Reality Tv Critical Analysis

Summary of the Critical Analysis

What can be determined from this critical analysis? The textual analysis has revealed the dominant ideologies, value systems, values and myths existent within the narratives of reality television programming. Television viewers construct meaning from the programs they choose to watch, and producers are forced by popular demand to create narratives which will meet viewer expectations. The viewers of reality television programming increasingly demand bolder and bigger narratives, and the producers of reality television do not fail to meet the public's requests for more spectacle and excess.

Television is a pervasive form of communication in society, and viewers accept not only messages from reality television

First and foremost, it must be acknowledged the majority of the research and commentary on reality television is found within the popular press (e.g., newspapers and magazines). The limited examples of scholarly research were presented in the literature review found in Chapter II. This study recognizes the merit of previous scholarly research into the genre of reality television, but questions the broad assumptions made in previous attempts to find widespread agreement on the viability and place of reality television programming within the broader scope of traditional television genres. Past research focuses more on the impact of reality television on the television industry as a whole, arguing reality television has had the power of remaking the industry. However, this study questions this supposition, maintaining reality television has been a consistent thread in the television industry fabric over time. Reality television serves essentially the same purpose of all television programming: supporting the political economy of the industry while reflecting dominant ideological positions for the viewer. Additionally, this study questions the limited research on reality television programming from a cultural studies perspective and argues more research from a cultural perspective is required to

By analyzing the dominant ideologies found within the discourse of reality television programming, this critical analysis has revealed reality programming to be a vital and active component of television programming. Through analysis of political, economic, educational, social and religious ideologies embedded within the narratives of reality programming, this study found the dominant ideologies to be present within a majority of the programs. Thus, reality television is a reflection of the views of the majority. The viewer is allowed the opportunity to comprehend the preferred positions proposed by reality television programming, and situate their own individual meanings and understanding of the dominant ideology within this frame. The educational, religious and social ideologies reflected within reality programming analyzed in this study were more prominent than political or economic ideologies. However, it is interesting to note in a business driven by political economy, the absence of both political and economic ideologies is significant. In a sense, this is in complete opposition to one of the major reasons reality television is produced on a large scale as a dominant format, which is cost efficiency of production (Magder, 2004). Further, this study revealed the values and myths embedded in the narratives of reality programming served to espouse the notions of the dominant ideology, and presented