BetterBBLive improves the Big Brother live-feed experience on Paramount+ without replacing or bypassing the official player. It adds a floating control panel directly to Paramount+ so viewers can switch between the four individual cameras and Multi-View without returning to the show page. Because it runs inside Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari, Paramount+ continues to handle account authentication, subscriptions, video delivery, and DRM playback normally.
When a Paramount+ Big Brother page opens, BetterBBLive adds an optional overlay containing:
- One-click links for Camera 1, Camera 2, Camera 3, Camera 4, and Multi-View.
- A saved startup-camera preference that opens the chosen feed from the main Big Brother page.
- A saved volume slider that is reapplied when Paramount+ creates or replaces its video element.
- Optional audio compression to reduce sudden loud peaks using the browser's Web Audio API.
- Focus mode, based on the BBLF Enhancer layout, which hides Paramount+ navigation, metadata, and footer elements while keeping playback controls accessible.
- A video screenshot button that crops the visible browser-tab capture to the player and downloads it through the browser's normal download settings.
- A toolbar button that shows or hides the BetterBBLive panel.
The extension periodically checks Paramount+ links for updated camera addresses and retains known working feed URLs as fallbacks. It does not collect Paramount+ credentials, subscription information, viewing history, or screenshot contents.
- Google Chrome
- Microsoft Edge
- Mozilla Firefox
- Apple Safari 14 or newer on macOS
- Switch between Camera 1-4 and Multi-View.
- Remember the preferred startup feed and volume.
- Discover updated Big Brother feed links from the Paramount+ page when available.
- Focus mode hides the Paramount+ header, footer, metadata, and Live TV menu.
- Capture the visible video area to
Downloads/BetterBBLive Screenshotsusing the browser's download settings. - Click the BetterBBLive toolbar icon to show or hide the control panel.
Paramount+ controls stream quality. Audio compression is opt-in and depends on the browser allowing Web Audio processing for the current Paramount+ player; if the protected player rejects it, the extension leaves playback unchanged. Paramount+ may also blank protected video pixels in screenshots.
GitHub Actions produces three packages:
betterbblive-chrome-edge-v1.0.2.zipbetterbblive-firefox-v1.0.2.zipbetterbblive-safari-source-v1.0.2.zip
Extract the appropriate ZIP before following the instructions below.
- Extract
betterbblive-chrome-edge-v1.0.2.zipto a permanent folder. Do not delete that folder after installation. - Open
chrome://extensionsin Chrome. - Turn on Developer mode in the upper-right corner.
- Click Load unpacked.
- Select the extracted folder containing
manifest.json. - Optionally pin BetterBBLive from Chrome's Extensions menu.
- Open the Paramount+ Big Brother page, sign in, and allow BetterBBLive access if Chrome requests it.
- Extract
betterbblive-chrome-edge-v1.0.2.zipto a permanent folder. - Open
edge://extensionsin Edge. - Turn on Developer mode.
- Click Load unpacked.
- Select the extracted folder containing
manifest.json. - Optionally pin BetterBBLive from Edge's Extensions menu.
- Open the Paramount+ Big Brother page and sign in.
Firefox requires extensions to be signed for normal permanent installation. The development package can be loaded temporarily for testing:
- Extract
betterbblive-firefox-v1.0.2.zip. - Open
about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefoxin Firefox. - Click Load Temporary Add-on.
- Select
manifest.jsoninside the extracted folder. - Open the Paramount+ Big Brother page and sign in.
The temporary installation is removed when Firefox closes. A permanent public release must be submitted to Mozilla Add-ons for signing.
Safari Web Extensions must be packaged inside a macOS app using Xcode. This step requires a Mac with a current version of Xcode.
- Extract
betterbblive-safari-source-v1.0.2.zipon the Mac. - Open Terminal and run:
xcrun safari-web-extension-packager /path/to/extracted/betterbblive-safari-source \
--app-name BetterBBLive \
--bundle-identifier org.jrblaze.betterbblive- Open the generated Xcode project.
- Select an Apple development team under Signing & Capabilities.
- Build and run the containing BetterBBLive app.
- Open Safari and choose Safari > Settings > Extensions.
- Enable BetterBBLive and grant access to
paramountplus.com. - Open the Paramount+ Big Brother page and sign in.
Public Safari distribution requires Apple signing and packaging through Xcode. A finished Safari app cannot be built on Windows.
After replacing extension files with a newer version:
- Chrome: open
chrome://extensionsand click BetterBBLive's reload button. - Edge: open
edge://extensionsand click BetterBBLive's reload button. - Firefox: remove the temporary add-on and load its
manifest.jsonagain. - Safari: rebuild the generated Xcode project and restart the containing app.
Refresh any open Paramount+ tabs after updating.
The workflow at .github/workflows/build-extension.yml validates and packages all three browser versions when a v* tag is pushed or when the workflow is run manually from GitHub Actions.
The original Electron prototype remains under src/, but Paramount+ rejects its embedded player with DRM error 3304. The browser extension is the supported project path because it runs inside the browser's authenticated, DRM-capable Paramount+ tab.
BetterBBLive's Focus mode adapts the BBLF Enhancer CSS created by GitHub user liquid8d in the liquid8d/browser-scripts project. Their work supplied the original approach for hiding Paramount+ interface elements and prioritizing the live-video player and controls.
See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for the full attribution and licensing note.
BetterBBLive is available under the MIT License, except for separately identified third-party material described in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.