Of course I don’t mean “WebTV” or any of the other failed attempts
While at my parents, I glanced at the TV guide and was amazed to find how many Tv programmes on terrestrial and digital channels are dedicated to “reality” TV. Just looking at Thursday – We have “Birmingham’s Best Gardens”, “Gardens in Coleraine”, “The lives of the Paparazzi”, “Instructions on Downsizing”, “Tarrant being annoying on television”, “Two people move to France for jolly japes”, “Two people move to Budapest”, “The problem with Asthma”, “Watching idiots put up wallpaper”, “Lets stare at the horrific plastic surgery”, “Middleaged couple moan about their failed sex life”, “Give me style and fashion for the duration of a television show” or “I murdered my best friends mum and now I get to talk on Tv about it”. It’s like half the programmes on TV are starring members of the public whether it’s their garden, their dancing, their singing, their personal problems, their humorous accidents or their planned house moves.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Big companies flogging user content?
If I didn’t know better I’d say this was Web 2.0. But it’s not. It’s just what TV has been doing for the last 5 years…
(P.S. This is the content in on BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and Five on Thursday 13th April. I counted maybe 30 reality shows…)