Head of Household

The Head of Household (abbreviated HOH) is the position of supreme power and control in the Big Brother House. The Head of Household is selected each week during the live show. The winner of Head of Household is free from the threat of eviction. They receive perks, such as getting their own private bedroom, but are also faced with the decision of nominating two houseguests for eviction and putting up a replacement nominee when the Power of Veto is used.

HOH Competition
Each week, all houseguests, except the outgoing Head of Household, compete in the HOH Competition. The final 3 is the only time that an outgoing Head of Household can win consecutive HOH competitions (or if a twist happens and nobody is evicted as in Big Brother 14 with the coaches reset. Frank Eudy and Joe Arvin were spared and Shane Meaney, as outgoing Head of Household, was still eligible to compete). HOH competitions mainly fall into one of three major categories listed below though some competitions include elements of more than one category.

Quiz Competition
Quiz competitions are fairly short and are usually shown during the live show. Questions range from events in the house to comments from previously evicted houseguests. The houseguests line up, each getting their own booth, unable to see each other. The host communicates to the houseguests through the microphone system in the backyard and can see the houseguests through a television screen outside of the house in the studio. She communicates the question to the houseguests, who then answer when she says "Answers, please." Typically, houseguests answer by turning a dial to either "True" or "False", "Yes" or "No", or "Red" or "Blue", although some competitions have used paddles, cubes with houseguests pictures on them and some other ways to show the answers. There several ways how the quiz can be played but usually it's one of the following two. The first one is elimination-based when one incorrect answer results in elimination and the last person standing becomes the Head of Household. The second way is point-based meaning that each correct answer gives a houseguest one point and the person with the most points wins. The elimination-based approach can usually be used when number of participants is relatively big, otherwise the point-based approach is applied. Regardless of the way quiz works, if, after all possible questions have been exhausted and there is a tie, the competition continues into a tiebreaker round. The answer is always a number, ranging from the number of seconds that the houseguests have been in the house to the weight in pounds of an object used in a competition. The houseguests write the number on a chalkboard provided for them. The houseguest closest to the number without going over becomes the Head of Household. If all competitors go over, the houseguest closest to the number becomes the Head of Household.

Skill
Skill competitions, sometimes referred to as crap shoots, usually involve bowling type games or shuffleboard type games in which houseguests compete while trying to get their marker closest to a certain point without going past it (although sometimes these competitions may differ from that format). The games are usually completed live, but at times, these are not complete by the end of the live show, and viewers can watch the outcome on the live feeds or on the following episode.

Endurance
Endurance competitions extend well past the time constraints of the one hour live program. They can be viewed by the live feeds on CBS.com. Houseguests generally line up in either a small platform, revolving cylinder, or in a cage. The last person standing becomes the Head of Household. Some competitions require houseguests to keep hold of a button. If they let go, a light goes out and they are eliminated, while others do not. Harsh weather conditions, such as rain sprinklers, falling leaves, or foamy "snow" are frequently included to make the competitions as grueling as possible. Other times, prizes are awarded to the first out of the competition to tempt the houseguests.

The Final HOH
The Final HOH competition occurs when there are only three remaining houseguests in the house. It is broken into three parts; each to be played on a different day. The first competition is always an endurance competition and usually requires the houseguests to hold onto their key to the house through some sort of grueling weather condition. The winner of round one automatically advances to round three, while the two remaining houseguests compete in the skill competition. The final round is a quiz competition (usually "Jury Statements" is played), and since Big Brother 11, has been played on finale night. The winner selects who to take to the final two, with the other houseguest being immediately evicted and seated with the jury outside in the studio. Being the most important HOH competition of the game, all houseguests are eligible to compete, even the outgoing Head of Household. The format for the final HOH competition in Big Brother 2 was different to later seasons. The first two rounds were point based and the two highest point-getters would compete in the final round.

During Big Brother: Over The Top, the Final HOH took place during the Final Four rather than the Final Three, as voting for the winner was between the Final Three instead of the Final Two, similar to Big Brother 1. The same rules applied, so the outgoing HOH was eligible to compete again, but this time there was only one sole competition, not split into any parts, which was a skill competition. The winner would automatically advance to the Final Three, and they would then choose someone else to join them, leaving the two "nominated" houseguests to participate in a Do or Die Competition for the final spot in the Final Three.

Perks of Head of Household
The Head of Household receives their own private bedroom, equipped with a private bathroom, bathtub, a luxurious suite, and from Big Brother 5 onwards, a "Spy Screen" allowing the Head of Household to watch the other houseguests in the comfort of their own room. The television does not have sound. The Head of Household also receives a gift basket with their favorite foods, a CD, and a letter from home. The Head of Household does not need to compete in the Have/Have Not Competition because they are guaranteed food for the week. They also get to compete for the Power of Veto.

