Reality Rocks!!!

An insight into the TRP of Reality TV

“The Heart wants what it wants...”

Woody Allen Woody Allen said it right for the language of love but it’s even true in the world of reality TV shows; people love to see what their heart wants... and producers of reality shows bank on this idea.

Make merry with a tub full of rats. Get a nose job done. Find yourself a date. Start a business with a group of strangers. Pit yourself against a small screen actor for a lucrative contract. It’s all about a wacky idea

— and it looks like it’s here to stay.Here’s bad news for those who thought — rather optimistically, perhaps — that reality shows had lost their steam. On the contrary, these shows are going great guns. Indian audiences, television show ratings reveal, can’t have enough of them.
Television Rating Point (TRP) is a tool provided to judge which programmes are viewed the most. This gives us an index of the choice of the people and also the popularity of a particular channel.

Evidently, the days when reality was defined by unimaginative names, modest sets, nondescript anchors and advertiser problems are long gone. As the names of the shows indicate, today they are mounted on a filmic scale. Not without reason. According to MindShare Insights, a media agency, last year

reality shows generated Rs 225 crore in advertising revenue, an increase of 168 per cent compared to the previous year.

Viewership share too has nearly doubled over the past couple of years from 8 per cent to 14 per cent. And while reality shows are outdone by soaps, which still command a 55 per cent viewership, rating experts believe reality shows will show a three-fold rise in viewership by the end of the year. According to the TAM People meter Systems, a gauge to measure TV viewership, the duration share of reality shows — the total number of hours aired — has been rising steadily, gradually making it a prime-time genre.

But the problem of plenty is fast becoming apparent. New formats, then, hold the key to getting eyeballs. That is, perhaps, why reality shows are moving a step ahead, trying out different formats, instead of merely banking on hand-me-down shows from the West. Cash Cab, telecasted on Bindaas, have participants travel in a cab, cash in tow, with a mission to accomplish in the shortest duration of time. Aaja Mahi Vay on Star Plus tests the love of committed small screen stars. The winners have a dream wedding, footed entirely by the producers of the show, and who can forget the recent successful advent of “Rakhi ka Swayamvar” !With the market for such shows expanding and such huge investments coming in, reality TV targets the youth for guaranteed returns. So creating reality has become a 360 degree act with plenty of masala thrown in for effect.A high dose of masala and controversy can make a difference, and the likes of composer Himesh Reshammiya, singer Abhijeet or even item girl Rakhi Sawant are worth having on the show.

But remember the old saying “Reality Bites...” let’s see what the future holds!