The Networks Surviving With Survivor Essay -- Television Shows TV Essa

The Networks Surviving With Survivor Reality shows sent a much-needed lifeline to the television networks industry. These shows have found a new way to bring much needed viewers, and even more important they brought in much needed money. The money came rolling into CBS after premiering Survivor, which brought in a profit of around $30,000,000 to the network. Even though Survivor is the must costly reality show, costing close to one million dollars to produce and hour of programming. In comparison to other shows, which cost far more like CBS’s series â€Å"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation† which cost over 1.6 million to produce per hour. With the amount of money coming in such large sums to networks have had to close monitor how much is being spent. Clearly’ the reality shows have brought in much needed assets to the flattering television networks. The failing television networks have found a number of elements in reality shows which can save them money. These elements have combined to improve rating, while also improving the amount of money brought into the networks. The networks have had pressure from stockholders to improve the return on their investments, or possible begin to lose their money. So the networks have discovered ways to save money with reality’ shows one being they haven’t had to pay actors. All the main characters of this shows are contests and only one will be ~paid† at the end. In addition to not paying actors, they have also been able to cut back greatly on the number of writers used to write scripts. The reality shows have been in a way been â€Å"pre-tested† in other nations. The U.S. networks know that the shows can be successful because of the success they have had in Europe. These facts have all come together ... ... stints on the television show. Fox capitalized on this viewer enthusiasm by showing the wedding. The Fox network is not the only group that has used the popular contestants after they’ve been on the show. E! Entertainment Television has had various ex-Survivor cast members host some of their shows. Some have also appeared in commercials. The Rosie O’Donnell Show even went to the extent of purchasing gifts for former members of the Survivor 2 cast (one former contestant, Colby, was given a Harley Davidson motorcycle!). The most outrageous occurrence seemed to take place when former Survivor 2 contestant Jerri, posed for Playboy Magazine. It is clear that in the world of reality television, personality and popularity are everything. Popularity on reality TV shows can translate into commercial viability and an unreal life beyond reality television.