Selecciones - Webs

Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
IMC PERSPECTIVE 11-4
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
11. Evaluation of Broadcast
Media
The Osbournes Gives New Meaning to Reality TV
In recent years reality shows have become some of the
most popular programs on television. Shows such as
Survivor, Fear Factor, The Bachelor, Temptation Island,
and American Idol: The Search for a Superstar have
been among the most popular of the reality genre and
have spawned a slew of copycats. However, many of
these shows might never have come about had not the
path been blazed nearly a decade earlier by MTV’s reallife
soap opera The Real World, which has been running
for 11 years and remains a staple of the music
channel’s lineup. The series single-handedly created
the 24/7, “soap-u-mentary” style of most contemporary
reality series.
A decade later MTV has created yet another hit reality
show, The Osbournes, which is a no-holds-barred
look at the real life of aging British rock star Ozzy
Osbourne and his family as they go about their daily
routine. They show has been described as a bizarre,
unscripted, profanity-laced family comedy that gives
new meaning to “reality TV.” Osbourne plays himself—
a tattoo-covered hellion-turned-slipper-wearing dad
with world-weary teenagers and a wife who is also his
manager. The show is set in Osbourne’s Beverly Hills
mansion, which is furnished in a style that might be
termed “kinky robber baron”: plush couches, antique
carpets, crucifixes galore, totems of the occult, and a
menagerie of rebellious house pets.
The Osbournes premiered in spring 2002 and, after
only 10 episodes, became a bona fide pop cultural sensation,
as well as MTV’s top-rated series ever and one of
the most watched entertainment shows on cable.
Nearly 8 million people have been tuning in to the show
when it airs, and they aren’t just MTV’s core audience of
12- to 24-year-olds. The Osbournes appeals to a broader
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds and beyond and
spans generations in many households, as teens often
find themselves laughing at the family’s antics with
their baby-boomer parents. Television critics attribute
the show’s success to the quirky, unscripted approach
of the show and the characters, who include Ozzy, his
wife Sharon, his kids Jack and Kelly, Melinda the nanny,
the band, the pets, the assistants, the roadies, and the
security guards. MTV president Van Toffler notes: “I’m
not sure we could ever find a family as unique, as unpredictable
and as twisted as the Osbournes are.”
The success of the show has made Ozzy Osbourne
very popular. He has been invited to play for Queen
Elizabeth II, he has received a six-figure book contract,
and his concert tours have been sold out wherever the
band plays. The Viacom network has also benefited
from the success of the show, as its ratings success
has made it a smash hit for MTV’s advertising department.
Media executives report that some 30-second
commercials in the show have gone for close to
$100,000, which is a record for a regular nonsports
cable series. MTV can show each episode worldwide up
to 100 times, and it can raise advertising rates as the
show’s popularity increases.
As might be expected, the success of The Osbournes
has resulted in other networks’ trying to one-up one
another with oddball reality shows. E! Entertainment
Television launched a similar reality show in August
2002 featuring buxom model/actress Anna Nicole
Smith, while MTV began exploring projects that would
provide behind-the-scenes looks at other entertainers
and celebrities, such as rapper “P. Diddy” Combs. VH1
turned its cameras on singer Liza Minnelli and her husband,
David Getz, in Liza and David.
Some television critics feel that it is only a matter
of time until viewers become tired of reality shows.
However, MTV executives must not agree with this prediction,
as the network has signed The Osbournes to a
two-year deal. MTV is also coming up with ways to
keep the show popular, such as shooting some
episodes in England. One writer notes that the attraction
of The Osbournes is simple: famous people doing
ordinary things. It will be interesting to see how long
people want to watch Ozzy continue to do simple
things such as curse and yell “Sharon.”
Sources: Megan Larson, “Strange Brew,” Mediaweek, Sept. 16, 2002,
pp. 26–27; David Calvo and Geoff Boucher, “Surreality TV Triumphs:
‘Osbournes’ Is Renewed,” Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2002, pp. A1,
23; Wayne Friedman, “‘Osbournes’ Hits Peak Cable Program Pricing,”
Advertising Age, May 13, 2002, pp. 1, 75.
371