The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.
Do as I do, not as I say
: This is why you should never listen to surveys.
This survey says Americans think there are way too many reality shows.
These ratings put American idol (twice), Apprentice, Survivor, Fear Factor, and Extreme Makeover atop the ratings.
Americans will, indeed, get sick of reality shows (we always OD on the trends that take over TV) but we’ll still watch them longer than we’ll say we watch them. [via PR Bop]
Sure, the television industry has hit a gold mine by producing this type of cheap television. Are they really going to go back to the days of having to pay actors and such in order to provide our entertainment? These reality shows have proven to the industry that one does not need to spend very much money to make a ton of money.
Much like the way the film industry has managed to outsource all their films to other countries. Cheaper to shoot a film outside the US and still make huge profits while avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Wasn’t “Cold Mountain” and “Dogville” both shot outside the US despite the fact that both films are based on stories set in America. It is also funny that the majority of the actors used in both films were not even American.
We do not control what we watch, the entertainment industry controls what we watch.
US entertainment industry is a dead horse making huge amounts of untaxable dollars.
Fewer people are watching tv, of the few who watch, those people like reality tv shows.
This takes me back to one of my favorite conspiracy theories- the effect of the Neilsens’ rating service. I have done a little snooping and found squat- except that there are very few families and they segregate by vague ethnic lines. Why are 1,000 nitwits setting the standard for our entertainment? Can we do anything? Has anyone out there even met a Neilsen family?
Seems to me like the favorite reality show people watch nowadays is War.