OD-ing on reality

Cutthroat competition is spurring entertainment channels, including music channels, to outdo each other in the boldness of content. And nothing gets bolder than reality. The channels are adopting some of the coarsest international formats to gross numbers. DNA tries to figure out to which extent these channels are willing  to stretch the limit of reality to offer voyeuristic delight to the audiences. Channels say we have seen nothing yet.

Ashish Patil, GM & senior vice president, creative & content, MTV India
We’re a hugely voyeuristic nation. Who wants to see a happy couple walk down the street holding hands? They want to see one scrapping, slugging it out. It’s like watching a car crash — you can’t turn your eyes away. Haven’t you seen the loop of ‘breaking news’ on the million odd news channels or the tabloid articles? We love it, though whether we believe it or not is a different matter. And reality shows often fuel similar reactions.

Often, it’s surprising to see even regular people behave like freaks in an unreal situation. Agar mein iss jungle mein hota toh kya hota? What would I do if I was trapped in a house with Rahul Mahajan and Raja Choudhary for 90 days? But let’s admit it, most people wouldn’t mind watching Payal Rohatgi in the pool and Negar Khan under the waterfall.

MTV invented the format of reality shows way back in the 90s with the world’s first unscripted show on prime time titled ‘MTV Real World’ that featured a bunch of youngsters living in a house for a given period and doing various things.

The show was path-breaking in more ways than one. Stripping all that was fake or staged, bringing to the table real, yet dramatic, reactions from real, dramatic characters, it shoved into your face all the racial, social and other biases, that most people were scared to even talk about and turned it into compelling stories. The first-ever homosexual character on national television — Pedro Zamora, who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS — was on the show.  Pedro passed away during the show. What the show did was to wipe away the stigma around AIDS and homosexuality and get it out of the closet to allow people talk about it and create awareness.

This show spurred a spate of me-too’s and not surprisingly because nothing succeeds like success.

The India story is kind of similar. MTV-Hero Honda Roadies is one of the country’s first and longest running reality shows. It has today turned into a cult show with the highest-ever viewership, extensions in the category with a massive following in the digital space as well. It connected because it wasn’t fake. No fake tears. No melodramatic judges saying, “Main tere ghar pe roti pakaunga, chulhaa jalaaunga.” No staged walkouts. It showed the youth of India, against the backdrop of India [and now also abroad since the last three seasons].

Dramatic tasks, twists and turns kept you on the edge of your seat. The situations were, maybe, entirely unreal, but the reactions were completely real. These kids aren’t actors. When they’re jealous or angry or crying, they’re not acting. It’s the real deal.

And when a small show on a small channel like MTV got big, we were bound to have followers — not just viewers. Realising we’re on to something big, along came the big GECs and pulled out the stops saying — now let’s just put every second and third grade celebrity through the routine and place every first and second- rung star to front it and back it up with a multi-million dollar push.

Not surprising again, because the largest audience in the country that MTV chases is under the age group of 35 years.

Some of these shows work. And there are others that are dismissed with a thumb’s zap on the remote. This is because we’re talking to one of the most fickle, hard-to-please audiences in one of the most competitive television markets in the world, where there is an option overload.

We still have a long way to go. If we look westwards, there are Jerry Springers and others who are redefining Shock TV. Just when you thought you had seen it all, Jade Goody sold television rights of her last few days and MTV’s Tom Green made a comedy/reality series out of his testicular cancer to raise money for a hospital. We too seem to be getting there fast. Eventually, what will always work are good stories that are well told — irrespective of the format — reality, fiction or otherwise.

Deepak Dhar, managing director, Endemol
Globally, talent shows are not really part of the reality show genre. In fact, reality shows came to India with the launch of Bigg Boss in 2006. Of late, there is a distinct demand for differentiated content. This is also a reason for strong demand for reality shows from the programming teams at channels. Also, since the age profile of viewers is getting younger, it has a limited attention span. Instant gratification, which can be best achieved through non-scripted reality shows, has become the order of the day. Most media audiences evolve from being passive to active to engaged — be it in gaming, press, news television, internet or telephony. In passive TV viewing, reality shows open up options about how the storyline can progress. With audiences in India maturing, we will see reality consumption increasing.

I think we have just seen the tip of the iceberg. With the success of the reality genre, more and more programming teams are evaluating various niches within the reality genre like physical, comedy, psychological, horror, sports and survival, etc. Endemol is also developing shows based on these themes.

Nikhil Madhok, VP marketing, NDTV Imagine
Reality shows were always part of the programming mix for every general entertainment channel. Only that these have now moved from weekends to prime time (PT) slots, and hence are getting much more viewership. Also, the concepts earlier were simple song and dance shows, which could get monotonous soon if telecast every night. So, these were scheduled as break-in routine during the weekends. This year concepts like Rakhi ka Swayamvar have been very innovative and make for compulsive viewing. Thus, the show was scheduled bang in the middle of PT. This year has seen a revival in reality TV programming. So, this is more like the beginning of a wave rather than the peak. I think there is still lot of exciting stuff to look out for!

Rameet Arora, marketing head, Colors
The content mix for a GEC is a bit like the Indian thali. Fiction is the staple dal-roti-sabzi. Non-fiction is the pickle and spice— sometimes the new flavour or curry. And if I was to hold on to the analogy a little longer, it isn’t hard to see the role it plays in the single TV household, which is 90% of India.

So why reality? Three reasons. The first being variety. Our philosophy has always been “something for everyone and everything for someone”. So the family gets variety and the tastes of younger members are also catered to. Second is scale and buzz. Non-fiction allows for celebrities, unique formats and competition — all good things. And third, a differentiated face for the channel. A bit like the mall facade. Something new that attracts attention and drives you in. As for reality content, I think what we see is just the tip of an iceberg. A clear indication of that is that we now have a healthier mix of international formats, localisation and home-grown ideas. The result is that audiences are maturing and beginning to accept more and more experiment. Add to that a constant expectation of newness, which should drive even more innovation and experiment.

Heather Gupta, channel head, Bindass
Just as saas-bahu was the flavour of TV programming till recently, now reality shows have taken the centrestage in India. So, adapting formats from countries which have significant experience in producing these kinds of shows is an obvious thing to do. There are many great formats around the world which have already tasted success, so why not consider them for India? The real challenge though lies in adapting these formats successfully for the Indian market. The Indian youth is very much in sync with the rest of the world, but there are also certain local sensibilities which must be borne in mind while adapting any international format.

In our research, we have found that young people ask for locally-ideated and produced shows. Reality is certainly the flavour of the moment, an appealing format which cuts across socio-economic groups.

I think, there is no reason why India cannot develop its own reality shows. The upcoming show on Bindass, The Big Switch, which features 10 super-rich kids planted in Mumbai slums for two weeks, is a truly life-changing story. It is one example of such locally-grown ideas, a never-seen-before reality format, which we are proud to say is made in India.

As for boldness of the content, viewers will always demand for more and more entertainment value from a show, but it’s not always about pushing the limits of stomach-churning or physically challenging tasks.

The point is that an interesting concept needs to form the basis of a reality show — this is the case all over the world and India is no exception. This is only the tip of the iceberg for reality shows in India, and I am sure we will have a lot more coming.