Compare and contrast two different 'reality TV' shows and their associated web sites, discuss how they provide a platform for avenues of communication, marketing and interactivity. How are the audiences crafted and understood for each of these shows?
Compare and contrast two different 'reality TV' shows and their associated web sites, discuss how they provide a platform for avenues of communication, marketing and interactivity. How are the audiences crafted and understood for each of these shows? Provide specific examples.
Today, it seems you can't turn on the television without coming across reality programming. Shows such as Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Average Joe, The Bachelor, Wife Swap, What Not To Wear, The Apprentice and Survivor have become increasing popular with both the American and Australian television audiences (Teven, 2004).
Not so long ago, reality TV was ridiculed for being the cheap and cheesy new kid on the programming block. Now, reality TV accounts for the most successful new television shows (USATODAY.com, 2004). As a result of this increased popularity, the industry has been forced to take this genre seriously. This popularity is reason enough to give reality TV the critical attention that it so richly deserves (Mhando, 2002).
European television programmers were the first to develop the concept of reality television. Then the American networks purchased some of these formats and brought them back to the United States. They also created some original formats themselves. Since the 1990's, reality TV has become a major phenomenon with most major networks screening some form of realty programming (Wells and Tibaldi, 2002).
According to Mhando (2002:187), the supposed purpose of reality TV is to "place 'ordinary' people in 'extraordinary; situations and allows other people (including the crew) to watch them react". Wells and Tibaldi (2002:189) explain that this kind of programming differs from earlier so-called "reality programming such as Weddings and RPA which followed more of a socio-documentary model".
I have chosen possibly two of the most influential reality television programs of which to base a discussion of this genre: Survivor and Big Brother. These two programs are the templates for which many copycat formats strive to imitate. Both have a multitude of successful seasons under their prospective belts, indicating that these are formats that work.
Survivor was created by Mark Burnett and first aired on American television in the year 2000. It's hard to imagine five years ago, it would have been "Mark who?" Since then Burnett has filmed nine successful seasons of the popular program in locations spanning the world from Borneo to Australia, Africa, Marqueses, Thailand, the Amazon, the Pearl Islands, Panama and now the island of Vanuatu.
"Deprived of basic comforts, exposed to the harsh natural elements, your fate at the mercy of strangers...who would you become?" (CBS Survivors Home, 2004). The premise of Survivor that for 39 days, 18 (American) strangers will be stranded on a remote island in Vanuatu. With no food or water and only the clothes on their backs, the contestants are forced to come together and "carve out a new existence, using their collective wits to make surviving in their rugged and primitive environment a little easier" (CBS Survivors Home, 2004).
Each episode of Survivor comprises of three days of life on the island. One day is essentially a rest day, where contestants work on forming a cooperative society, building shelter, and collecting food and water. Another day is where contestants compete against each other in a Reward Challenge. The winner of this challenge will receive things to make life on the island more bearable, such as matches, blankets, fishing equipment or even, a meal. The losers receive nothing. On the third and final day, compete in an Immunity Challenge, which is followed by a visit to Tribal Council. At Tribal Council, Survivors vote to send one contestant home.
One-by-one contestants are sent home until only two Survivors remain. At this point, the seven most recently eliminated contestants return to form the final Tribal Council and decide who will become the Sole Survivor and win US1 million dollars.
The Survivor 9:Vanuatu website is one of the most elaborate web sites I have ever seen dedicated to a television program. The home page (see Appendix 1) is essentially the base from where you begin your experience.
From here you can find a range of information which attempts to appeal to viewers sense of participation. Including: ...
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One-by-one contestants are sent home until only two Survivors remain. At this point, the seven most recently eliminated contestants return to form the final Tribal Council and decide who will become the Sole Survivor and win US1 million dollars.
The Survivor 9:Vanuatu website is one of the most elaborate web sites I have ever seen dedicated to a television program. The home page (see Appendix 1) is essentially the base from where you begin your experience.
From here you can find a range of information which attempts to appeal to viewers sense of participation. Including: the time slot for Survivor the television program (relevant for US residents only), photo of the current Survivor evictee and numerous links to Survivor cast profiles, opinion polls, various video footage, the Vanuatu tourism site, the Survivor Live Internet Talk Show, competitions and the official Survivor Chat Room.
Big Brother first came to Australia in 2001. The format consists of twelve strangers (the housemates) who are specifically chosen to undergo the experience of a lifetime. During the duration of three months they are to live together, eat together and be filmed together. They are filmed from the moment they walk into the house until the moment they leave. Microphones pick up every word that is spoken. Cameras, both hidden and visible can see every act committed.
