REALITY TV

July 2000
		What's behind the increasing popularity of "reality TV"? Robert Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University and Frank Farley, past president of the American Psychological Association, who teaches now at Temple University, take your questions.

Forum introduction Are just we trying to learn more about people by watching reality TV? Is there an age bias in this type of programming? Why would people want to be exposed this way? Will cross-promotion of reality programming on news shows hurt the news? Does TV production take away from the "reality" of this kind of programming? Could this type of TV lead to other, less acceptable forms of voyeurism?     July 5, 2000: A discussion on the rise of reality TV. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of media issues.

They fight, they sleep in the wild and they eat rats -- and millions watch them every week. The show is CBS's summer blockbuster, "Survivor", and it's the latest in the growing crop of reality programming -- TV shows that feature ordinary people in unscripted situations. In "Survivor," viewers watch eight men and eight women, voluntarily stranded on a deserted island, as they battle through competitions and personality conflicts. The show's large following, and the increasing audiences for programs like it, have industry experts expecting more reality programming to follow. Despite its newfound popularity, the genre's nothing new. MTV's well-known reality TV pair "The Real World" and "Road Rules," have cameras follow groups of twentysomethings through their daily lives or on a roving world adventure. "Big Brother," a show based on a popular European program, started on CBS this month. It will run six nights a week for 100 days, and will feature a group of people crammed into a house and allowed no contact with the outside world. An Internet site will give viewers the chance to customize their viewing experience -- and spy on cast members at any time of the day or night. What has led to the popularity of "reality TV?" Will these shows influence the direction of television programming in the future? What do these shows do to our concept of privacy? Robert Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University and Frank Farley, past president of the American Psychological Association, who teaches now at Temple University, take your questions.