public vote to win. Minutes later, it was revealed that Josh had come in second place with 27% of the public vote, meaning Eddie had been crowned the winner and come in first place with a total of 59% of the public vote. Episodes Nominations table Production Development The series first launched in Netherlands, with editions in countries such as Germany proving to be hits with the public. Following the international success of the series, a bidding war for the rights to series engaged between CBS, ABC, and a cable network, with the series initially set to last 100 days. Mark Itkin, the senior vice president of William Morris, was quoted as saying, "I had no idea the bidding would be so hot. But the show has so many elements, from being on 100 days in a row to an Internet component that is especially attractive to networks." Ultimately, it was confirmed that the show had been picked up by CBS for an estimated $20 million. It was later reported that production costs added to an estimated $200,000 per episode. Paul Romer, co-creator of the original series, served as the Executive Producer for the series. On the concept, Romer stated "The show is all about human interactions. It's people who are, loving each other, hating each other. They fight, they cry, they laugh -- all emotions, we'll see in the house." In a later interview, Romer added "The first thing people think of when they hear the Big Brother idea are the sexual things, the nudity, the sexual activity in the house [...] That's not what the show is about." The series was one of the first reality shows to air, and required a crew of over 150 people. The first season of Big Brother featured two hosts, Julie Chen as the main host and Ian O'Malley as a co-host. On earning the job, O'Malley stated "I didn’t really know what it was. This is the ground floor of reality television. [But] SAG went on strike [and it was] a very lengthy and very painful strike for many folks." O'Malley was later released from his contract after only one month on the series; he was bought out of his contract, which he later cited as a "relief". Chen, who hoped to be a part of 60 Minutes in the future, initially turned down the offer to host the series as