CBS delays summer shows until August

CBS has finally acknowledged (sort of) that the writers strike will disrupt its fall schedule.
The network is starting some of its summer reality shows later than usual. That will nudge them into what would would usually be the start of the new season. The dates are:
— “Big Brother” (shown here with host Julie Chen) starts its 25th season on Aug. 2. Last year, it started four weeks sooner.
— “Superfan” sdebuts a week later, on Aug. 9. It had originally been set for June 9.
— “Secret Celebrity Renovation” starts July 28, but “The Challenge: USA” will wait until Aug. 10.
When the fall schedules were announced, some networks seemed to acknowledge that the strike will linger. ABC put out a line-up with no scripted shows. Fox could do the same; it didn’t release a specific schedule, but has enough reality shows to fill one. CW had already started transitioning to lower-cost reality and international shows.
The exceptions were NBC and CBS, which announced fairly typical line-ups. Now CBS is at least preparing for a delayed start. This summer, it has “Big Brother” three times a week, often leading into another reality show:
WEDNESDAYS: “Big Brother” at 8, “Superfan” at 9. The latter has people trying to prove they’re the biggest fans of a music star – Pitbull, Gloria Estefan, LL Cool J, Shana Twain, Kelsea Ballerini or Little Big Town.
THURSDAYS: “Big Brother” at 9, with “The Challenge USA” at 10 for its opener (pitting past contestants from “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race”), then moving to Sundays.
FRIDAYS: “Secret Celebrity Renovation” at 8.
SUNDAYS: “Big Brother” at 8 p.m. and (starting Aug. 13) “Challenge” at 9.