This week’s blog I have decided to talk about the cost of producing reality TV shows and also more information on the audiences of certain types of reality shows. Some shows can be quit costly to produce such as Paramount’s Entertainment Tonight. This show has one of the highest weekly budgets with an amount of $500,000 to $600,000 each week. The production cost usually tends to be on a lower budget with reality television shows based on crime and rescue series. These shows are usually anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 dollars on a weekly basis. This becomes a big factor in Canada because we have both public and private broadcasters and have always depended on the inexpensive American showing schedules. People argue that reality shows are more eye-catching in countries outside of the United States. This may be in result of the other countries creating their own “Cheaper” reality television shows. Some examples of this would be the program “Battle Against Crime” which is produced in Canada and the higher end show of that is the Barbour-Langley’s Cops. Being able to roll the cameras just about on any location is cheaper in the end, there is no props needed to be bought everything is pretty much all there. Some shows can become a bit ridiculous such as Big Brother and the Bachelor/Bachelorette. These shows have very nice and expensive houses making the production of the show to increase very easily and quickly. The highest production cost I found was just under 2 million dollars with the show The Apprentice. Here is a link of listed reality television shows and their costs.
The audiences for reality television shows expectations are fit to the types of genders of the show such as males targeted at 18-49 are most likely interested in watching crime and rescue mean while woman ages 18-49 are more interested in tabloid shows. A good example of a tabloid show is Oprah Winfrey Show which is primarily aired during the day. The show America’s Funniest Home Video’s is a show that can be defined as a family show but it tends to grab men and children’s attention more than women’s.
And as you can see I believe that the costs and work put in to the production pays off for the result of the ratings. Hope you enjoyed reading about the production and costs of reality TV, I believe that its becoming a little too expensive, but hey when you make it all back it works back for your company right?
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/realityprogr/realityprogr.htm
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/tv-production1.htm
http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/related_news/2004_Jul_28_costs_rising
Wow! It is crazy how much it costs to produce a television show. I didn’t know it was that expensive to air. I believe that it would be enjoyable to be in a different country watching a United States television show. It would be funny for them to watch because we might act a little different on television and for them to see what the United States has come up with next. I do believe that most shows make it up in the end with the cost of production because lots of people watch the show and they usually tend to have high ratings. Do you think the shows that cost the most are the “better” shows?
ReplyDeleteThe entertainment business spends so much money to give people something to do, but there are many other people who could use the money. I understand that they are trying to make money too, but it seems wrong to me to spend that much money per week.
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