Big Brother 11 (U.S.)

Big Brother 11 was the eleventh season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It is based upon the Netherlands series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The series premiered on CBS on July 9, 2009 and lasted ten weeks until the live finale on September 15, 2009. The eleventh season saw a slight increase in ratings when compared to the past season of the series, which had some of the lowest ratings to date. The season premiered to a total of 6.59 million viewers, a slight increase from the previous season's launch. Despite this, it is the second lowest premiere for a season behind Big Brother 10. The season finale had a total of 7.78 million viewers, continuing to average slightly above the past season. In total, the series averaged 7.19 million viewers, higher than that of the previous two seasons. Big Brother 11 featured a total of 13 HouseGuests, one of which was a returning player from a previous season. The series ended after 73 days, in which HouseGuest Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner and Natalie Martinez the runner-up.

Big Brother 11 was produced by Endemol USA and Allison Grodner Productions with Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Scott Einziger returned as executive producer. This season of the program was announced on September 18, 2008, two days after the season finale of Big Brother 10. Casting for the program began during the final week of Big Brother 10 with potential applicants submitting video tape submissions. Open auditions began on April 1, 2009 in Michigan by local CBS affiliate WLNS-TV and continued across the nation in various cities including Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, Waverly, Iowa, and Columbus, Ohio. Applications and video tape submissions were due by May 4, 2009. Applicants chosen to be a finalist went to Los Angeles, California from which applicants were narrowed down to a pool of forty finalists. Julie Chen interviewed casting director Robyn Kass and former HouseGuests Mike Malin and Brian Hart about the upcoming season and their experiences going through casting on March 19, 2009. Julie Chen confirmed that she would continue to host Big Brother during her pregnancy despite tabloid rumors stating she would take maternity leave.

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