‘Big Brother’ Season 24 Has Been Watched for More Than 8 Billion Minutes in 2 Months on CBS and Paramount+

Taylor Hale made history last night in multiple ways when she earned the jury vote and was crowned the season 24 champion, and she's opening up about the wild experience.Hale, 27, went from being one of the most unreasonably disliked houseguests of the season — and almost got evicted after the first week — to becoming both the first Black woman to ever win the show and the first champion to also be voted by fans as America's Favorite Player.«It just blows my mind,» Hale marveled, while speaking with ET's Denny Directo after the finale. «Because I was just someone who was a very passive, casual enjoyer, I can't really say fan, of the show. I started watching last season.

Congratulations! After a jury vote, Taylor Hale became the winner of Big Brother season 24, taking home the impressive $750,000 prize during live Sunday, September 25, finale.

SPOILER ALERT – Do not continue reading if you don’t want to know what happened on the season finale Big Brother!

It's been 82 days of some of the most controversial and divisive gameplay in recent memory, but Season 24 has finally crowned a new champion.Sunday's two-hour finale all came down to the final three houseguests — who, coincidentally, were also all members of the defunct Leftovers Alliance, which ruled the house for several weeks before falling apart in dramatic fashion during the Split House Twist midway through the season.The whole season came down to Taylor Hale, Matthew «Turner» Turner, and Monte Taylor.  So who won the title of champion?  Otherwise, here's how everything played out during Sunday's jampacked finale!After last week's eviction of Brittany Hoopes, the pressure was on for the final three, who would have to face off in a series of three Head of Household competitions to see who would be the final HOH, and have full power to decide which houseguest joined them in the final two.As always, this late in the game, feeling out alliances can be tricky when there are only two people left, and Monte has been playing both sides of the field — making promises to his close friend Turner and similar promises to Taylor, with whom he's seemingly gotten close to in recent weeks.Taylor's place in the final three is a miracle in its own right and has had one of the most undeniably incredible comeback stories in the history of the show. Early in the season, everyone (including Monte) seemed to have it out for Taylor, to a level that many viewed as problematic and racially motivated.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Coming off a lot of Emmys love, ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary” went back in session Wednesday with a Season 2 premiere that kept pace with its freshman finale last spring. According to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day data, Episode 1 of Season 2 averaged a 0.5 rating among adults ages 18-49 and 2.8 million total viewers, tying it with “The Conners” Season premiere for ABC’s highest-rated show during Wednesday primetime. That marks a solid start to the new school year for “Abbott Elementary,” which put up a 0.6 rating and 2.8 million total viewers in the comparable Nielsen metrics for its Season 1 finale in April.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Alex vs America” has been renewed for a third season at Food Network, Variety has learned exclusively. Production is set to begin this month on Season 3 of the primetime cable series, with new episodes to debut next year.  “Alex vs America” Season 2, which aired July 31-Sept. 11, averaged more than 9.1 million total viewers, up 44% from Season 1, and a 0.6 rating with adults ages 18 and up, an increase of 17%, according to Nielsen’s Live + 3 Day ratings. Per Food Network’s description for “Alex v. America”:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer TLC’s “Sister Wives” returned Sunday, drawing the show’s highest-rated season premiere in six years with the first episode of Season 11. Per Nielsen data, the reality show’s 11th season premiere averaged 2.2 million total viewers and a 1.42 rating among women ages 18-49, the advertiser-coveted demographic for the cable channel. That demo rating was the highest for a “Sister Wives” premiere in six years. Additionally, Episode 1 of Season 11 drew a 1.91 rating among women ages 25-54, another key market for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TLC. According to TLC, on the “Sister Wives” Season 11 premiere night Sunday, “tweet volume saw triple digit growth compared to the previous premiere,” growing 192%). It was also the top primetime cable reality program on Facebook, No. 3 on Instagram and No. 4 on Twitter for social interactions.

