CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Studies have focused on how
television programmes that appear to be “real” alters the viewers’ perception
of reality (or social reality) (Nwafor, 2015). However, recently a new fad in
television has surfaced and it appears to be taking over. Reality television
shows are overtaking the networks leaving behind an even bigger effect than
that of regular television.
Reality
TV as a genre of television programming that has grown over the years and has
become an addiction of some sort for many of their viewers especially youth and
female segment of the society. According to Hall (2009:515), reality programmes
are now a staple of television programming. Many people watch reality shows for
several reasons. Reiss and Wiltz (2004) discovered that an element of reality
programmes appeal is that they ‘help viewers to feel important because seeing
ordinary people on the shows allows them to “fantasize that they could gain
celebrity status by being on television.’ (Hall, 2009:517).
The
appeals that reality TV shows have on their audiences have led to many products
and organisations to explore it for their marketing communications spending and
products and service placement. As viewership increased, producers have also
improved on contents and come up with better packages that attracts more audiences
to stay glued to their TV screens, thereby, also attracting more sponsorship
from organisations.
In
Nigeria, reality television show has in recent time significantly proved to be
a favourite among the youth – particularly those who fall within the range of
ages 18-25 (Chikafe & Mateveke 2012). Among these programmes is the Big
Brother Nigeria which is the focus of this study and hereafter referred to as
BBNaija.
According
to Chikafa & Mateveke (2012) the concept of Big brother was borrowed from
George Orwell’s novel of 1984 titled ‘fictional dystopia of Oceania’ in which
he described a world of never-ending surveillance. In the novel, the dictator
who watched over the citizens of Oceania was called Big Brother, and his
terrifying slogan was ‘Big Brother is watching you’. In the Big Brother
television show, contestants confined in the house compete to escape eviction
in order to win the prize money. The reality TV show debuted on the African
continent in 2003, and has since then, with the aid of the growth of satellite
television in Africa, roused African audience interest and has remained an
annual event till date (see: Chikafa & Mateveke 2012).
Big
Brother reality show has continued to thrive and at the same time wax stronger
mostly among the youth; although, the show, over the years, has been criticized
for its display of obscene and vulgar scene which is considered not to be part
of the Nigeria culture and that of Africa in general.
Reasoning
along this line, Ojoko (2013) writes that Big Brother reality show has no doubt
generated a lot of controversies in recent times, and worthy of note is that
the fact that the sponsors or organizers are near-faceless, and the show exhibits
low moral values and falls short of what is expected in these days where
clamour for the good days when cultural and good moral values was at its peak.
Other
scholars contend that Big Brother reality show, just like many other reality TV
shows has raised a lot of moral panics among parents teachers and guardians
especially on issues relating to sex, nudity, violence, cheating and voting
unfairness. The level of immorality being celebrated by the Big Brother reality
show is adjudged short of programmes intended for education (Laitto, 2015).
Yet, many African audience especially the youth have continued to imbibe the
damaging style of the programme and the actors have turned to celebrities (see
Oluwakayode, 2013; para 11). This has led to several calls demanding for its
ban and censorship. For instance in 2007, the Nigeria House of Representatives
issued a directive to the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to discontinue the
airing of any clip or debate on Big Brother reality show (Ralvy, 2007). Despite
these outcries and the moral panics, the reality show has neither improved in
moral tone nor viewership level reduced. Number of viewers that voted on the
final week of Big Brother Naija 2017 was estimated at 26 million, most of which
were youths. This shows that there is a large followership
amongst the Nigeria youths as the reality show seem to have a lasting impact on
the youths.
It
is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine the impact of reality TV show on Imo State
University students using Big Brother Naija as a case study).
1.2 Statement of the problem
Since the debut of Big Brother TV
reality show which was seen as a platform for Nigeria and Africa in general to
showcase their culture to brother countries and to the outside world, and boost
brotherliness and cohesion in the continent, the TV reality show has also been
heavily criticized for promoting immorality through its display of obscene
scene and use of inordinate languages hitherto seen to be alien to the
rudiments of the cultures of Africa as a people.
