Survivor’s scenes as a producer and has been highly involved in the show’s evolution.
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