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The Reality of Reality TV. The last few years of my life have been a whirlwind of emotions, spectacle, change, and trying to make sense of my life after experiencing reality TV. I was in the main cast of Love is Blind Season 2, where I met 15 women and got engaged to one before seeing who would become my wife and eventual ex-wife. For the first two years of the experience, I felt like life was happening to me instead of being an active participant in it. As I began processing it all for the first time at the beginning of 2023, I realized the exploitative nature of everything I had been and was going through. I felt abused, misunderstood, and not cared for by an industry that made millions (if not billions) off of my content, likeness, relationship, and trauma. I felt like I was never going to be the same. If I felt this way, I knew others had to feel the same or worse depending on their individual experience. The realization forced me to stand up, say something, and start a movement for change in the reality TV industry that recognizes cast members as human beings with labor rights, legal representation, and mental health support. The UCAN Foundation was Jeremy Hartwell's brainchild, but I am grateful he allowed Isabelle Morley, PsyD, and me to bring our own ideas and co-found the organization (we have since expanded the board two-fold). Fast forward eight months later, and here we are featured on Impact x Nightline (Hulu) as leaders in the "Reality Reckoning" movement. The movement transcends a single person, show, or network. It's about bringing together a collectively oppressed and exploited group of people to FORCE change in an industry that has escaped labor laws and unionization efforts until now. I have to leave reality TV better than I found it. I will continue to advocate and act against exploiting human beings for entertainment until we see the change cast members deserve. The Reality Reckoning is HERE! Check out the episode on Hulu or click here: https://lnkd.in/gHNVY2C4

All entertainment formats are fair-game for brands. What the format brings is a familiar concept in which viewers (aka consumers aka humans) can enthusiastically engage. Then, two things are incumbent on the brand: 1) to deliver brand entertainment as compelling or more compelling than any other entertainment; 2) to deliver entertainment that is in line with and expresses brand values such that the brand entertainment genuinely (and measurably) contributes to brand value just as any other upper-funnel activity would. Yes, of course, Superconnector Studios is here to help! Thanks for the take and the tee-up, as ever, Lucia Moses and Business Insider.

In reality TV, large and impressive set pieces are nice, but without tension between contestants they don't do much. You can find the most amazing location for your content or build an awesome obstacle course, but without interesting characters competing for a great goal, it amounts to nothing. Just look at how many shows that lasted for one season or less. On the other hand there is Survivor. This amazing show has created hundreds of hours of great reality TV with just a campsite built with a few sticks of bamboo. Yes, the games are pretty epic, but they're essentially tools for creating tension. It's the repercussions of the games which spark the action and reaction. Games are great, but it's the results and the consequences post-game where the beauty of the reality TV show can be found. The "after-the-fact" is where personalities shine, where character flaws peak out, and when tempers flare. This is what audiences want to see. These triggers need to be organic to the format, otherwise they jump out and seem forced or create contrived situations that viewers can smell a mile away (and it really can stink up the reality!). There is nothing worse than reality that is rehearsed or planned. You do not plan what the reality will be. You DO plan the methods of your games and the carrots & sticks for the contestants. If you do this right, then you can sit back and watch as it unfolds. #Production #Tension #Survivor #ContentCreation #LookingforWork #Showrunner