BBC Breakfast stars including Naga Munchetty, Susanna Reid and Charlie Stayt have been seen arriving for the funeral of their late colleague Bill Turnball.READ: BBC Breakfast viewers confused by presenter's outfitBill passed away on 31 August after battling prostate cancer. A statement released at the time read: "Following a challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family on 31 August."WATCH: Dan Walker gets emotional as he talks about exit from BBC BreakfastIt added: "Bill was diagnosed in 2017 and has had outstanding medical care from the Royal Marsden and Ipswich hospitals, St Elizabeth hospice and his GP.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Blumhouse Television has promoted Chris Dickie to executive vice president of development and programming, Variety has learned exclusively. A five-year veteran of the Jason Blum-founded company, Dickie oversees a team of eight working on current and development across ongoing and limited series, domestic and international, television movies and streaming features, animation and podcasts. “Chris Dickie has consistently proven to be a creative and strategic executive possessing great instincts for material and the EQ essential for being a leader at Blumhouse,” Chris McCumber, president of Blumhouse Television, said. “I have full confidence in his ability to lead the team as we steer towards an exciting television slate in 2023 and beyond.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Ina Garten is bringing four new companions over to chat and eat on “Be My Guest With Ina Garten” Season 2, including Faith Hill, Nathan Lane, Emily Blunt and chef Marcus Samuelsson, Variety has learned exclusively. The second season of the Barefoot Contessa’s Food Network and Discovery+ series will debut Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. ET. Per the “Be My Guest” second season description, “In the season premiere, Ina greets Faith Hill with frozen palomas and fresh guacamole and they become fast friends while talking about family, love and music. Faith’s daughter Gracie joins the party to help bake her family’s cola cake recipe and they then take a drive to Topping Rose House to celebrate their new friendship.  In the following episode, Ina serves Nathan Lane a taste of nostalgia with her Rum Raisin Rice Pudding recipe, and they discuss his childhood, personal life and show business career from the early years to his prolific roles on stage and screen.  She also gives cooking-novice Nathan a lesson in making Mussels with Saffron Cream. 

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The death of Queen Elizabeth II prompted the Claire Foy-led first season of “The Crown” to crack the Netflix Top 10 last week. Per Netflix, “HRH Queen Elizabeth II was in the hearts and minds of viewers” as Season 1 of the streamer’s Royal Family drama was watched for 17.6 million hours between Sept. 5-11. That put it in the No. 7 spot for English-language TV series. Meanwhile, the fifth season of “Cobra Kai” easily took the No. 1 slot on that list with 106 million hours viewed in the first three days post-Friday launch. In second place was limited series “Devil in Ohio,” which had 70.8 million hours viewed, followed by the first season of “The Imperfects” with 24.1 million.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins-led country music drama “Monarch” didn’t the highest of Nielsen notes Sunday night, but it did manage to keep enough of its NFL lead-in audience to land the network’s most-watched fall scripted premiere in three years. Immediately following an NFL doubleheader, “Monarch” debuted at 7:45 p.m. ET/4:45 p.m. PT to a 0.8 rating among adults in the 18-49 age demographic and 3.8 million total viewers, according to initial Nielsen data. Due to the nature of live sports, these results will likely adjust (likely down) when finalized numbers come in later Monday.

is barreling headfirst toward a wild and unpredictable finale, and Thursday's surprise double eviction night really turned up the heat and sent one of the most powerful players of all time to the jury.So, which two houseguests were sent packing?  Otherwise, here's how everything that led up to and played out during Thursday's big show.Last Thursday, Kyle Capener got evicted after yet another big blowup regarding racial comments and controversy. With Kyle in the jury house, everyone's focus then pivoted over to Michael Bruner — the winningest house guest of the season and one of the best comp beasts in the history of the show.However, true to form, Michael won his third Head of Household competition of the season and made it impossible for the other houseguests to get rid of him — yet!With only seven houseguests left, Michael's options were limited.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Fall TV season is upon us and Fox is kicking things off with the returns of “9-1-1,” “The Resident” “The Cleaning Lady” and its iconic Sunday animation block, as well as the debut of Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins country music drama “Monarch” and an eye toward more fresh scripted content to come. Though Fox won’t be the home of the “Ally McBeal” reboot or the “Married… With Children” animated series, both in-the-works projects based on titles that originated at Fox, and is still remaining tight-lipped on more seasons of the Disney-owned “The Simpsons,” Variety found plenty to discuss with Fox Entertainment president of entertainment Michael Thorn pegged to the broadcaster’s day of panels at the virtual Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s “Bloom County” animated series has signed “The Simpsons” writer Tim Long as co-showrunner on the project, Variety has confirmed. Long will write, executive produce and showrun the comedy, which is still in the development stage at Fox, alongside original “Bloom County” comic strip creator Berkeley Breathed. Per Fox, “Bloom County” centers on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and an overly-carbonated penguin immigrant living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayThe@%!#OVER country. To wit, today’s America at a glance.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer (SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Solaricks,” the Season 6 premiere of “Rick and Morty.”) “Rick and Morty” kicked off its sixth season with an even bigger reveal than it dropped in its fifth season finale: Rick Sanchez is not Morty’s grandfather — at least this Rick (C-137) is not this Morty’s grandfather. Due to an accidental “reset” in portal travelers on the Season 6 opener, “Solaricks,” rather than Rick’s intended reset of port travel after the collapse of the Citadel and Evil Morty’s escape through the Central Finite Curve blew it all to hell in the Season 5 finale, Rick, Morty and Jerry were each pulled back into their original worlds/realities.

Big Brother star Brian Dowling has welcomed his first child into the world and revealed the name chosen for the new arrival. In an Instagram post shared this week, Dowling shared an adorable image of him and his husband Arthur Gourounlian holding their newborn baby in the hospital. "Please be upstanding for the arrival of our BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER Blake Maria Rose Dowling Gourounlian," read the caption.