Keeping it real: A heavy dose of us on screen
Popular local series The Block NZ and My Kitchen Rules NZ return while we will get our own version of Project Runway
It’s the television genre we love to hate but can’t get enough of — and Kiwi audiences are in for yet another bumper year of reality TV.
The Block NZ, My Kitchen Rules New Zealand, the Australian version of My Kitchen Rules and Married at First Sight NZ were all in the top five most watched series on freeto-air TV last year by Kiwis aged 18 to 49, with hundreds of thousands tuning in to each episode.
And free-to-air broadcasters TVNZ and MediaWorks look set to cash in on audiences’ fascination with reality again, with both networks set to air several new seasons of local and international reality series this year.
An Indian dance competition and a local version of the fashion design franchise Project Runway are coming new arrivals to our
screens.
Popular DIY and cooking programmes
The Block NZ and My Kitchen Rules New Zealand are among shows returning for new seasons.
Cate Slater, TVNZ’s director of content, said successful local reality series had drawn audiences back to free-to-air TV in the age of streaming and subscription services, but TVNZ’s programmers still tried to avoid saturation of any particular genre.
“We do have more local reality formats in our 2018 slate. But this is proportional to the increase in local content we’ll be providing across the board, including in drama, factual and comedy.
“We take the scheduling of reality series into consideration, with factors such as the time of year, how much of that particular genre has been on the channel, and what our offering is across the board to ensure it’s a good mix.”
As well as popular international exports TVNZ’s schedule features several new seasons of locally made reality shows.
Slater said local content resonated strongly with Kiwi audiences, which was why the network was focusing heavily on it.
“We have a really diverse local slate with increased reality programming, but we also have great local drama and really extensive local factual as well.
“Viewer behaviour has indicated Kiwis want to see their own stories on screen, and particularly on TVNZ channels, which makes it very important to us.”
University of Otago media researcher Dr Rosemary Overell said making local TV shows was often risky because the television production industry was very small here and so it made sense that New Zealand broadcasters were copying formats that had been successful overseas — like cooking and dating shows — to make our own versions.
“It plays to the idea that [reality shows] are relatively cheap to make but that also viewers enjoy them. New Zealanders have enjoyed watching the foreign version of these programmes so it makes sense to localise them and almost have a bigger audience.
“Whenever it’s your people in it, you can identify. You’ll go ‘They’re from a town I know’, which you don’t get when you’re watching the American version, you don’t get all those jokes.”
The reality TV genre was popular because people found it relatable, she said, but it also had value as a cultural product that could teach citizens about class and gender politics.
“It’s not just entertainment. It can tell us a lot about the culture and society we live in.”
Mediaworks chief content officer Andrew Szusterman was not available for comment by deadline.