Chapter 54 Summary: "Marketing 'Reality' to the World

Chris Jordan's chapter focuses on the reality competition show Survivor and its affect on Reality Television. Survivor was able to be produced and be successful primarily because of its advertising and its relatively low cost. It also began the reality TV craze, which could be seen as a bad thing but it was a show that "steered away from sexual sensationalism and towards themes of competitive merit" (518). Many networks were moving from the half-hour comedies and had very expensive dramas so they were looking for cheap and successful shows. Survivor was able to get a lot of money in advertisements because products like Doritos and Mountain Dew were able to align themselves with "adventure and heroism." Most shows did not advertise within the show because they thought it would break the suspension of belief. This format Survivor worked with was conducive to many different products advertising within the episode and also was attractive to many viewers. It had very high rating and a low cost which was very important to CBS. Reality TV is also very successful globally because it appeals to many different people.

Jordan talked about how the global proliferation of reality television is due to the "increasing concentration of ownership in the television industry, the globalization of commercial TV, and the fragmentation of the worldwide audience" (522). This is important, but one downfall is that educational programming has been affected by the rise of reality TV. Many networks that had educational programming noticed that often many people switched away from it and it was difficult to understand. Reality TV is designed to be light and gives a distraction from global issues. It provides a welcome distraction, but it may be detrimental too. Because it is so commercial and reliant on advertisers, the democratization of television is limited. It was interesting to see how reality TV has changed the different networks and how it isn't as negative as many think it is. There are some benefits as pointed out in this chapter.