Cbs's Reality TV
CBS’s reality TV show, Hunted (2017), features 18 contestants-participants who agrees to give up their freedom to become fugitives for 28 days. Within these days, contestants are under surveillance by a team of professional law enforcement officers and the last group that survives, wins two hundred thousand dollars. Compared to other fictional TV shows, the Hunted is inexpensive to produce as there is no need for CBS to pay celebrity actors or keep the participants for more than one season. Most of these contestants are ordinary people who are looking for exposure or simply want to win the prize money. On the contrary, the combination of thriftiness, potential to attract an audience, and generate revenue is what entices the network. In particular,
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CBS effectively uses unscripted programming and exploits the non-wage labour of the contestants to maximize profits.
The first way that CBS craft the pilot season “The Internet Never Forgets” to keep production costs at a minimum is by exploiting non-scripted programming. According to Richard Bustch in his article Why Television Keeps Re-Creating the Male Working-Class Buffoon (2011) “writing for the same stock characters, week after week . . . greatly reduces the [task] of producing a script (p. 106). In arguing this, Bustch claims that time pressure forces the production teams to eliminate the writing of scripts to make the process more efficient. For example, CBS has 28 days to shoot the clips of every contestant and put together scenes for a full season. Due to this time restraint, most of what we see is non-scripted. This helps the network to satisfy viewers need for authenticity because the are able to commodify the contestant’s experiences for profit (Deery 2004, p. 4).
Contestants are left under the gaze of the surveillance, recording their every action. The studio then uses the audio and images, allowing the audience to engage in the dialogue of "real" situations. In the Hunted, we see an ex-gang member turned criminal defence Lawyer (Richard) volunteering on the show as he reveals his story about joining a gang and then becoming a Lawyer since police subjected him to a tirade of abuse. CBS use this contestant's unscripted story as a way to appeal to viewers who have a mistrust of the law and police officers. As a result, viewers become consumers of authenticity because they “can distinguish between the authentic and the fictitious” (Rose 2005, p. 286). It is likely that CBS will receive more viewers each week to see the strategies that this particular contestant uses to survive the game.
Another example of how CBS is trying to appeal to viewers is by including a clip of black single mother (Angela) revealing that “she worked three jobs ” in the past and that “she gets chills thinking about what the money will do for her and her daughter”.
Angela’s statement suggests that she is realising the American Dream that if she works hard and takes initiative to escape the hunters, she will win the prize money. I am convinced that CBS is trying to create a storyline that will appeal to working class women who have children and are struggling. From my perspective, CBS is turning this contestant's genuine struggles into entertainment for profits. In Bustch’s view, “ [workers] self-censor their work on the basis of a product image their previous experience tells them the networks will tolerate” (p.104). I truly agree with this because it seems as that CBS is indirectly saying that for this black woman to prevail, she needs to depend on the dominant class. In this case, the dominant class is the network. This compromises the producer's ability to entertain because they have to stick with what they assume will relate to viewers. On the contrary, CBS is using the game to indirectly promote middle-class values such as individualism. In the game, Angela cannot be dependent on institutional support because she is a “fugitive”, therefore, she becomes independent to break through the constraints that have been placed on them to survive the
game.
As a result of non-script programming, many directors, scriptwriters, actors and cameramen are displaced from jobs. For example, midway through the episode, David and Emily use their own camera to taped themselves speaking about their strategy for survival. CBS then retained these contestant’s personal non-scripted footage to create sequential clips to add to the narrative of the show. Here, we see the network maximising their profits by decreasing the amount of money they have to spend on the wages of cameramen. CBS's need to maximize profits compromise producers ability to entertain audience because they have to “preserve some aura of the real” (Deery 2004, p. 6) while making the product entertaining; especially when ratings and the desire for real TV is pulling in opposite directions (Mirrlees 2016, p. 187-188).
Many of the clips in the pilot episode are standardise and routinize as we see contestants going through the same labour process: hiding from the surveillance cameras and disguising themselves. we see the David and Emily hiding out at their friend’s house and constantly on the lookout for officers. Since this scene is standardised, viewers get to see the unscripted dialogue between Robert and his girlfriend. At one point, Emily recorded herself saying “when I agreed to be on the show, I agreed to open up every aspect of my life to be exposed”. This statement gives spectators a sense of authenticity of her situation and Bustch even agrees that television shows "has got to have people you can identify with” (p.105). As a result, CBS crafted this scene to show the reality of what real-life fugitives go through. The network indirectly promotes a hegemonic idea that people shouldn’t break the law or that's what their life will be like. The second way that CBS maximizes profits is by exploiting the non-unionised labour of the contestants. The network is using police-generated footages, embedding it into the episode to show viewers how the security system is protecting citizens from criminals. Thus, this devalues and eliminates the need for cameramen. In fact, Butch claims that TV networks are “[using] franken-biting techniques to splice together select pieces of footage or sound-bites to create sequential clips of contestants doing or saying things that better fit with the producer’s overall vision of the narrative or the story effect they wish to achieve” (p. 1930. In order words, CBS is exploiting the investigator’s labour to access footages, while being able to manipulate the content in any way they like. For example, when Richard went to the ATM to collect money, the CCTV camera filmed him. CBS then use this footage to create a sense of anxiety amongst viewers that this contestant will be caught. This technique creates a collectiveness between audience and the contestants, influencing viewership of next episode.
