The History of Reality Television

 

Reality Television is an important segment of television networks. In this article, we have given all relevant details like the history of reality television along with details of some popular reality television shows.

 

The concept of Reality Television is that it depicts unscripted real-life situations. In reality television, ordinary people are invited rather than professional actors.

 

Reality television is becoming more interesting because of the uncertainty it brings to the viewers. It includes a short interview segment with the participating members & cast, who share their experiences with the show and their real-life experiences. 

 

Reality Television became a distinct genre in the early 1990s; the competition-based reality shows gained much popularity in this category; in these shows, contestants are eliminated either by the judges' decision or based on popularity among the viewers. Nowadays, contest-based shows have become more intriguing because of the Live Polling process, which creates a sense of enthusiasm among the viewers. 

 

The show that became popular for the first time out of India was 'The Real Word', followed by shows like 'Survivor', 'Idols', and 'The Big Brother', all of these became very popular and converted into a global brand, The format of these shows was copied by many countries. 'The Real World' show is one of the lokgeet running reality shows in history. It was praised for highlighting some critical issues of youth like sex, religion, politics, etc., but later it was criticised for irresponsible behaviour. 

 

In India, it started with the Bournvita Quiz Contest, hosted by Derek O Brien in 1972; it became the first reality show that aired on Zee and Indian Television. It was telecasted live on television, but later it was sent off the air and shifted to a radio show. 

 

Singing Based Reality TV Shows:

 

The following famous reality show on Indian Television was "Sansui Antakshari", which started in 1993 on ZEE TV.; ThisAnnu Kapoor hosted the show became a household name within a few years of going On- Air and viewership of this show increased drastically. It became India's first singing reality show that ran till 2006. Many versions of this show were launched on different channels. 

 

Then came one of the blockbusters shows on Indian Television named "SA RE GA MA PA", which aired in 1995, and the show was hosted by Bollywood's famous singer, Sonu Nigam. The show was also aired on ZEE TV. Thus ZEE TV became a popular channel for launching Family reality TV shows. The concept of the "SA RE GA MA PA" show was competition-based, in which many singing participants contested for the title of Best Singer. This show, too, was loved by all the viewers, and many similar reality TV shows were launched in the same pattern. 

 

In 2004 Sony Entertainment Television came up with the "Indian Idol" show, inspired by a famous show in the United States of America, "American Idol". All still love this show due to its regular updates, innovation and kids' participation. This show also received significant attention due to its big prize money and the singing offers that the winning participants received from Bollywood's famous music directors, some of whom also became very popular in the singing industry.

 

Dance Based Reality TV Shows: 

 

Boogie Woogie, India's first dance-based reality TV show, was launched by Sony Entertainment Television ( SET India) in 1996; this show was a blessing for the channel as it became an instant hit. Naved Jaffey created this show, and Javed Jaffrey hosted it. This show was also competition-based, in which the Best Dancer was awarded Prize Money. 

 

Dance India Dance, nicknamed DID, is also one of India's famous dance-based reality shows which gained popularity.

 

Quiz Based Reality TV Shows:

 

As we entered the 21st century, Star Plus launched one of India's most favourite and most-watched reality TV shows named Kaun Banega Crorepati (inspired by "Who wants to be a millionaire"). The show was hosted by Bollywood's legendary actor "Shri Amitabh Bachchan". Still, this show is watched by millions of people with the same enthusiasm as it was in the year 2000 when the show was launched.

 

The big Boss show is also one of the successful TV shows, inspired by a foreign TV show named "Big Brother". 

 

Reality TV shows are often criticised for being scripted and pre-planned. However, despite these criticisms, the reality TV industry is still growing exponentially and is continuously entertaining millions of viewers.

 

Q. Which is the world's first reality Television Show of world?

Ans. America's Candid Camera

 

Q. Which is India's most-watched reality show?

Ans. Kaun Banega Crorepati

 

Q. Which show is India's first reality TV show?

Ans. Bournvita Quiz Contest

 

Q. Which is the no.1 reality TV show in the world?

Ans. The Real World

 

Q. Which is the longest-running reality TV show in the world?

Ans. COPS