The cameras are rolling 24 hours, seven days a week and can be seen on the Big Brother official website. Only significant and entertaining portions are shown on the 30-minute television time slot and there are many specials on during the week to keep audiences entertained, an example being the Adults Only Specials.
Each week nominations are taken and soon after evictions of housemates are carried out, with the public phone and SMS voting to decide who should be evicted from the house. Aside from livening up television history and entertainment, the housemates are guaranteed a great deal of money - $250,000 (Season 1), to be last housemate standing (Big Brother Online, 2001). Throughout the show there are many surprises, activities and hardships, which force the viewers to expect the impossible, but continue to enjoy the program at the same time (Big Brother Online, 2001).
Unfortunately, as Channel Ten are between series' of Big Brother, the official website is currently unavailable. I feel that it is important to discuss this program due to the significant place in has within the reality TV genre. As such I have concentrated on web sites which are dedicated to the first and most popular series of Big Brother and also my memory of what the Official web site contained in 2001.
The single most prolific drawcard to the Big Brother site is the live stream from the house. 24-hours, seven days a week anyone with Internet access can log on and watch what is happening inside the house as it happens. Other features of the website include photos and profiles of each individual housemate, the latest news and order of evictions, interactive quizzes, message boards and chat rooms.
The website for Big Brother is without doubt an unmitigated success. Big Brother Online: Series One was "the biggest streaming event in Australian Internet history" (Mhando, 2002:186). At any given moment there were an average of 2500 people watching the live stream from the Big Brother house. There were 1.1 million page views per day on the website with a total of 86 million hits on the website over the entire period of series one.
At the heart of these programs are events which are constructed by the media for the media. After all, if there were no camera and no microphones, the events probably wouldn't be happening. The media then invites the audience is then invited to take a peek.
In its colloquial usage, voyeurism, described as secretly staring at other people for personal enjoyment, is considered more a harmless, although at times, guilty pleasure (Nabi, Biely, Morgan, and Stitt, 2003). Although labelling reality-based television programming as voyeur TV might be convenient, but does doing so unfairly denigrate the genre?
On a general level, Nabi et. al. (2003:327) found that reality based programs, have been characterised by the participants in their study, as voyeur television. However, the researchers wish to stress that by focussing solely on this view, will do a disservice to the genre. This label "virtually precludes the perception and study of the potential positive outcomes of viewership, including learning about oneself and the world at large" (Nabi, et. al., 2003:327).
In contrast, according to Levinson (as quoted in USATODAY.com, 2004) "all of us are voyeurs, it's hard-wired into our being. If anything, it's amazing that reality TV didn't catch on faster than it did". After all, as Shakespeare once said "All the world's a stage". We are fascinated by what is going around us, its human nature. We love to watch.
If reality TV is at the forefront of the major shifts within the television industry, its prolific position has also corresponded with the rapid development of new media technology (Murray & Oullette, 2004). Murray and Oullette (2004:07) continue to indicate that the explosion of reality television programming has also been a product of a changing worldwide industrial environment.
Under the threat of new recording devices and the increasing number of cable television options, the television networks were forced to consider the possibility of new production and financing models (Murray & Oullette, 2004). This includes that expansion of merchandising techniques, an increased emphasis on audience interactivity and the addition of commercial messages within programs, ie. Subliminal advertising (Murray & Oullette, 2004).
Modern reality TV programs rely on very small microphones and hidden cameras in order to capture private moments such as those that occur on Big Brother or romance reality like Joe Millionaire or The Bachelor. Yet the marketing and distribution of reality TV has also developed in particular ways. It's use of the Internet, streaming video, cell phone technology, radio and digital television (Murray & Oullette, 2004).
Gone are the days when viewers were restricted to merely watching television on the family television set. They can now keep up with the goings on of their favourite reality TV programs via short message service (SMS) with messages sent directly to their mobile phones, by accessing 24-hour footage on the web sites and by calling a telephone number to cast their vote (Murray & Oullette, 2004).
Audiences are addressed in a way in which is a producers' notions of who they are and how they are likely to respond (Hart, 1992). The audience identity is deliberately `written into' programs in number ways. These include, for example, tone, pace and vocabulary. "The way producers and advertisers address audiences involves more than simply the language used - it depends on a whole range of other contextual features" (Hart, 1992:16).
Big Brother draws attention to its audience in a big way according to Murray and Oullette (2004). The Big Brother house in located in Dreamworld a large theme park found in Queensland. During series one, a live audience of up to one thousand fans regularly gathered on the set (Murray & Oullette, 2004). The show constantly invokes, exhorts and includes them, as well as the viewers at home, "interactively through votes and polls and with their commercial partners" (Murray & Oullette, 2004:308).
