http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=314&issue=114
Important quotes from the article:
"The kinds of programmes known as ‘reality TV’ form a very mixed bag. They include what are essentially game shows, such as Big Brother, ‘docusoaps’ such as Airport and ‘true crime’ shows such as Crimewatch UK."
There is a wide range of documentaries and therefore makes the genre accessible to a wide audience.
"The popularity of such programmes is located in the shifting economics of broadcasting, which involves increasing competition and a move from the search for a mass audience to a niche audience. Television began as a technology that could only sustain a small number of channels. The imperative was to try to attract the largest possible number of people to a channel, and programme types such as the soap opera, the situation comedy and the variety show were developed precisely to generate this ‘mass’ audience."
This is explaining that the more channels that were created, the more competition there was for the mass audience and niche channels targeting niche audiences. This meant that terrestial channels such as BBC and ITV had to create progammes that targeted both niche and mass audiences- the reality genre- which made it very popular.
They used many techniques to gain wider audiences:
"find new programme types that could still gather a mass audience but which were much less expensive than the traditional formats";
"making new programmes that are quite like old programmes that were a hit or by reusing a format that has succeeded in another broadcasting market";
"commercialise programmes more fully, for example by pushing associated merchandise such as books and DVDs, and using the same material across different platforms";
"develop programme types that appealed to particularly desirable audience segments"
"It was this combination of factors that led to the rise of the wide variety of reality TV shows. Such shows are relatively cheap, and some are very cheap indeed. There is no need to pay writers or actors, no endless rehearsals, no need for elaborate sets, no need for rights clearance for music, and so on. Using ‘ordinary’ people, and later minor and declining celebrities, is a cheap way to make television:
Reality programming provides a cheap alternative to drama. Typically, an hour-long drama can cost approximately $1.5m (£875,000) per hour, whereas reality programmes can cost as little as $200,000 (£114,000) per hour."
It could be argued that the reason the genre was popular was because:
New fresh idea
Appealed to a wide audience
There was a variety accessible due to its production was cheap and easy
"The flood of ‘documentary’ films about passing a driving test, working in the air transport industry, looking after animals, and the flood of makeover programmes about houses, clothes and body shape, all fit this economic dynamic exactly."
The doumentary element made it seem very real to audiences allowing them to identify with characters and situations. The subjects would very much appeal to people in society reflection social issues and morals.
Big Brother-internationally known, created in Neatherland- The company sold the idea making money. The show however is very expensive e.g. staff, cameras, celeb fees...
Why is this genre regarded as real?
Fly on the wall documentaries- vouyeristc
Characters are not famous or actors- everyday people
No scripts or rehersals- "live" action
Mediation
First process is selecting:
"The process of manipulation begins long before the shooting starts. The selection of contestants is the first hurdle"
"‘Ordinary’ contestants get a fee to cover expenses—for these contestants, a major motive often seems to be a desire to become a celebrity and to work in television. Certainly some people, Jade Goody for example, have seen their lives transformed by success."
It could be argued the producers select the "fame hungry" as they will act abnormal or stand out deliberatly or try to be overtly entertaining for audience purpose - which arguably is unrealistic in life.
"In fact, the people we get to see are the product of an elaborate process of selection in which the producers choose a group that they hope will produce good television"
The original producer of the show said: "There are three crucial factors in the production of Big Brother: casting, casting and casting"
"The process of selection for the 2007 show, which closed in February, was rather simpler, which may reflect reduced public interest" Is there a possible link between the more effort put into the mediation process the more popular the show is?
"The contrived nature of the environment, with many of the determinants (eg work) and distractions (eg television) that characterise our everyday lives removed, acts strongly to prioritise personal interactions based upon taste and interest. This probability is intensified through the interventions of the disembodied Big Brother himself and the tasks set for the participants" Isolation and the removal of distractions intensify the show and create more drama!
"In order to achieve dramatic narratives, the producers ruthlessly edit the raw footage" key word being "narratives"- produces are trying to impose ideologies in there text but present them as real. Editing is another process of creating narrative.
"Just as much as anything else on television, Big Brother is constructed to attract and hold an audience which will, in a commercial context, be sold to the highest bidder. It uses ‘real’ people in certain kinds of ‘real’ situations, but it chooses and manipulates them in order to produce narrative, drama and conflict. "
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