Understanding Reality TV

Andy Warhol predicted in 1968 that everyone would be famous for 15

minutes. Contemporary observers such as David Weinberger suggest
that Internet technologies will make everyone famous to 15 people. But
Reality TV shows confirm to viewers that anyone can become famous to
an audience of millions well almost anyone
Genre
Reality television is a hybrid genre. It is like a documentary as it is a
factual form concerned with investigating human behaviour and
relationships using fly-on-the-wall camera techniques. The dialogue is
unscripted and actual events are shown, featuring ordinary people not
professional actors.
The hybrid nature of the genre comes from the way ordinary people are
put into situations from other genres such as sitcom, as in Channel 4s
Big Brother where all the action takes place in one sitcom style location.

Reality TV is like drama in the way it is edited for interpersonal drama

based on detailed exploration of character. The live element of the show
gives it unpredictability, but usually makes less interesting viewing than
the edited highlights.
It is like a game show in being based on competition, where contestants
compete to stay on the show, and win a prize, even if they are called
housemates by Big Brother.
Reality TV is like a talk show as it is a way of reflecting on social issues
for example contestants can react to someone who does not share the
same social background or sexual orientation, and create a debate in the
press as well as on the show. Also confession is usually an important
aspect of reality TV shows such as the Big Brother Diary room. A
Reality TV show is often mediated by a presenter(s) who stokes up the
competition between contestants and steers the audience towars the
interpersonal drama.

Reality TV is like lifestyle TV with its emphasis on showing that a person

can change and learn from each other.
One of the most important aspects of Reality TV is its unpredictability
nobody knows what is going to happen.
The top Reality TV titles in Sept 2009 are:

The X factor

Strictly Come Dancing

Big Brother series 10

Britains Got Talent

Dancing on Ice

The Apprentice

Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Reality TV Codes and conventions
The main codes and conventions of Reality TV are:

Controlled environment, but unpredictable outcome

Many situations work on deprivation participants are deprived

of basic things

Contestants/guests are ordinary people and/or celebrities

Non scripted material

Live and edited footage

Use of voice over narration by a presenter to link short segments

and deliver an ongoing narrative

Controlled tasks

Use of character types e.g the villain such as Nasty Nick

Bateman who plotted to get other contestants to vote against
each other in the first series of Big Brother

Selection of contestants to annoy each other and create the

equivalent of dramatic conflict

Emphasis on outgoing personalities who can be seen by the

audience as ordinary

Use of confessional to gain an insight into character

A created realism that simulates the linear aspect of everyday

life

The situations are controlled to create television

entertainment

All seeing cameras in multi camera set ups

Reality TV in society

The influence of reality TV extends beyond the screen. The everpresent

hidden cameras that observe the contestants mirror the continuous
surveillance that is evident in our streets and public places.
Reality TV has become an important part of celebrity culture as it creates
and maintains celebs such as Jade Goody, and reinvigorates faded
personalities in reality shows such as Im a Celebrity Get Me out of Here.
Reality TV exploits the unpredictability and excitement that other areas
of television have lost.
Reality TV History
Technology
In Britain Reality TV came to our screens in the 1990s as many new
channels, via cable and satellite, offered opportunities for new
programming. Technology brought the digitalisation of transmission,
cameras, audio and video editing which opened up whole new
possibilities for these nonstop 24 hour channels. New smaller digital
cameras and radio microphones meant that it was now easy to film people
for very long periods in all types of situations. The introduction of non
linear computer editing meant that video footage could be turned
round in a very short time. New methods of storing video on long
duration tapes, and later on computer hard discs meant that cameras
could record for 24hours and the recorded material could then be edited.
The term Reality TV was first given to shows such as the BBC
Crimewatch UK, and Police, Camera, Action where surveillance footage,
reconstruction of crime scenes, and studio presentation combined to give
the impression of real people involved in real situations. The hybrid
nature of these programmes to include elements of news, surveillance
footage and police drama contributed to the development of Reality TV
as a genre.
The scope of Reality TV expanded to include constructed factual
programmes such as Castaway where a situation was devised for the sole
purpose of making a television programme.

