Rise of Reality
Reality television is not a new concept to audiences. The first reality television program was aired in 1948 in the USA, Allan Funt's Candid Camera, broadcasting pranks on ordinary and unsuspecting individuals.[1] Mainstream professional television was not introduced to Australian audiences until 1956 with the first notable Australian reality television show produced being Sylvania Waters, A 12 part co-production by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), documenting the lives of Noeline Baker and Laruie Donaher, and their new found wealth, located in the waterside suburb of Sylvania Waters. [2] [3]
From the beginning of Australia television in 1956 to the late 90s, reality television had a limited development within Australia, mainly finding success in airing american programs. Not until American television giants ABC, CBS and FOX announced in 2000 that they were producing more reality game shows, did reality programing really begin its conquest as a serious contender to scripted drama. In 2000 CBS announced ‘Survivor’ and ‘Big Brother’ to be the next two high-profile non-scripted experiments, which if proved to be successful, would be franchised for following seasons.[4] In retrospect, a better choice could not have been made, with the Big Brother phenomenon dominating reality television world wide for the next decade, and Survivor currently in its 22nd season, outlasting long-lived scripted drama series such as Seinfeld and Friends.
Big Brother Australia, first aired on Australian Commercial television in 2001, and is widely thought of as the catalyst for Australian reality television, due to its strong impact on the production of reality television in Australia after its huge success. The same could be said for Big Brother worldwide, with the inception of the series in the Netherlands in 1999, making Big Brother a global phenomenon, airing, (in most cases) for multiple seasons, in the the following locations: African Continent, Albania and Kosovo, Arab World, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecudor, Finland, France, Germany, Greece and Cyprus, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pacific Region, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scandinavian Peninsula, Second Life, Serbia, Solvakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, USA, Ex-Yugolslavia. The original Big Brother was so popular, on its season finale broadcast on December 31st 1999, half of the Dutch population stayed in to hear the announcement of Bart Spring in 't Veld as the first ever winner of Big Brother. [5]
A point of interest in the Big Brother locations is the production ofBig Brother Second Life, in which 15 contestants played for a chance to win a virtual island. Second Life is a virtual reality game, in which users adopt avatars to move around in the virtual world that is created by its users. Big Brother Second Life was produced in 2007, and contestants were required to spend at least 8 hours a day in the virtual Big Brother house for a total of one month, and complete various tasks such as building replicas of famous buildings. [6][7]
From the beginning of Australia television in 1956 to the late 90s, reality television had a limited development within Australia, mainly finding success in airing american programs. Not until American television giants ABC, CBS and FOX announced in 2000 that they were producing more reality game shows, did reality programing really begin its conquest as a serious contender to scripted drama. In 2000 CBS announced ‘Survivor’ and ‘Big Brother’ to be the next two high-profile non-scripted experiments, which if proved to be successful, would be franchised for following seasons.[4] In retrospect, a better choice could not have been made, with the Big Brother phenomenon dominating reality television world wide for the next decade, and Survivor currently in its 22nd season, outlasting long-lived scripted drama series such as Seinfeld and Friends.
Big Brother Australia, first aired on Australian Commercial television in 2001, and is widely thought of as the catalyst for Australian reality television, due to its strong impact on the production of reality television in Australia after its huge success. The same could be said for Big Brother worldwide, with the inception of the series in the Netherlands in 1999, making Big Brother a global phenomenon, airing, (in most cases) for multiple seasons, in the the following locations: African Continent, Albania and Kosovo, Arab World, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecudor, Finland, France, Germany, Greece and Cyprus, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pacific Region, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scandinavian Peninsula, Second Life, Serbia, Solvakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, USA, Ex-Yugolslavia. The original Big Brother was so popular, on its season finale broadcast on December 31st 1999, half of the Dutch population stayed in to hear the announcement of Bart Spring in 't Veld as the first ever winner of Big Brother. [5]
A point of interest in the Big Brother locations is the production ofBig Brother Second Life, in which 15 contestants played for a chance to win a virtual island. Second Life is a virtual reality game, in which users adopt avatars to move around in the virtual world that is created by its users. Big Brother Second Life was produced in 2007, and contestants were required to spend at least 8 hours a day in the virtual Big Brother house for a total of one month, and complete various tasks such as building replicas of famous buildings. [6][7]
In 2000, at the announcment of ABC, CBS and FOX's commitment to producing more reality, Time Spengler, executive VP director of national broadcast at Initiative Media in New York predicted that the ratings performances of Survivor and Big Brother would have a “significant impact on the future of similar programs in the non-scripted genre. If they don’t work, I don’t see the other networks embracing such edgy reality projects” [4] It is from the start of the millennium that an explosion of reality programs went into production, low budget costs making the genre a cheap and therefore viable option for a ‘continuous original,’ meaning that instead of re-running drama programs during non-ratings periods, reality programs would provide something fresh for audiences to view.[4]
FOOT NOTES
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040034/
[2] http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/linking-a-nation/chapter-9.html
[3] http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=sylvaniawate
[4] Martin, Ed, ‘Real thing: reality genre covers everything from games to band building; for some, ‘It’s a quickie’ Advertising Age, vol 71, iss 21, May 2000 (Communication & Mass Media Complete)
[5] Johnson-Woods, Toni Big Bother: Why Did That Reality TV Show Become Such a Phenomenon? 1st ed. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 2002.
[6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6122140.stm
[7] http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/11/06/virtual-reality-tv-big-brother-to-launch-in-sl/
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040034/
[2] http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/linking-a-nation/chapter-9.html
[3] http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=sylvaniawate
[4] Martin, Ed, ‘Real thing: reality genre covers everything from games to band building; for some, ‘It’s a quickie’ Advertising Age, vol 71, iss 21, May 2000 (Communication & Mass Media Complete)
[5] Johnson-Woods, Toni Big Bother: Why Did That Reality TV Show Become Such a Phenomenon? 1st ed. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 2002.
[6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6122140.stm
[7] http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/11/06/virtual-reality-tv-big-brother-to-launch-in-sl/