According to Nwafor (2015), the TV
reality show now displays uninhibited sexual frolics on open cameras,
accusations STDs being passed around, shameless smooching by hormonal charged
housemates and ear-tingling swear words are the predominant values being shown,
which lamely try to project positive African cultures and traditions; which is
ironical because such modern franchises like Big Brother Naija are
neo-imperialist means of eroding the very essence of Africanism (Nwafor (2015).
The positive and negative impact of
TV reality show on the behaviour of students attract the attention of so many
intelligent people all over the world and calls for real academic
debates and scholarly studies.
Since television is seen as an
audiovisual medium through which youths especially students are influenced on
their day to day activities as it teaches both moral and sometimes bad
behaviours, thereby having a lasting impact on the students. This necessitated
the need for this research which examines the impact of reality TV show on Imo
State University students, a case study of Big Brother Naija.
1.3
Research objectives
The broad aim of this study is
examine the impact of reality TV shows on Imo State University Students. The
specific objectives are;
1.
To
examine the impact of Big Brother Naija reality TV show on students of Imo
State University
2.
To
identify ways through which Big Brother Naija reality TV show
has contributed to the Academic and social culture value of the
students.
3.
To
know whether the reality TV show have stimulated discussions among students.
4.
To
examine the negative impacts of the reality TV show on attitudinal behavior of
Imo State University students’
5.
To
identify the real life encounters experienced by the students through their
exposure to the reality TV show
6.
To
examine the impact of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show on moral and
academic performance of students
1.4 Research Questions
The following are the research
questions guiding this study.
1.
Are
the students of Imo State University aware of the Big Brother Naija reality TV
show?
2.
In
what ways has the Big Brother Naija reality TV show contributed to
the Academic and social culture value of the students?
3.
Have
the reality TV show stimulated any discussions amongst the students?
4.
What
are the reasons why Imo State University students watch the Big Brother
reality TV show?
5.
Is
there any real life encounters experienced by the students through their
exposure to the reality TV show?
6.
What
is the impact of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show on moral and academic
performance of students?
1.5 Hypothesis
H0: Big Brother Naija reality TV show
does not have a good impact on students
H1: Big Brother Naija reality TV show have a good impact on
students
1.6 Scope of the study
This study is limited to regular
students of Imo State University. The researcher shall however study subset of student’s
population. Hence, students of English and Literacy studies department, Mass
Communication department, Sociology department, Psychology department and Social
Science Education department, would all be used for the purpose of this study.
The
researcher’s choice of the above named departments is derived from the
relationship between TV reality shows and their courses. They are therefore in
a better position to provide relevant/correct answers to the questions raised
in the questionnaire.
The
researcher would therefore use Big Brother Naija TV reality show as a case
study for the selected students from these departments.
1.7 Significance of study
The study is of utmost importance to
broadcast media houses, as it will help in scheduling of programmes and know
the nature of the programmes to be televised.
Furthermore, academic scholars will
benefit from the findings of this research, as it will serve as a good
literature for both scholars and students of mass communication who might want
to carry out similar or related research in the future.
In addition parents and guidance will
also benefit from the findings of this study, as it will show parents and
guidance how to be responsible for the upbringing and training of children
and their exposure to programmes that do not impact them positively.
1.8 Limitation of the study
Wide research of this nature cannot
be carried out without some constrains, this constrains pose a lot of
limitations to this work. The study of Big brother Naija TV
reality show could limit the generalizability of this work. Moreover, the
researcher experienced initial apathy on the part of the students. It however
took consistent persuasion by the researcher to gain the respondents interest
and participation as evidence in the high return rate of distributed
questionnaire.
1.9 Operational definition of terms
1. Impact: The
effect of programme content on the audience.
2. Reality Show: This
is a type of television program that aims to show how ordinary people behave in
everyday life, or in situations, often created by the program makers, which are
intended to represent everyday life.
3. Television: This
is an electronic medium through which pictorial message are passed or
transmitted to the audience.
4. Social Behaviour: Connected
with activities in which people meet each other for pleasure.
5. Big Brother Naija: A TV reality show based on the Big Brother TV
series in which 12 contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a
large cash prize worth $100000 at the end of the show by avoiding being evicted
by viewers.