Television is not a television without reality shows. Jersey shore, American idol, Big Brother, the Bachelor, The Real Housewives, Pimp my ride etc. what do these iconic words have in common?  This question could be answered, perhaps, by anyone who has spent time watching television.  Highly likely, the most obvious answer is that these iconic words are “shows.” Not mere shows, but “television shows”, not mere television shows, but “reality television shows.” Reality television shows are popular. Based on my experience watching these shows, reality TV is believed to be unscripted and characters are usually commoners or non-celebrity. However, some celebrities make up a special edition of reality shows. Nevertheless, reality television has impacted the viewing public in many ways.    Find out how to get more Reality TV shows with the Top Cable Provider in your region



 One of the obvious impacts of reality television to the viewing public is participation.  Many reality shows would engaged audiences to vote for their favorite contestants. These shows are very prominent, such as “X-factor,” “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars etc.” Thus, conclusively, these shows where audience vote are part of the shows operation, reveals the flagship on how reality television operates.  Usually, reality shows political strategy (in my opinion) would try to incorporate a diverse group of participants, such as groups of race, gender, age, ability etc. A more diverse group could bring more target audience.  A larger audience share would bring higher ratings that is deem profitable on the company. On the other hand, the effect on the viewing public is a sense of participation. American shows exhibited by reality TV are no longer catered for certain group of people. Unlike other shows, such as soap operas, whose behavioral content and genre is designed specifically to entertain certain audience groups. Indeed, reality television shows a sense of welcoming diversity by engaging a diverse audience to participate.


Indirectly, I believe, that reality shows inspires its audience.  For instance, a teen-ager, a rookie of less experience, has dominated the contest where veterans and experienced contestants participate. The youth audiences would be inspired to think that at a young age, they could do something praiseworthy.  Another, a minority candidate is leading the popular vote and gained many views in YouTube.  This would give pride to his or her group.  Somehow, to those people who we share resemblance; we feel part of their success and inspire us, in our little ways, to be differentiated and relevant in the society.


However, some critics might contest that other reality shows are catered to some groups.  True. Not all reality shows would require audiences to vote, such shows are “The Bachelor;” and other reality shows that are documentary in style. However, in my opinion, their purpose is not about mere marketing and advertising.  Reality shows are literary pieces before they came out of media.  There is an underlying inspiration and substance behind these successful reality shows that are not after for promoting stars. These reality television shows could be satiric exhibitions that deem entertains the audience. In my opinion, the impact of these reality shows is awareness and information.  Perhaps, our attention is easier to sustain in front of the television than in front of a book.  We got more understanding how life is difficult, how love is compromise, how careers are challenging, based on the reality shows that do not fake the scripts of events.


Not all impacts are worth, though. Did we learn something from the hurtful truths that we see on reality television? For instance, did we save marriages or created successful relationships after watching dating shows? Did we learn to control our diet after watching self esteem shows?  Did we save money after watching reality shows about makeover experiences? For me the idea behind showing the sad truths of reality television is for us to learn.  We may be aware and informed about the happenings that the reality shows are trying to express over the media.  However, there are instance where we just tend to copy the sad truths imposed to us. From these, I feel that reality shows has impacted the viewing public by being submissive and passive to negative outcomes because we tend to perceive them as usual occurrences.  We feel that broken relationships are just normal, and so there would be instances were saving relationships is does not hold a strong threshold between partners.  Consumerism and other irrelevant spending could be relevant because that’s how the reality television shows portrays their importance. Indeed, because what we see in reality shows are not planned scripts, audiences accept easily the sad truths in life.  Check the link here for cheap Cable TV and internet p


What exist before reality shows is just reality. However, what is real? Reality shows could be showing us the reality, or it could be imposing us what is real.  The impact could be positive or negative.  The challenge then is for us audience to be more critical in our reactions based on what we see on reality shows.




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