Selling Reality shows: Are they playing with the minds of the viewers?

INTRODUCTION:

In the early twentieth century, with the advent of Television, soaps and dramas along with movies occupied the prime air time. Years after the Second World War, as people's enchantment with soaps began to wean, a new type of shows began to be aired which showed real life situations in which common people and celebrities were involved or put through. Pioneered by the likes of Allen Funt's Candid Camera (aired from 1948 to 2004), this new segment came to be called as Reality shows (as opposed to the scripted ones). They offered the public a fresh breath of air from the regular soaps which were too dramatic and became predictable. There are many other psychological reasons as to why reality shows went on to become such massive hits (some of which are described in this paper). Post the changes in the Media and Entertainment (M & E) industry in the 1980s, production companies brought about several changes in reality shows, such as leaner production, lesser cost involved, and a bit of scripting and backstage controlling in the reality shows. This paper aims to explain all these features along with the steps that production houses take to promote their reality shows. As the efforts to promote these shows are invariably tied to the effects it has on the viewers, we have explained some effects that these shows have on demographically different classes of people too in this paper.

TYPES OF REALITY SHOWS:

In the current times the reality shows can be broadly classified under the following categories based on their central theme/content:

a) Celebrity Talk Shows: The personal lives of celebrities are always an interesting theme of contention for the masses. The fascination with what goes on into their day-to-day activities and their styles and preferences is never ending and hence these shows cater to such needs of the viewers.

E.g. - Koffee with Karan, The David Letterman Show, Jay Leno's Tonight Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show

b) Celebrity competition shows: Celebrities have a lot of hype surrounding them, which attracts the viewers. Here the competition is conducted amongst celebrities or celebrities vs. common people. When celebrities are put through intense and engaging competitions it forms a winning strategy for the reality shows.

E.g. Jhalak Dhikla Ja, Celebrity Cricket League etc.

c) Talent Shows/Competition shows: The talent of the masses remain hidden for a long time, until an opportunity presents itself to them to bring it out. Talent shows provide them with such opportunities and allow them to compete against other people. The show themes range from music, dance, stunts to just about any kind of talent that attracts the attention of the viewers.

E.g. Kaun Banega Crorepati, Sa re ga ma pa, American Idol, India's Got Talent, MasterChef

d) Factual television shows: In these shows, the viewers are exposed to true events or their reconstructions. It could range from, ‘the life of celebrities is shown’ to documentaries, and travelogues, build it yourself shows, remodelling, etc.

E.g. Guinness world records, COPS, Rescue 911, Ripley's Believe it or not funny videos, camera recordings taken from common people.

e) Hidden Camera shows: Spoofs and Parodies come under this category. Herein the participants of the show are unaware that they are being filmed and their reactions are filmed when subject to certain stimulus. A variant of this type was show in the movie- The Truman Show wherein the participant was kept in confined enclosure all his life without his knowledge.

E.g. Just For Laugh Gags, Candid Camera,

f) Panopticon shows: These shows have a number of participants put together in an enclosed area wherein they would have to interact with each other. These interactions will be recorded and shown on a day-to-day/weekly basis. Some of these shows would have elimination rounds to see who survives till the end.

E.g. Big Brother, Splitsvilla etc.

SELLING TO THE VIEWERS:

The production teams and the cast sell these reality shows to the viewers by appealing to the various sensualities of the viewers. The viewers of various segments of reality shows find some psychological need of theirs satisfied via these shows, which can be judged from the testimony that the number of Reality Programs had increased by close to a hundred fold (4 to 320) in a decade (2000 – 2010). “http://screenrant.com/reality-tv-statistics-infographic-aco-149257/”

Some of those factors/needs of the viewers which are utilised for selling the reality shows are discussed below:

a) Piquing Curiosity – As human beings, we are fallible to curiosity. This curiosity could be of many forms: curiosity about the world around us, or curiosity about the emotional sides of others, or about others’ reaction in certain situations. The latter two types of curiosity relating to people's emotional lives and their reactionary traits are well catered to by these reality shows.

This trait of curiosity is particularly stronger in certain cultures such as India. “In India, people want to know about others personal lives, so reality shows try to cash in on cheap publicity.”

E.g. Panopticon shows such as Bigg Boss, Splitsvilla etc

b) Non-soap Entertainment -The public, who have been watching soaps and dramas most of the time, started craving for something new. This freshness in content is provided by candidness (at least presumably candid). And that is what reality shows provide to the viewers.

Examples abound such as 'Sa re ga ma', India's first reality show (music talent show) which went on to be a huge hit as it was a deviation from the regular soap operas of that time period. The success of this reality entertainment genre can be gauged from the spike in viewership from 2000-2010.

c) Expectations of reality - In psychological circles, it is said that most people are disillusioned with the reality in their lives and hence look for it in other's lives. And since these shows carry the tag “Reality” in it, they are naturally drawn to it. They wish to see better realities of others or see their own realities to be better than others', as per their superiority or inferiority complexes respectively. People can be easily misled to perceive the fake acts as real.

This need is well captured by the production team, especially the script writers, who change the characteristics of the participants according to viewer responses/expectation from time to time.

d) Emotional Connect – Most humans tend to associate themselves with the lead characters of a story/movie while watching/listening to it. The viewers tend to form an emotional connect with the various characters portrayed in the reality show. It could be for the ones they find themselves most similar with, or the ones they like the most. Then they are drawn to watch the show repeatedly to see what happens to their favourite characters in the show.

