Reality TV Shows and the UK Audience - Essay Example

10 September 2008 Reality TV Shows and the UK Audience The quest for programs which the wider audience can relate to ushered the era of reality TV. In these shows, the audience takes a peek into the lives of typical individuals who faces the same predicament and challenges such as they. In extreme cases, reality TV provides a venue for individuals to prove themselves by accomplishing certain tasks and challenges insurmountable for most people. The prominence of these TV shows in UK and other countries is indicated by the rising number of these programs together with the widening market base.

The popularity of reality TV has important implications in the UK culture including the culture's quest for better entertainment, the moral degradation in the nation, and even the growing acceptability of being a deviant in the society. Reality TV, for the most part replaced the plethora of soap operas which previously entertained the past generation. Recognizing that audiences are bored and tired of watching stories with the same theme, directors and producers tried to stimulate viewership through the creation of programs that ordinary people can relate to.

The shift to reality TV mirrors the changes in the preferred entertainment of viewers. They want something which is exciting, unscripted, and totally unpredictable. They would want to watch how a real person can reach his dreams through his talents. They are more entertained in watching how these things actually happen in real life and not on actors and actresses only. The shift towards a new type of entertainment also implies the change in the values and attitude of the society. The prevalence of reality can be often linked to moral degradation as the audience is often entertained by the mistakes and failures of the people inside the show.

As the programs often feature how the participants can improve or should improve, they are humiliated in front of the camera and the millions who watch them. The rise in reality TV also signals the increasing acceptability of deviant behavior in the society. The participants in reality TV are often admired because they stood out in the crowd. It is irrefutable that the participants who often win the attention and retention of the audience are those that proved themselves by doing what is prohibited by the society.

Sexual intercourse even in front of a camera is now becoming more acceptable as it happens so often in reality TV. Realty TV is not particular to the UK community but all throughout the world. Industrialized, developing, and third world countries enjoy the excitement that they carry and entertainment that they provide to the audience. However, they signal more than the change of viewers' preference. They indicate the challenges that we need to overcome each day in order to keep our moral excellence in check.

ReferencesReiss, S. & Wiltz, J. 2004, Why People Watch Reality TV. Media Psychology. Volume 6 Issue IV. University of Ohio