Introduction
Reality television is a hybrid media genre which according to most analysts has dissolved the boundaries that previously existed between drama and documentary, fact and fiction, as well as between the audience and text. In modern world television programming, realty shows have defied categorization and have not only been stretching continually, but have also been testing the formats upon which they are based (Cunningham and Turner 2006, p. 185). The success of realty TV has mainly been due to the genre’s ability to fill the gap that is normally created by commercial demands for multi-channel television viewing 24 hours each day. But in actual fact, reality TV shows have not increased the length of television viewing hours because most people are very busy working at home or in their job stations. What makes reality TV popular to both audiences and broadcasters is the fact that the shows are available when people want to watch them (Hill 2005, p.190).
Reality television as a genre in overall mix of Australian television
Reality television entered into the general usage of television programming in the early decades of the 1990s through the footage of Fox’s Cops and other emergency programs. With time, reality TV diversified into various specialist forms and quickly spread out to include the popular Big Brother and Survivor reality game shows. These early reality television programs were popularly accepted by the press media as new programs exclusively packaged by the makers. The public was subsequently informed that real people were use in the place of actors in the reality TV shows and this made them unique when compared to earlier forms of television. But the game shows did not escape the same allegations that Cops and other like shows had been subjected to; being accused of openly encouraging voyeurism. In both the emergency service and game programs, the concept of novelty was highly overstated and these genres had a lot in common with earlier forms of television and film (Brenton and Cohen 2003, p.12).
For Australian audiences, reality TV provided a new genre that captures their imagination through the ordinariness and realness of the shows in depicting life situations. But there is no reality in such programs as Survivor where camera crews are seen openly moving around with the ‘real’ action. Reality TV has become so flooded that it is actually difficult to compile a list of such shows. The use of celebrity characters in the shows has also become very common; being used as a method of making the shows more attractive and this aspect has somehow eroded the concept of ordinariness and reality (Johnston 2003, pp.135 &142-143).
For commercial broadcasters in Australia and in many other parts of the globe, the decade spanning the 2000s has been characterized by reality TV shows. Overseas based low cost reality programs first appeared on Australia’s commercial broadcasts in the 1990s with Australia’s Most Wanted and Australia’s Funniest Home Videos. Competition or talent show programs and ordinary people programs such as Popstars and Weddings respectively, were also developed. In 2001, the popular Big Brother show came on air and can perhaps be described as the defining program during the decade. Commercial networks got into the boom through Big Brother which also acted as a promotion for overseas’ developed reality programs. Other popular programs have been Survivor, Wife Swap, Temptation, Island, The Apprentice, The Mole, The Osbournes, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Reality TV has became so poplar that in May 2004, 14 imported and local TV programs consumed roughly 40% of total prime-time on three of Australia’s commercial networks. This overload led to a notable shakedown in reality TV with such programs as Playing It Straight, The Resort, and The House being rated as failures. Apart from the Big Brother show, other very successful programs were The Block and Australian Idol (Cunningham and Greeme 2006, pp.183-184).
Although the scenarios constructed in Big Brother and Survivor, as well as many of the other subsequent programs represented a new hybrid form of television shows, the popular claim that these programs explicitly focused on real life issues was disingenuous. Big Brother for example appeared on television screens in Holland 75 years after filmmakers had expressed interest in screening realty shows (Brenton and Cohen 2003, p.13). Australia’s television programming has been alternating between exportation of formats to the European television market in the 1990s where a new genre of soap operas began to take effect; to reverting roles and becoming an important importer of foreign produced formats in recent times. This transition has introduced the reality TV language to Australian programming. Although the Australian television industry has favored the adaptation of overseas formats, they have been committed towards production of local versions of reality shows like Big Brother, Treasure Island, Australian Temptation Island, The Mole, Popstars, and The Fear Factor (Hill 2005, pp.20 & 170).
Reality TV is still developing as a genre in Australian television airing both imported finished programs and locally remade formats. Big Brother which first appeared on Australian TV screens in the mid-1990s is one of the most popular programs in the current series of reality series that include other programs such as Hell Howe, The Mole, Treasure Island, Survivor and Temptation Island. These reality game shows are however quite similar to regular game shows in that they too have games, rules to be followed and winners at the end. Reality shows also use deadlines to retain viewers as the series runs and to maximize their ratings. Participants are gradually eliminated until one final winner is left. Australian reality television appears to be heavily reliant upon Anglo-European sources for its imported reality TV formats rather than relying on the Asian market (Moran and Keane 2004, p. 179; Bonner 2003, pp. 26, 42 &167).
In Australian television programming, there is however a growing culture for preference of imported formats of the reality TV drama shows than for local products especially among the young people. This is a great challenge for policy makers if such a boom continues into the future because regulations for Australian content have previously favored locally produced shows. Universal standards of storytelling are gradually overtaking the demand for audience identification and cultural specificity in the reality TV genres (Cunningham & Turner 2006, p. 191). The continuity and success of the Australian television industry is highly dependant upon production of fresh material for its viewers. Reality television has helped to meet this goal by providing new supplies of non-professional actors in new shows developed under pre-existing formats. Survivor series for example are not exactly the same although new contestants in reality shows quickly learn how to behave like those in previous series (Hill 2005, p. 37).
Conclusion
Reality TV has enormously influenced television programming; dissolving boundaries that formerly existed between scripted soap operas, game shows, and documentaries. In the reality programs, television indirectly influences the daily lives of contestants because their participation in these televised programs generates some effect on their real lives outside the shows. Globalization has also led to the formation of large international media conglomerates, and audiences for particular programs are now spread out over national as well as geographic boundaries. Today, it has become difficult to define who owns what media and the future of reality TV shows will depend on the position that these media conglomerates take for television programming (Cunningham and Turner 2006, p.2).
References
- Bonner, F 2003, Ordinary television: analyzing poplar TV, SAGE, Seminole.
- Brenton, S & Cohen, R 2003, Shooting people: adventures in reality TV, Verso, London.
- Cunningham, S & Turner, G 2006, The media and communications in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
- Hill, A 2005, Reality TV: audiences and popular factual television, Routledge, London.
- Johnston, J 2003, Media relations: issues and strategies, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
- Moran, A. & Keane, M 2004, Television across Asia: television industries, programme formats and globalization, Routledge, London.