Reality TV grew from a combination of the more conventional docusoap

programmes such as Airport, and the entertainment elements of live
action in a controlled situation such as Castaway, with the added
ingredients of 24 hour surveillance from the police camera shows.
Reality TV is now a fully fledged genre that covers most of the fly-onthe-wall programming, and programming involving ordinary people. In
high profile cases such as The X factor and Strictly Come Dancing it
replaces traditional entertainment shows in broadcasting schedules.
The genre now covers a wide range of programming formats, both
factual and entertainment. I think it is worth considering the whole
genre under two headings: factual, and entertainment.
The factual formats are:

Observation/Surveillance programmes where a group of

strangers are put in a house or another environment, and the
audience watch how they interact as they live together for a
period of a time. Popular examples include Big Brother and
Survivor

Documentary style fly-on-the-wall programming in which

cameras are set up and follow unscripted situations as they
happen. It is argued that this type of format provides the most
realistic programming. Examples include Airport; The Cruise,
Hotel, Driving School; Childrens Hospital, Vets in Practice, Air
Force Afghanistan

The entertainment formats are:

Programmes created to entertain a large audience involving

putting real people in manufactured situations and filming what
happens. The entertainment values are increased with a
competitive element and audience involvement using interactive
voting to eliminate contestants. Examples include: Strictly Come
Dancing, The X Factor, Britains Got Talent, The Apprentice.

Lifestyle self improvement/makeover programmes involving

real people in real situations undergoing some sort of trauma in
their life with regard to their appearance, their house, their
garden, which is then transformed and made better by experts.
Examples include What Not to Wear, Changing Rooms, House
Doctor, How to Look Good Naked.

Audiences and reality TV

In the UK most viewers consider Reality TV to be the top entertainment
shows such as X factor and Big Brother, and this would be the tabloid

definition. However the genre appeals to more widespread audiences

than just these shows.
Audiences love Reality TV for two main reasons:
First audiences can vote on many entertainment shows, usually to exclude
someone from the BB house or X factor or Strictly Come dancing. This is
the interactive factor that gives audiences the impression they are
contributing.
Secondly audiences can identify with contestants because they are
ordinary people taking part in a television programme. This is
particularly true of the factual formats and make-over formats.
In the past the public have been included in television programmes but
typically as a passive and often unseen audience still true in pure
entertainment programmes such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, and
quiz/entertainment shows like Qi and Have I Got News For You.
Presenters like a live audience to laugh at their jokes, but often the TV
format is to keep the audience behind the camera in Light
entertainment this is a hang over from radio entertainment shows that are
recorded with a live audience.
Both factual and entertainment Reality TV shows encourage audience
participation at both levels as voters and on some shows as contestants.
Theory
Students should be familiar with some modern audience effects theories
such as the Uses and Gratifications model, but not the hypodermic
model which is just too out of date.
Researchers in the US have found a strong link between reality TV
viewership, social networking site usage, and celebrity identity
formation. Also Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the
University of Hawaii report a statistical correlation between heavy
reality-TV watching and social network usage, ranging from time spent
per session to the prevalence of promiscuous friending. Are you on
your way to becoming an online Idol?
See http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=2172
Activity

1 Reality Television is very popular. However Channel 4s Big Brother the show that really defined the genre of Reality TV- has been axed,
does this mean the genre is in decline discuss .
2 In groups ask students to discuss how interactive an audience really is
for a particular show, such as X factor, compare the type of interactivity
to other interactive media formats on the internet such as Facebook,
Blogs and Youtube.
3 Discuss: how can television audiences for Reality TV become more
active?
4 Would you take part in a make-over show? If so which one?
(Knowledge of Reality TV texts is very important to use as an
exam topic).
Representations and realism in Reality TV
Under the heading of representation is the concept of realism in television
programmes. Reality TV programmes show us real life events involving
real people in unscripted situations.
A key area of study is in the consideration of how real is this version of
reality? Reality TV formats are constructed, and audience viewpoint is
manipulated. It is important to examine how this is achieved.

The appearance of reality is set up with the use of a real

location, or fully functional three dimensional set, such as the
BB house.

The timescale is real, as it is the same as day to day life there

is no film style compression of time, except in fully flagged
edited sections.

The contestants, housemates, guests, participants wear their

own clothes, use their own names and can be seen to be just
like us; even celebs have to be just themselves.