How Real Is Real Estate Reality TV? The Answer Might Surprise You Over the years, a slew of reality TV shows that glamorize the real estate industry have popped up on networks like HGTV and Netflix. But just how realistic are they? To find out, we evaluated eight popular shows that may appeal to investors. While most are focused on redesign efforts and fail to consider the practical aspects of investing, a few offer realistic tips and relatable challenges that make them worth watching. Flip or Flop Flip or Flop ended in 2022 after airing for 10 seasons on HGTV. The series follows formerly married real estate agents Christina Hall and Tarek El Moussa, who began flipping houses in Orange County, California, after the 2008 real estate crash. They typically make all-cash offers on foreclosures, which they renovate and sell for a profit. The 70% rule of house flipping is a guideline house flippers use to ensure sufficient profits—it says you shouldn’t spend more than 70% of the home’s expected after-repair value, less any repair costs, on a distressed home. But Tarek and Christina tended to take bigger risks when choosing a property, which is likely to make things interesting. For example, an episode in the final season, “Red Hot Flip,” shows the duo making a $500,000 offer on a home they hope to sell for $700,000, with quoted repair costs of $120,000. They note that low inventory in 2022 leaves them with few choices. Several obstacles come up, including necessary repiping, which pushes their repair costs to $140,000. But they manage to get a $856,500 offer on the house because of the hot market, leaving them with $187,025 in profit after closing costs. That’s a 27.9% return on investment (ROI), which is just slightly below the average of 27.5% for home flips completed in the second quarter of 2023, according to Attom Data. Most house flippers who aren’t also reality TV celebrities might turn away from a project with such slim profit margins, rather than hoping to get lucky with an offer above asking.  Stay Here was only around for one season in 2018 on Netflix, but it’s one of the few highly rated reality TV shows that showcases the optimization of vacation homes for added revenue potential. Designer Genevieve Gorder joins real estate expert Peter Lorimer to help property owners across the country boost their occupancy and average daily rates. 

Don't just take it from me...take it from Rick Parkhill: "The comedic approach is also a relatively new way in for brands, said Rick Parkhill, director and cofounder of Brand Storytelling, an organization that promotes brand-funded content. "Twenty- to 30-year-olds aren't so interested in the documentary-style story of how H&R Block got started," he said. "Audiences are attracted by uplifting docs, but comedy works really well. And comedy is the most effective audience builder when it comes to advertising." The earned media on "Responsibility Island" and the 360-degree ecosystem of content, paid media, social posts, influencer outreach, etc. is a strategically-designed consumer journey to get Gen Z to gain awareness of the DIY product and finally to use it to file their taxes. There's too much branded entertainment that's "Play and Pray." And there's too much noise out there for those prayers to have a chance at working. We need to focus on the full picture, not just viewership and engagement...but real ROI. And Piro is here to help make this a reality (show...or scripted). :-)

Great read. More brands should be thinking this way/using this strategy.

How Reality TV Shows Become Breaking News? Find out how reality TV shows have become integral to breaking news. Learn how these shows have gained immense popularity. https://bit.ly/3MFZtkX #RealityTV #NEWS #shows

ICYMI: Take a look at the first-ever reality TV show cast contract, for 1973's #AnAmericanFamily, which was filmed in 1971—and compare it to current reality TV contracts.

As consumers of reality tv, and followers of celebrity culture, are we in danger of losing our authenticity? In today's episode we discuss what causes us to look in the wrong places for our own truth: how self respect can so easily be lost and lead us to create versions of ourselves that feed into the false matrix and fail to serve us. Creating a version of ourselves that is true and in line with our purpose is our goal: let's talk about how to do that without being sidetracked. https://lnkd.in/exhd6iWt https://lnkd.in/eGUTSXGa...

Could game IPs pick up on the trend and become the next big thing in reality TV? Netflix recently announced working on a new unscripted reality competition series based on the Willy Wonka. After acquiring the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021, the streamer now has full access to this beloved IP. While details of the show are still under wraps, the high brand recognition and solid fan base give it a strong potential. At least we know about earlier success of “Squid Game: The Challenge," based on the popular South Korean drama series "Squid Game." If earlier reality show used to be a celebrity heavy - now they seem to be shifting towards becoming IP heavy. Here are interesting statistics to look at. 📺 Around 44% of television viewers say they watch reality TV regularly 🥇 Approximately 38% of reality TV shows are competitions 👨👩👧👦 80% of reality TV consumers are between the ages of 18-49 🙋♀️ 67% of reality TV viewers are female 📈 About 80% of reality participants reported some long-lasting benefit from their experience