Yasmine and Henry
Overview
Reality TV is one of the most popular genres of television shows. It is an anomaly, millions of people tune in every week to see reality stars just live a slightly more dramatic version of their lives. Reality TV can be about a multitude of different things, often time it is celebrities living there lives or it is normal people put in abnormal situations. One example of popular reality TV is Keeping up with the Kardashian, a whole show about famous people just living. What makes reality playing out alluring to the general population? Why do people tune in every week just to see reality play out?
Research question:
Who are the people that tune in to reality TV? What makes Reality entertainment profitable?
Economic Concepts
The Demand:
Demand is consistently high for reality television since its inceptions with the New York Time saying that, "On broadcast television, 15 of the top 20 highest-rated programs among that younger adult group were reality or unscripted shows." So the demand for reality television is not going down. However that begs the question why do people watch reality? The answer to that is reality TV is often time not reality at all. According to a real person who was on the reality show House Hunters, "it's reality television, so it's pretty made up and scripted." Granted this is just one example but there are countless other example of this being the case. The reason there is a demand for reality TV is that a lot of the time it is a dramatized version of what really would have happened, it is not an accurate representation of reality which is why people tune in.
The Incentives:
There are multiple incentives that come along with creating a reality TV show, especially when considering how much money the stars make per season. These stars all make a different amount depending on the type of reality TV show they are staring in. According to Business Insider, "Celebrity judges on a broadcast competition show" make "$300,000 to $17 million per season." Celebrities constantly create these shows out of the amount of money they get just from a TV show.
The Utility:
People derive some type of utility through almost everything they participate in, so it's no surprise that people get some type of utility from watching Reality television. When people watch reality television, they are able to " see people like themselves, and fantasize that they could gain celebrity status by being on television." People are constantly looking to become famous and watching these shows gives them hope that they can achieve this dream.
Answer
The High demand of reality is what makes it so profitable. The huge amount of people that tune in every week and the amount of ad revenue and merchandising also makes this such a profitable industry. The main reason that people tune in though, is because reality TV is not reality. It is often times just as scripted as any other TV show, and sometimes even more so. These types of shows give people the ability to fantasize and in a way put themselves in a reality that most people will never have. It gives the people who watch them a sense of comfort for whatever reason. Given the current trends reality TV is not likely to go away or fade considering the amount of incentives that companies gain when they create these shows over any others. The biggest reason as to why reality TV will be profitable is the false sense of reality it creates and the high demand.
SOURCES
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/business/media/13reality.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/reality-tv-contestants-reveal-how-real-the-shows-actually-were-a6834246.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/reality-tv-stars-salaries-2016-6#starexecutive-producer-16-million-and-up-annually-1
https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/11/24/why-do-we-enjoy-reality-tv-researchers-say-its-more-about-empathy-than-humiliation/