It appears that outcomes are left to the parameters of the

format, which may include audience participation, and are not
directed by the producers this promotes realism with the feel
and spontaneity of a live broadcast

Psychological realism is attained through devices such as the

confessional, putting people in difficult but real situations (the
Apprentice)

Values and ethical issues are raised by this issue of realism.

Participants on Reality shows can be humiliated in order to

provide conflict or drama on the show. Audiences generally find

this an acceptable and often enjoyable aspect of the show, but
how far should a show go in order to attract audiences?
Activity
Discuss different shows to consider how real they seem, and what are the
elements that make a show real.
Institutions
In the UK Reality TV formats are produced by commercial and Public
Service broadcasters. The government owned but independently run
Channel 4 attracts its largest audiences for Big Brother, and this has
been a very important cornerstone of the channels schedules. It not only
fills a large amount of airtime but generates a lot of press coverage, and
inspires spin off programmes.
The Public Service BBC created and transmits on Saturday evening the
hugely successful Strictly Come Dancing a hybrid of a game show format
derived from Bruce Forsythes The Generating Game, and the old
fashioned but popular ballroom dancing show Come dancing. The BBC
invented the factual make-over Reality TV shows, and these are an
important part of the BBC schedules. Similar ideas, such as Wife Swap
have emerged on other channels.
ITV has the enormously successful X factor which dominates the Saturday
evening schedules, and attracts a substantial advertising revenue even
so ITV is currently not making healthy profits. This shows how difficult it is
to make money out of broadcasting alone as audiences find other ways of
using their screen time such as online activity.
Reality TV shows generate good income from audiences, and from the
income from the phone lines used to vote on the show, but the
entertainment shows are costly to produce. After several voting scandals
one cost ITV a very big fine the rules have been tightened up to restrict
the cost of calls.
Media institutions like Reality TV as they can be cheap to produce
when members of the public are the main contributors to shows, and they
attract attention the press and appeal to audiences. However the formats
need constant refreshment to capture big audiences, and as we can see
with the demise of Big Brother new ideas are always needed.
Activity

Discuss the way institutions can use Reality TV shows as cheap

programming.
People watching
By its very nature Reality TV is providing a type of voyeuristic
experience. The audience is eaves dropping and looking at other peoples
lives even though they have agreed to be looked at. It is often the
conversations caught on the sound track from the personal radio mics that
are the most revealing. Participants have to wear mics at all times, and
occasionally forget they are being recorded for sound, and so reveal
secrets or indiscretions.
Some of the most watched segments of Reality TV shows such as Im A
Celebrity Get Me Out of Here are where the participants have to undergo
some ordeal such as eat maggots or survive an invasion of ants. Clips
from these segments appear on Youtube.
What is the attraction of seeing someone suffering for our entertainment?
Think of the gladiators in ancient Rome.
Definition
Voyeurism is the pleasure obtained looking at someone or something
while unseen. This may have a sexual context, but the pleasure really is in
observing activity without being seen.
It is useful to explore the nature of voyeurism in relation to Reality TV
and the concerns that give rise to this type of viewing experience. Some
contestants manipulate the fact that they are being observed to gain
prominence, or to get some sort of advantage.
Activity
Discuss the types of people recruited for Reality TV. Do the producers go
for stereotypes? Name shows with stereotypes?
How important is the selection of types of participants to create tensions
and drama?
Taste and decency issues

Some Reality shows such as Wife Swap and Ibiza Uncovered push the
boundaries of taste and decency and question the values they present to
a viewing audience.
Activity
Discuss the regulation of taste and decency issues
(http://www.ofcom.org.uk/) and codes that terrestrial broadcasters should
follow, and the more lax values of some satellite broadcasters.
Taste and decency regulation does not cover the internet so how can
broadcasters promote cutting edge reality shows in such a constricted
environment, or are safeguards not only necessary but desirable?
Money!
An important aspect of Reality TV, that causes discussion and criticism,
is that people, and Z list celebs, can make money from appearing in
reality television programmes. Are people being paid to be exploited by
the television company?
The winner of Big Brother 10 (2009) after 93 days and 23 housemates
was Sophie who took home 71,000. You could argue that 71K for 93
days incarceration in public is not over generous, even though it works out
at 763 a day. The last night is nicely chronicled in Heidi Stephens blog
on the Guardian website
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2009/sep/04/bigbrotherreality-tv
Some participants have becomes celebs and gone on to make substantial
amounts of money. But for the occasional Jade Goody there must be
many more of those 23 housemates who have no job and who may wish
they had not bothered with Reality TV certainly an area worth
researching.
Activity
Does a contestant by agreeing to appear nearly naked in a make over
show compromise his or her integrity, and sell their sense of self for a few
pounds? Research and then discuss in relation to particular Reality TV
shows.
Is there too much Reality TV?