The producers exploit this need by hosting wide range of characters to appeal to a large section of viewers.

e) Holding the sceptre – A lot of reality shows offer the viewers the chance to decide the fate of the contestants in the show be either voting mechanism or online feedback. This makes the viewers feel that their decisions personally affect the contestants and gives them a sense of gratification of holding power over other's lives.

E.g. American Idol, Big Brother etc.

f) People's Schadenfreude – A lot of people derive a sense of self-assurance by watching others in misery. Some would even feel a sense of contentment by it. This feeling is well captured by the German word 'Schadenfreude'. A lot of shows, these days, harness this emotion by displaying characters being put through miserable conditions of physical or emotional torture. Verbal abuses, emotional tortures etc too come in this category as they are used freely at the contestants in many shows. Sometimes, in some of these shows it goes much beyond reality too, but the public doesn’t mind it when it forms a cohesive unit of the plot of the show.

E.g. Emotional Atyachar, Roadies, The Jersey shore etc.

g) Peer Influence – Aggressive marketing of these shows by the production companies makes them the talk of the town. People tend to discuss the shows that they watch at office or while travelling or in social gatherings. This influences non-viewers to watch the shows just so that they can stay relevant in such discussions. And later that can be converted into regular viewership.

These are the viewer’s needs that the reality shows try to use as a factor for their success.

STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED IN SELLING THESE SHOWS:

The various strategies and techniques that these shows use to garner more viewership are mentioned here. These are issues besides the hardcore aggressive marketing, in print and other media and billboards and electronic communication medium that largely contribute to the success of these reality shows. Each reality show format tends to employ a distinct way of positioning its show to set it apart from the rest of the shows (of which there are many). That is their USP (Unique Selling Point).

1. Stoking Sympathy and Empathy of the people – Shows such as The Kaun Banega Crorepati give out a brief introductory video about the contestant as he/she enters the “Hot Seat” in which the background of the contestant along with their main motivation are shown. The contestants who come from difficult backgrounds tend to gain the sympathy of the people and thus win a lot of viewers. Naturally the viewers are piqued about the fate of these contestants and would tune-in in larger numbers in the next week to find out what happened to these contestants. Thus the show builds on viewership by depicting the background of such contestants. Also it is always made sure that such contestants are always cleared until they get on to the next day's show to be followed up on. Almost always, the candidates who lead comfortable lives rarely ever get across the first day are just added to show diversity amongst the contestants. In all the seasons, the winners have always been the ones who would seem to need it the most in the eyes of the viewers.

Sympathy for the contestants is a strong motivation for the viewers to watch a show. Other shows that partially employ this strategy for at least some of its contestants are MTV Roadies.

2. Catering to the Voyeuristic nature of people – Shows such as Big Brother and Splitsvilla allow the people to engage in voyeuristic activities. Secretly most people like to watch the personal activities of others. And placing cameras around the contestants round the clock, the shows offer such opportunities to the viewers. In most seasons of such shows, the contestants engage in more than platonic relationships to raise the TRP levels for the show.

3. Stoking Ego of the viewers -Shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” series show girls who became moms at ages that are not socially acceptable (these shows are being critically noted for glamorizing teen pregnancy and thus catering to teen moms). These shows portray dysfunctional relationships, child abuse and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Such shows make the viewers feel that their own lives are so much better than that of the contestants.

4. Selling Motivation to the viewers – By showing success in Competition Shows genre of the reality shows, viewers are motivated to step out of their comfort zones and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles just as their favourite contestants did. Shows like “The Biggest Loser” motivate people to work out and stay fit. Other examples are “Dancing with the Stars”, “The Voice” etc.

5. Engaging Celebrities in online promotion using Social Media- Celebrities have a lot of following. So when a celebrity endorses shows or tweets interesting comments about a show it is certain to increase the viewership. E.g. Jennifer Weiner's hysterical tweets about the show “The Bachelorette” sky-rocketed the viewership of the series.

6. Providing Non-Brain stressing entertainment – Shows such as “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and “The Real Housewives” offer continuous entertainment which doesn’t take a lot of effort to discern and dissect. It serves as a daily dose of relaxant to the viewers after a day full of stressful activity.

THE BIG QUESTION- ARE THEY PLAYING WITH THE MINDS OF THE VIEWERS?

The popularity and aggressive marketing of reality shows has made it increasingly hard to avoid watching. An example is the show Big Brother, which is aired 5 days in a week and also available online. The featuring of these reality shows on cover pages of leading magazines like Temptation Island featured on People magazine and survivor on New York Post are other examples.

Reality shows fantasize on ordinary people about gaining fame. Though in most cases it’s only 15 minute fame, but the viewers are taken for a ride in this temporary illusion. Viewer’s perceptions are being altered, about reality being more different that what it already is as in the case of Snooki effect. As a result of Snooki effect, young girls tend to think that in the real world it is OK to use profane words, indulge in graphic discussions about sex and crib about other women all the time. Though the real nature of the contestants may not be so, the production team makes the contestants portray such nature to increase the TRP rating.

In short Reality shows these days, rarely every depict reality. They are as scripted as soap operas and bank on creating controversies to grab viewer's attention and generate maximum revenue via SMS voting practices. Most shows in India get INR 3-4 per SMS sent as a vote. Even a regional language show, generates INR 60-80 crore revenue per episode by this system which is then shared proportionately between the production house and the telecom operator.

Reality shows are like a walking stick, they can be used beneficially to aid in walking or destructively. There are several positive things that people can learn from competition shows such as perseverance and communication. And the other side of the coin is that younger generation may get influenced to follow profanity, unethical behaviours and indulge in malpractices to oust the competition. Viewers should just look at these shows as Entertainment in these cases and not perceive them as reality.