Table of Contents
Editor’s Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Factual Entertainment and Reality TV . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. The Concept of Reality TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A. General characteristics of the genre . . . . . . . . 5
B. The origins of reality TV—a history of
factual entertainment on television . . . . . . . . . 6
C. Reality TV in the 21st century—a wide
range of subgenres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. Globalization of Factual Entertainment Formats 13
A. Global market logic—cultural adaptation? . . 14
B. Do global products travel to local viewers? . . 15
4. Reality TV from the Audience Perspective . . . . . 16
A. Perception of authenticity, criticism, and
concerns about reality TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
B. Motives for watching factual entertainment
content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
C. Case studies for various subgenres . . . . . . . . . 19
D. Reality TV, neoliberalism, and “technologies
of the self” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5. Conclusion and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Briefly Noted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Recommended Citation
Beck, Daniel; Hellmueller, Lea C.; and Aeschbacher, Nina
(2012)
"Factual Entertainment and Reality TV,"
Communication Research Trends: Vol. 31:
Iss.
2, Article 1.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/crt/vol31/iss2/1