When we turn on our TV sets or watch our favorite network stations via our online subscription, one key similarity comes to mind, the bombardment of reality series. The prevalence of reality TV is now firmly placed between every conceivable TV station from the Discovery Channel to TLC; but why is this particular genre increasing in popularity.
Ever since the inception of Survivor and American Idol, in the early 2000s, viewers were slowly, but steadily, becoming hooked into watching these newly conceived shows. This modern form of engagement encouraged the viewing public to participate in voting for the runner-up by using text messaging or by placing calls via telephone, and brought not only impressive numbers of viewers tuning in to watch these series, but creating record profits for the TV network executives as well. As a result, the advertising industry utilized the high volume of viewers to create and implement additional…show more content… Several years ago, the Discovery and History Channel, had two shows that could remotely resemble a reality series, Mythbusters or How’s It Made. Unfortunately, these stations currently are now on the bandwagon to a fast-moving reality TV express train where Mountain Men, Moonshiners, Swamp People, Amish Mafia, and Gold Rush predominately comprise the majority of the day-to-day show lineup. Soon afterwards, channels decided to create their own reality series spinoffs such as TLC, Lifetime, Spike TV, AMC, or Nickelodeon. Reality TV is so pervasive and prevalent today that even our staid news stations offer them! When you have an overwhelming amount of reality series across various stations, viewers will either tend to ignore watching this genre altogether and tune out, or simply take part in watching these shows out of sheer frustration and lack of