Reality goes viral
In the previous nine posts of this blog, I have widely discussed how reality television is made, how it shapes the world, and how it is likely to adapt to SVODs. But the most recent phenomenon to affect the genre is no less than the COVID-19 outbreak which has taken the world by storm.
With half of mainland China’s population living under travel bans in force to control the outbreak, content producers have been forced to find a way of bringing entertainment to a society which has become more bored than usual.
For the past couple of weeks, dozens of “cloud reality shows” have been launched, mainly through online platforms. The name comes from the fact most of them are taking place in living rooms of both celebrities and everyday people who await for time in the spotlight. Hunan TV released “Hey, What Are You Doing?”, which sees people interact with popular hosts in vlog-style, encouraging people at home to exercise, try new recipes, and play new games. Other shows include Games at Home, where people are challenged to undertake different activities, and Karaoke at Home, in which viewers request singers to sing from home. All these programmes need to create such interaction is participants with a phone or computer as well as a good network connection to join in.
Some programmes have announced that they would abandon the stage and adopt the cloud recording mode. The only concern is about the quality of sound and picture and whether they can be guaranteed, but the cutting-edge streaming infrastructure of Wuhan has made it the best possible for this to happen. Unfortunately, China has strict live-streaming laws which censor content.
Zheng, Youky’s variety show’s general manager told China Youth Daily: “These extraordinary conditions now pose an extreme challenge for the industry — they interrupt original plans, but they also inspire new ideas. Innovation made during this time might even give birth to new norms in the future”
Thus, the notion that necessity is the mother of invention is proven once more. In times of need, people aren’t turning to fiction telly — they want to see other people going through the same as they are, which is why these live-streams have been so successful. Now that the precedent has been set, we can look forward to how this technology will be used in the coming years as reality television continues to grow.