Satellite television channels are homing in on Reality TV and using the

concept to link with a website and attract audiences. Some of these
stretch the definition of the genre.
Zone Reality says on its website http://www.realitytv.co.uk/ that it is the
only TV channel dedicated to showing reality programming 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. Zone Reality says:
it is inspired by real life drama, crime, the bizarre and the unexplained.
Bringing you sensational unscripted programmes to stir your emotions
and provide incredible insight that will keep you hooked.
From fast paced, sensational series to heart felt, emotional
documentaries. Zone Reality offers only real life programming.
Whether this is true or not you can decide from this clip from the
schedule.

And you can get clips and screen savers sent straight to your mobile a
good example of multi media convergence.
For a gossipy US site about celebs in reality shows see
http://www.realitytvworld.com/

The Guardian, showing it will go to any lengths to attract a young

audience, has pages of online content dedicated to Reality TV
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/reality-tv

For a list of current Reality TV shows go to :

http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/reality
Reality TV contexts

The way Reality TV has been exploited by the Press throughout the world
is one of the major contextual stories around this genre.
In September 2009 this villa in Istanbul was where nine Turkish girls were
held captive for two months believing they were in a Reality TV show. The
women had responded to an ad seeking contestants to a Big Brother type
show. Some of the ways in which Reality TV has invaded peoples lives
can be seen in a comment from the mother of one of the girls:
We were not after the money but we thought our daughter could have
the chance of becoming famous if she took part in the contest, one
captives mother is quoted as saying. But they have duped us all. The
Guardian 10/09/2009
The BBC takes a bleaker view of the impact of Reality TV in a Newsnight
programme when Stephen Smith asks
What is the connection between New Labour and TV talent shows?
Apart from Prime Minister Gordon Browns solicitous enquiry after the
state of Susan Boyles health, I mean.

The answer is that the whole rigmarole of voting for your favourite
performer has been imported from reality TV lock, stock and barrel into
the governments most cherished area of policy -education.
Believe it or not, some would-be head teachers are now required to make
a pitch for the job in front of members of the student body.
In agonies of uncertainty, they must wait to see which way the pupils will
turn their ink-blotched thumbs.
A decade of Labour rule, and of Simon Cowell on our screens, have
reached a fitting climax of sorts then in The Head Factor.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8224687.stm
Activity
Research news stories related to Reality TV shows. Make a list, and put
the stories in order of the ones you think have the most news impact.
Case study
Big Brother at http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/index.html?day=94

The obvious case study for 2009 is Big Brother because Channel 4
announced on August 26th 2009 that in 2010 it will axe the Reality TV
show after 11 years.
See The Guardian website for full history and lots of info about BB
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/bigbrother

An American website that takes rt seriously is Realitycube.com

www.realitycube.com/reality-tv-rules.aspx
For a visitor from Mars it describes BB:
A reality show that has gained much viewership is the Big Brother series
which involves ordinary people living together in one house for a specific
number of days. Depending on their obedience to the house rules and
other circumstances, the participants are gradually eliminated until only
one remains. With this reality TV show, viewers get a glimpse of how the

housemates of different personalities live inside the house from sunup to

sundown without television and stereo. Their ability to adjust to their
housemates away from their usual company of family and friends are
really put to the test. Viewers are also involved as they get to vote for
their favourite participant during the entire series. Great rewards are at
stake here including a huge sum of money as well as a chance to become
celebrities in their own country.
Further research:
http://www.videojug.com/interview/reality-tv-basics-2#what-are-somesurprising-influences-on-reality-television