The Hunted (2017) pilot episode “Snitches get Stitches” has demonstrated that CBS need to maximise profits is working in two directions: no wage labour and unscripted writing. the network legitimizes unpaid work because people re compel to work free even if they have a slim chance of winning the prize money. As the hunters catch and eliminate these contestants, they are dump back in the labour market empty-handed, while CBS reap the benefits from their contents.
CBS effectively uses unscripted programming and exploits the non-wage labour of the contestants to maximize profits.
The first way that CBS craft the pilot season “The Internet Never Forgets” to keep production costs at a minimum is by exploiting non-scripted programming. According to Richard Bustch in his article Why Television Keeps Re-Creating the Male Working-Class Buffoon (2011) “writing for the same stock characters, week after week . . . greatly reduces the [task] of producing a script (p. 106). In arguing this, Bustch claims that time pressure forces the production teams to eliminate the writing of scripts to make the process more efficient. For example, CBS has 28 days to shoot the clips of every contestant and put together scenes for a full season. Due to this time restraint, most of what we see is non-scripted. This helps the network to satisfy viewers need for authenticity because the are able to commodify the contestant’s experiences for profit (Deery 2004, p. 4).
Contestants are left under the gaze of the surveillance, recording their every action. The studio then uses the audio and images, allowing the audience to engage in the dialogue of "real" situations. In the Hunted, we see an ex-gang member turned criminal defence Lawyer (Richard) volunteering on the show as he reveals his story about joining a gang and then becoming a Lawyer since police subjected him to a tirade of abuse. CBS use this contestant's unscripted story as a way to appeal to viewers who have a mistrust of the law and police officers. As a result, viewers become consumers of authenticity because they “can distinguish between the authentic and the fictitious” (Rose 2005, p. 286). It is likely that CBS will receive more viewers each week to see the strategies that this particular contestant uses to survive the game.
Another example of how CBS is trying to appeal to viewers is by including a clip of black single mother (Angela) revealing that “she worked three jobs ” in the past and that “she gets chills thinking about what the money will do for her and her daughter”.
Angela’s statement suggests that she is realising the American Dream that if she works hard and takes initiative to escape the hunters, she will win the prize money. I am convinced that CBS is trying to create a storyline that will appeal to working class women who have children and are struggling. From my perspective, CBS is turning this contestant's genuine struggles into entertainment for profits. In Bustch’s view, “ [workers] self-censor their work on the basis of a product image their previous experience tells them the networks will tolerate” (p.104). I truly agree with this because it seems as that CBS is indirectly saying that for this black woman to prevail, she needs to depend on the dominant class. In this case, the dominant class is the network. This compromises the producer's ability to entertain because they have to stick with what they assume will relate to viewers. On the contrary, CBS is using the game to indirectly promote middle-class values such as individualism. In the game, Angela cannot be dependent on institutional support because she is a “fugitive”, therefore, she becomes independent to break through the constraints that have been placed on them to survive the
game.
As a result of non-script programming, many directors, scriptwriters, actors and cameramen are displaced from jobs. For example, midway through the episode, David and Emily use their own camera to taped themselves speaking about their strategy for survival. CBS then retained these contestant’s personal non-scripted footage to create sequential clips to add to the narrative of the show. Here, we see the network maximising their profits by decreasing the amount of money they have to spend on the wages of cameramen. CBS's need to maximize profits compromise producers ability to entertain audience because they have to “preserve some aura of the real” (Deery 2004, p. 6) while making the product entertaining; especially when ratings and the desire for real TV is pulling in opposite directions (Mirrlees 2016, p. 187-188).
Many of the clips in the pilot episode are standardise and routinize as we see contestants going through the same labour process: hiding from the surveillance cameras and disguising themselves. we see the David and Emily hiding out at their friend’s house and constantly on the lookout for officers. Since this scene is standardised, viewers get to see the unscripted dialogue between Robert and his girlfriend. At one point, Emily recorded herself saying “when I agreed to be on the show, I agreed to open up every aspect of my life to be exposed”. This statement gives spectators a sense of authenticity of her situation and Bustch even agrees that television shows "has got to have people you can identify with” (p.105). As a result, CBS crafted this scene to show the reality of what real-life fugitives go through. The network indirectly promotes a hegemonic idea that people shouldn’t break the law or that's what their life will be like. The second way that CBS maximizes profits is by exploiting the non-unionised labour of the contestants. The network is using police-generated footages, embedding it into the episode to show viewers how the security system is protecting citizens from criminals. Thus, this devalues and eliminates the need for cameramen. In fact, Butch claims that TV networks are “[using] franken-biting techniques to splice together select pieces of footage or sound-bites to create sequential clips of contestants doing or saying things that better fit with the producer’s overall vision of the narrative or the story effect they wish to achieve” (p. 1930. In order words, CBS is exploiting the investigator’s labour to access footages, while being able to manipulate the content in any way they like. For example, when Richard went to the ATM to collect money, the CCTV camera filmed him. CBS then use this footage to create a sense of anxiety amongst viewers that this contestant will be caught. This technique creates a collectiveness between audience and the contestants, influencing viewership of next episode.
The Hunted (2017) pilot episode “Snitches get Stitches” has demonstrated that CBS need to maximise profits is working in two directions: no wage labour and unscripted writing. the network legitimizes unpaid work because people re compel to work free even if they have a slim chance of winning the prize money. As the hunters catch and eliminate these contestants, they are dump back in the labour market empty-handed, while CBS reap the benefits from their contents.