The Tribe Has Spoken - nearly half of Americans are faithful viewers of reality television - Statistical Data Included

American Demographics, Sept 1, 2001

Forty-five percent of Americans watch reality TV, but reasons for watching differ dramatically across age and gender divides.

While the critics panned Big Brother I, viewers who supplemented their TV watching with online activity overwhelmingly loved the show.

Reality TV may have some staying power after all. This fall season, every major network has at least one reality series on its docket - from the debut of CBS's The Amazing Race to the return of ABC's The Mole and Fox's Temptation Island. And for the first time, reality programs will have the opportunity to jockey alongside sitcoms and dramas for industry kudos at the Primetime Emmy Awards later this month, since previously there were no categories that accommodated the genre. This year, voting procedures and prize categories have been revamped to make room for reality programs. CBS's Survivor has five nominations. Perhaps a win or two will allow this oft-criticized genre to shed its reputation as a fly-by-night novelty and become a legitimate contender in the ever-cluttered TV outback.

Or not. While some media experts believe reality television will alter the topography of TV Land, others are sure this season will mark the beginning of the end for the format, as over-scheduling tends to lead to overkill. Of course, the ultimate vote will be cast by the viewing public, and for now, that includes almost half of all Americans, as well as a full 70 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 57 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds - two segments most desired by advertisers.

What is it about the new crop of reality TV programs that has so many viewers riveted? What personality types are attracted to this genre? And what advertising messages and tactics are apt to resonate with these viewers? As the copycats mount, programmers and advertisers who want to connect with consumers through this television vehicle may benefit from understanding not only the demographic composition of this vast audience, but its attitudes, character traits and motivations for tuning in.

Forty-five percent of all Americans watch reality television programs. Of those, 27 percent consider themselves die-hard fans, watching as many episodes as possible, according to a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,008 people conducted exclusively for American Demographics by Edison, N.J.-based Bruskin Research. In fact, 37 percent of all Americans prefer to watch real people on television rather than scripted characters.

While much has been reported about how reality TV is reeling in teens and young adults for the networks, the programs actually attract a much wider fan base. Brian Devinny, who writes the online column, "The Reality Factor," on 3BigShows.com, says he receives e-mail from "all walks of life," from housewives to lawyers, across all income and age brackets. "The shows reach out to so many people on so many levels," Devinny says. "When Survivor I was on, I had many retirees write in to me rooting for 72-year-old Rudy. It's not just young people tuning in."

The results of the American Demographics/Bruskin survey illustrate that diversity. Of all those who watch reality television, 55 percent are ages 35 or older. In fact, even though 18- to 24-year-olds are the most likely age group to tune in, the largest portion of the reality TV audience (29 percent) is actually the 35- to 49-year-old group. And when it comes to gender divides, women are the die-hard fans, making up 64 percent of regular viewers (those who watch as many episodes as they can), while occasional viewers are slightly more male (55 percent versus 45 percent). Also noteworthy: reality TV watchers are primarily in the middle- to low-income brackets - 58 percent have annual incomes under $50,000 - and Southerners account for 39 percent of all reality TV viewers, compared with about 20 percent of residents in each of the Northeast, North Central and Western regions.

What exactly is it about reality TV that has attracted such a disparate group? According to Encino, Calif.-based E-Poll's syndicated online survey of 2,121 Americans, ages 18 to 54, the No. 1 reason people watch is the thrill of "guessing who will win or be eliminated from the show." That thrill is the reason cited by 69 percent of all reality TV watchers, and 84 percent of regular viewers, who make a point to watch. The second and third most common reasons viewers tune in are to "see people face challenging situations" and "imagining how I would perform in similar situations," stated by 63 percent and 42 percent of all viewers, respectively.

Of course, reasons for watching reality TV differ dramatically across age and gender divides, according to E-Poll's findings. For example, 43 percent of 18- to 34-year-old viewers say they tune in because they like to see conflict break out among the contestants, compared with 29 percent of 35- to 54-year-olds. The older crowd, on the other hand, is more intrigued than younger viewers with following the contestants' strategies (41 percent versus 36 percent). Men are more than three times as likely as women to tune in to see physically attractive contestants (31 percent versus 9 percent), while women are more likely than men to tune in because they like guessing the outcomes (72 percent versus 65 percent).