There seems to be a lot of reality television shows on now a days. Earlier this week, I came home and turned on the television and Dancing With The Stars was playing. I changed the channel only to find another reality based program called The Sing Off. I changed the channel again, but this time to The History Channel and IRT:Deadliest Roads was airing. I never really noticed it but many programs being aired consist of the reality theme. I tried to think back to the first reality program that I can remember and it seems to be Survivor. I did some researching and found out that the show is on its 23rd season. I thought about this a little more and now I understand why there are so many of reality programs, profit. Television networks make money by selling advertising commercial space to companies.
These commercials are only effective if people are watching so television programs get viewer ratings or more specifically a count of how many viewers watch that particular program. If the ratings are high, then networks seek to make more money by creating different variations of the successful program, which creates a cycle. Other networks see the success and copy the program's format which leads to many channels having similar themed programs or content homogenization.
Checking the FIOS program menu it was interesting to see how many programs were reality based, programs like American Pickers, America Restoration, Pawn Stars, Swamp People, Kate Plus 8, Jersey Shore, The Braxtons, just to name a few. I thought about why people like watching these kinds of program and I think that people in general are voyeuristic, we gain pleasure from viewing others. Reality TV allows us the ability to view people in a “raw” state. The actions supposedly are not scripted so it appeals to viewers that want a form of escapism after a long day, viewers find pleasure in living life through a reality show personality.
Reality programming also allows the viewer to constantly evaluate and compare their lives based on the conflicts in the programming. It's funny how many people deny watching reality shows but someone's watching them cause there's so many of them on air. These reality personalities are now considered celebrities and people get annoyed by the stupid things they do, like the Kim Kardashian divorce. I personally, like informative reality shows like America Pickers and Swamp People but I can't stand shows like The Jersey Shore and The Real World. I feel that the The Jersey Shore and The Real World offer nothing good to the viewer. Viewers that like these shows often internalize the messages these shows send which causes a problem for societal values. I can see evidence as many students are referring to women as “grenades”. What annoys me most is that people like Kate Gosselin and Kim Kardashian develop these huge egos which to a certain extent sends a message to viewers that their actions are okay.
We live in a capitalistic society, so the profit motive influences decisions made about programming content. Right now it seems as reality based programs are getting one of the highest ratings so the vicious cycle continues. Viewers, as a whole, find excitement in watching these shows and until we find more pleasure from information based programs we are at the mercy of the reality shows.
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