There are ample opportunities open to advertisers through reality TV and generates phenomenal revenue for the television networks. Reality programs such as Big Brother and Survivor appeal to the all-important demographic of eighteen to thirty-four year old (Mhando, 2002). This demographic has a taste for audience participation and are highly appealing to the advertising companies due to "their disposable income and buying power" (Mhando, 2002:185).
The simple fact is television simply would not exist if it weren't for advertising. A program such as Big Brother can offer advertisers not only advertising space but also "cross-media and cross-marketing potential through radio, newspaper, fashion, the Internet and magazines" (Mhando, 2002:184).
A prime example of this strategy can be noted in the manner which Big Brother's "24-hour interactive coverage was linked up with Channel 10's advertising, radio, TV chat shows and even news!" (Mhando, 2002:184).
Although official figures are confidential, Mhando (2002:186) estimates Channel 10 paid $15 million for the rights the Big Brother and analysts assess that they made 80% of this back from four key sponsors. On final eviction night, two thirty-second ads sold for nearly $50,000 each. There was a huge wave product placement, which ensured more big bucks. Strategically, placed Pizza Hut and Heineken featured largely in the Freedom furnished Big Brother house. As Mhando (2002:186) says "it's the advertisers answer to a world where we can fast forward commercials".
Reality television is an exciting and diverse genre which sitting right on the forefront of new media technology. Two prime examples of this are Survivor and Big Brother. Both a recognised worldwide for being first class examples of success within the genre. The reason they remain on top is because of their readiness to take hold of new methods of communicating and marketing to their target audience groups. They also actively encourage as much audience participation as deemed reasonably possible.
There is no more obvious display of this than on their respective official web sites. Both encourage audience participation, Big Brother most prevalently with their interactive voting system. This system ensures that the viewing audience opinions truly count in who stays and who is evicted out of the house.
Survivor, encourages audience participation in a different manner. Usually, the only participation viewers can partake in with Survivor are the various polls, survey, message boards and chat rooms. Last season, during Survivor All-Stars, for the first time, viewers were allowed to pick who deserves the extra million dollars that producers put up. Survivor's website also has interactive chat session where viewers can log on at the same time as recent evictees and 'chat' directly to stars of the show.
Reality television has come a long way from the days of Candid Camera and COPS, particularly in term of new media technology. The Big Brother house is full of both hidden and visible cameras and a multitude of microphones. Nothing in that house is said or done without it being picked by the outside world.
Survivor is able to transport and set up their production in the middle of uncivilised terrain all around the world. All their cameras and microphones in a place that is so secluded and so remote. Gone are the days of the shaky handheld cameras from Candid Camera.
Reality TV leaves ample advertising opportunities available to producers and advertisers. There is significant revenue generated through these television programs. Product placement is even a possibility in the remote locations of Survivor (Mountain Dew, Jeep and Budweiser Beer, for example) as well as in the Big Brother house as indicated earlier.
Reality TV is no longer the cheap and nasty alternative to high priced sitcoms and crime drama on television. This genre has evolved into a television force to be reckoned with. Whether it appeals to viewer's sense of voyeurism or their need for audience participation, there is one certainty. The reason you can't switch on the television without coming across reality television, is because of the audience demand for it. How much longer this demand lasts is anyone's guess, but as long as the demand is there, the likes of Mark Burnett and the television networks will be there to supply it.
REFERENCES:
. "Big Brother Season 1" Big Brother Online, 20th November 2004
http://www.bigbrotheraustralia2001.cjb.net
2. "CBS Survivors Home - Season 9: Vanuatu", 20th November 2004
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor9/index.shtml
3. Hart, Andrew (2002). Understanding Television Audiences, Journal of
Educational Television, 18(1), p5-22.
4. Mhando, Martin (2002). Big Brother: Conniving Lives As Public Events,
Australian Screen Education, Issue 28, p184-187.
5. Murray, Susan and Oullette, Laurie (eds.) (2004). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture, New York University Press: New York.
6. Nabi, R.L., Biely, E.N., Morgan, S.J and Stitt, C.R. (2003). Reality Based Television Programming and the Psychology of Its Appeal, Media Psychology, 5(4), p303-331.
7. "Reality TV FAQ", USATODAY.com, 18th November 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2004-06-10-reality-tv-main_x.htm
8. Teven, Jason (2004). Survivor the Amazon: An Examination of the Persuasive Strategies used to Outwit, Outplay and Outlast the Competition, Texas Speech Communication Journal, 29(1), p52-64.
9. Wells, Catherine and Tibaldi, Kevin (2002). A Unit of Work on Reality
Television, Australian Screen Education, Issue 28, p188-196.
Deanna Wendt (72348)
