The Reality TV Controversies

BACKGROUND NOTE

In 1926, John Logie Baird demonstrated the first television (TV), a black and white model, which marked the beginning of a communication revolution in the world. Regular scheduled telecasts first began in England in 1936. The TV market grew at a healthy pace in the late 1940s. By 1949, there were over 100 TV stations and over one million families owning TV sets in US. By 1951, the number of TV owning families in the US increased to over 100 million. After color TV was launched in the 1950s, the TV market grew quickly across the world. The popularity of TV over other communication media was attributed to the impact created by visual images.

During its initial years TV shows were primarily adaptations of existing radio shows. However, in the mid 1950s, TV shows created a distinctive identity for themselves in the entertainment and communication media. In the next two decades TV media extended its roots to all corners of the world and became an inseparable part of almost every household.

The advent of satellite broadcasting technology during the mid 1970s transformed the entire TV industry. It now became possible for TV networks to show their programs all over the world. In the next couple of years, the satellite TV industry established itself strongly, reaching out to millions of subscribers all over the world. By the 1980s, TV had established itself as one of the most effective and powerful media, generating huge revenues through advertisements, with access to the drawing rooms of billions of households.

Over the decades, TV became an integral part of the advertising strategies of companies the world over. Companies either sponsored programs or developed 'between-the-program' advertisements or sponsorship rights. A wide variety of programs were offered through a large number of TV channels, targeting different sections of society. TV programming content worldwide has been mostly dominated by trends in the Western countries, specially the US (see Table I for Eras of TV Programming).

TABLE I
ERAS OF TV PROGRAMING

TV programming changed constantly to adapt to changing times and viewer preferences. Based on the time frame, TV programming was divided into seven eras that constituted:

Vaudeo (1948-1957): Era of sitcoms (situational comedy) including comedy specials based on radio shows, ethnic sitcoms, domestic sitcoms and others.
Adult Westerns Era (1957-1960): Era of telefilms.
Idiot Sitcom Era (1961-late 1960s): Era of magic, barnyard, monstrous and escapist comedies.
Relevance Era (late 1960s-1975): The period of TV renaissance that gave rise to quality TV.
ABC Fantasy Era (1975-1980): The era of escapist dramas and sitcoms.
Soap Operas and Real People Era (1980s): The era of prime time soaps (daily serials), reality TV shows and domestic sitcoms.
Era of Choice (1990s): Era of drama, action, sitcoms, reality TV, sports and news magazines.

Source: www.montana.edu

By the late 1990s, TV viewership seemed to be saturating. As a result, competition between various TV channels intensified. With almost all channels offering similar stuff such as soaps, sitcoms and do-it-yourself infotainment programs, companies realized the need for innovative and novel programs that would attract users to their channel. Reality TV programs were soon identified as a powerful method for attracting viewers.

REALITY TV PROGRAMS

TABLE II ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF REALITY TV

REALITY TV - THE DEBATE

THE FUTURE

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

EXHIBIT I GENRES OF REALITY TV PROGRAMMING

EXHIBIT II MOST POPULAR AND CRITICIZED REALITY TV SHOWS

ADDITIONAL READINGS & REFERENCES: