Many people question what’s happening to British society now that the era of reality TV has taken over our TV. People are wondering why talented actors and storytellers are being increasingly replaced by fame-hungry wannabes acting out real life. While some revolt against this new age of reality TV dominance others are quite taken and engrossed by the prospect of another season of Big Brother or The Only Way is Essex.
As a producer or advertiser the reality TV shows can seen as gold dust, even if there is a prominent divide in the population. Why can this be seen to be the case when so many people hate the thought of reality TV?There are three key factors we could attribute to its success.
The thought of fame for the average Joe is seen to be well out of reach, however thanks to reality TV the dream of fame is now achievable. With more and more people year in year out wanting to become famous, program providers are being inundated with willing participants to fill airtime for free.
With the stereotypical traits of the characters on reality TV being so widely known, the TV shows can be seen as a perfect opportunity for an advertiser.With 1.5 million or 70% making up the female viewing population of reality TV shows, half of this number are females aged between 15-34.
With advertisers having already a large target audience of certain consumers, advertisers will be pleased to know that other research suggests that women who also watch reality TV are also very materialistic and are easily persuaded by marketing.
Finally, as advertisers tap into this winning market, the consequent demand for reality TV shows has been responded to by program makers, and this demand, in addition to no requirement for scripts of paid actors, makes reality TV more appealing for program makers to create. Watching reality TV online or via your TV, one thing that must be remembered is a TV Licence.
All relevant information can be found on the TV Licensing website.