From the early live news broadcasts to the birth of scripted drama- soaps, the shows on the humble idiot box has gone through many facelifts over its lifetime. [break]
Perhaps no other form of entertainment on the television has caught the fancy of its viewers as has reality shows; the trend started in early ‘90s with the premier of Survivor.
Be it finding the future singing sensation, cornering a straying husband or bringing forth the next beauty queen, reality tv served with generous dollop of titillating voyeurism earns TV channels more audiences and shoot up their share of TRPs (Television Rating Point).
And it seems injecting a dose of “reality” is not just in the vested interest of entertainment channels format; even educational channels like Discovery are supporting reality TV hits like Man Versus Wild and Weed Wars. Nepali TV isn’t far behind either.
So has reality TV changed the way we see our entertainment? “Yes it has, and it has also made TV viewing an intimate experience,” shares Dinesh DC, freelance show producer and director.
Although foreign channels rule the air waves, he believes that local channels are regaining back their clicks on the remote control, and all the credit goes to shows that cater to the demands of the audience.
However, he was quick to add that whatever show one decides to create it should reflect the local sentiment.
DC, not a new name for the viewers of NTV, has been a part of the television fraternity for the past 19 years and believes that viewers are the most powerful factor in influencing the present and future state of popular culture, and that no media venture is likely to succeed without some level of active engagement with its audience.
His in-house productions Khoji Pratibha Ko, a talent hunt show now in its second season, and Magical Thumb, a quiz show, enjoys one of the highest TRPs in Nepal Television (NTV) and NTV Plus.
But it is without a doubt that when it comes to reality shows, the subject matter plays a crucial role in sustaining public interest, rest depends on execution.
Image Channel’s model hunt show, Mega Model, has had a huge fan-following since 2009, and is in process of landing its third season.
Creative Director of the show, Pooja Manandhar believes it’s all down to understanding what the youth today want and tapping into this interest.
An avid viewer of shows like Project Runaway and America’s Top Model herself, Manandher’s rule rhymes with DC’s mantra – the content of shows should resonate locally.
“Mega Model’s season one piqued a lot of interest and season two was even bigger with lot of participation. The next edition will have to be bigger and better, and it’s going to be even more challenging,” she shared citing that direct link with the audience is important in channel’s publicity.
Saurya Thapa, a student of bachelors in business at Koteswor Multiple College prefers watching talent shows compared to soaps that are still stuck in the same old 90s mentality.
“Let’s face it Nepali emulating Bollywood which again copies Hollywood is norm, but as long as it’s done tastefully I have no problem watching or supporting shows that give opportunity to a layman.”
IT and communication officer at Youth Initiative Nepal, Roshan Basnet revealed that he is a fan of singers like Deepak Limbu, the winner of Nepali Tara season one, and runner up Dharmendra Sewan, who were able to shape their dreams into reality courtesy such shows.
“Most of these shows have uncanny resemblance to foreign shows. I don’t have problem with that as long as production is slick and they do justice to the theme, although I wish these shows would reinvent themselves more often,” added Basnet.
DC, quick to agree said that reinvention is the key to survival in media arena. “Starting a new venture is risky but somebody has to take the initiative, and the rest are bound to follow suit, but after that you need to stay one step ahead and keep on injecting new elements or it’s very easy to lose public interest, there’s way too many options these days,” he says.
Although less critical of the local media, Thapa’s only pet peeve is the slew of celebrities who hound the judging panel without any credential whatsoever to that particular field. “I don’t mind criticism but a beauty queen critiquing my singing won’t sit well with me.”
With the proliferation of television channels, fifteen locally, there is increasing demand for programming to fill in schedule slots – and reality TV tops the list. Every channel, it seems, needs to have one reality show, even for namesake.
When questioned on the relatively inexpensive way of filling the time space with such reality shows, both the producers disagree in union.
“Agreed that we don’t have to pay the participants but there’s money involved in other aspects of the show which is labor intensive. It’s a challenge in itself to create an adequate budget for the show, working within the quota is another story all together, plus the ominous presence of load-shedding doesn’t help the cause,” points Manandhar.
According to DC, lack of creative force, unhealthy competition, politics within the television channel is a major setback to any project let alone work-intensive reality shows, but general indifference towards local channel is a major Achilles heel.
He adds that he finds people who say that they don’t watch local channels big hypocrites as they are the first ones to pass judgments.
“We are not perfect, every time we are trying to better our last venture. Yes, constructive criticism is welcomed but one has to base it on local context, it’s unfair to compare Khoji Pratibhako with X-Factor or American Idol.”
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