DeletedUser16008
Reality television has become very popular over the past decade. Shows such as Survivor, Big Brother and The Apprentice get big audiences and make a lot of money for broadcasters. But reality TV is also often a hot topic, with some people believing it is worthless and bad for our society. There have been calls to cut the number of hours given over to reality programmes, or even to ban them completely. Others argue that people should be allowed to watch what they like, and that reality programmes make good TV. Reality television is quite hard to define. At its most basic it means programmes that show things really taking place, rather than drama or comedy that follows a script. Typically reality TV involves a group of people who are not trained actors being filmed in unusual situations over a period of time.
Sport and news programmes are not considered reality TV. Documentaries that explore aspects of society are a grey area, with some closer to news reporting and others blurring into reality TV because they set up situations which did not already exist. Recently celebrity versions of reality shows have made definition even harder, because they show the private lives of professional singers, actors, sportspeople, etc as they cope with new situations.
Reality shows are driving out other sorts of programmes, so that often there is nothing else to watch. Reality TV is cheap and series can go on for months on end, providing hundreds of hours of viewing to fill schedules. TV bosses like this and are cutting back on comedy, music, drama and current affairs in favour of wall to wall reality rubbish. This is even worse when reality shows crowd the schedules of public service broadcasters. Stations such as the BBC in the UK, France Télévisions, or Rai in Italy have a duty to inform and educate the public. They should be made to meet that responsibility – as Rai has by saying it won’t have any more reality shows.
I dumped my TV about 6 years ago now, couldn't be happier and find much more time to do stuff and watch far more programmes of substance than previously. My daughter as a result dosn't have a love for mindless crap and the only problem she seems to have is relating to her friends mindless reality show gossip, no bad thing.
Get rid of the thing or at least consider what a waste of time most of it is, or as another poster recently termed something garbage in, garbage out.
Sport and news programmes are not considered reality TV. Documentaries that explore aspects of society are a grey area, with some closer to news reporting and others blurring into reality TV because they set up situations which did not already exist. Recently celebrity versions of reality shows have made definition even harder, because they show the private lives of professional singers, actors, sportspeople, etc as they cope with new situations.
Reality shows are driving out other sorts of programmes, so that often there is nothing else to watch. Reality TV is cheap and series can go on for months on end, providing hundreds of hours of viewing to fill schedules. TV bosses like this and are cutting back on comedy, music, drama and current affairs in favour of wall to wall reality rubbish. This is even worse when reality shows crowd the schedules of public service broadcasters. Stations such as the BBC in the UK, France Télévisions, or Rai in Italy have a duty to inform and educate the public. They should be made to meet that responsibility – as Rai has by saying it won’t have any more reality shows.
I dumped my TV about 6 years ago now, couldn't be happier and find much more time to do stuff and watch far more programmes of substance than previously. My daughter as a result dosn't have a love for mindless crap and the only problem she seems to have is relating to her friends mindless reality show gossip, no bad thing.
Get rid of the thing or at least consider what a waste of time most of it is, or as another poster recently termed something garbage in, garbage out.