Responsibilities of Head of Household
The Head of Household hosted the Food Competition, and then the Have/Have-Not Competition which replaced the Food Competition in Big Brother 11 and ended in Big Brother 15, explaining the rules to the other houseguests. They also call house meetings and announce when competitions are being played to the other houseguests. Most importantly, the Head of Household selects two houseguests to nominate for eviction. The procedure of nominations includes the Head of Household retrieving the house keys from the Memory Wall and placing them into the Nomination Box in the Head of Household room. The Head of Household places the keys of all safe houseguests into the box, while the two remaining keys are wrapped in a bag and left in the Head of Household room. The two houseguests without a key are nominated for eviction. However, starting with Big Brother 16, the nomination procedure is the opposite. Instead, the keys are turned and the faces of the people that are nominated are shown on the Memory Wall.

Trivia

 * The first ever Head of Household winner in Big Brother History was Mike Malin.
 * There are eleven HouseGuests who tie for the most official Head of Household wins in one season with 4 wins each. Out of the ten, six of them went on to win their respective seasons. The ten are:
 * Drew Daniel - Winner, Big Brother 5
 * Janelle Pierzina - 3rd Place, Big Brother 7
 * Hayden Moss - Winner, Big Brother 12
 * Rachel Reilly - Winner, Big Brother 13
 * Ian Terry - Winner, Big Brother 14
 * Aaryn Gries - 8th Place, Big Brother 15
 * Caleb Reynolds - 4th Place, Big Brother 16
 * Vanessa Rousso - 3rd Place, Big Brother 17
 * Steve Moses - Winner, Big Brother 17
 * Jillian MacLaughlin - Winner, Big Brother Canada 1
 * Demetres Giannistsos - TBD, Big Brother Canada 5
 * Big Brother 17 is the first season to have two houseguest win 4 HOH competitions. In this case, Vanessa Rousso and Steve Moses both won 4 HOH competitions.
 * Of all the houseguests who won their season, Jillian MacLaughlin was the only one who didn't win the final HOH competition.
 * Frankie Grande of Big Brother 16 is considered to hold the record for the most HOH wins at 5 wins. However because of the Battle of the Block twist where the Head of Household may get dethroned if their nominees won the BOB competition, Frankie was dethroned twice in weeks 1 and 4. Officially, Frankie has 3 total Head of Household reigns. It was stated on the Buddy.tv that dethroned Head of Household reigns don't count at all.
 * The shortest endurance Head of Household competition was "Mount HOH", the first part of the final HOH competition in Big Brother 7. It lasted 24 seconds.
 * The shortest quiz competition was "What the Bleep!?" in Big Brother 16, in which Derrick Levasseur won in just 1 question.
 * The longest endurance competition was "Pressure Cooker" in Big Brother 6, which lasted for 14 hours.
 * The longest quiz competition was "Getting Loopy" in Big Brother 16, which lasted over 11 questions and ran through the live show.
 * Only seven females have won three HOH competitions in the history of the show. They are Nakomis Dedmon, Janelle Pierzina, Rachel Reilly, Aaryn Gries, Nicole Franzel, Vanessa Rousso, and Liz Nolan.
 * Big Brother 2, Big Brother 5, Big Brother 12, and Big Brother 14 are all tied for fewest unique Head of Household, with only 6 different houseguests holding the Head of Household title in each season.
 * Big Brother 6, Big Brother 9, and Big Brother 16 are all tied for most unique Head of Household, with 10 different houseguests holding the Head of Household title in each season.
 * Big Brother 9 and Big Brother 16 both had twists that resulted in there being more than one Head of Household each week; thus, Big Brother 6 is the only season to achieve this record without having a twist resulting in more Heads of Household than usual.
 * Will Kirby is the only winner in the show's history to never become Head of Household (not including Eddie McGee, who played in Big Brother 1, which didn't have Head of Household).
 * The shortest Head of Household reign, not including Fast Forward Evictions or Double Evictions, was Michele Noonan's reign in Big Brother 11, which lasted for 2 days.
 * Chima Simone, Shane Meaney, Frankie Grande, and Ashleigh Wood are the only houseguests to complete a Head of Household reign, but have it not count because of a twist.
 * Big Brother 6 is the first season to have Jury Statements as part 3 of the final HOH competition. Since then, the rest of the seasons had this for the third part of the final HOH competition.