Reality TV fatigue setting in: survey

The findings stood out from the rest of the region, which generally bucks a global trend of reality television fatigue, with Asia representing seven of the top 10 markets disagreeing that there was an excessive amount of reality television, with China topping the list. "Of the 41 markets surveyed, Asia holds a rare bright spot in the overall outlook for reality television," said Bienvenido Niles, Asia-Pacific president of ACNielsen, which carried out the study.

The survey did uncover areas of potential reality television fatigue in the region, especially in Malaysia and the Philippines, where people in their 20s and 40s were the most likely to complain that the genre was crowding out television schedules.

Opinions were split between the sexes in India, with nearly 90 per cent of women saying there was too much reality television compared with two-thirds of men, while the survey also indicated reality television fatigue has set in with the over-50s in the Singapore market.

The genre's popularity has sparked a raft of similar shows with little to differentiate them, as well as low quality productions hoping to cash in on the boom, both probable causes of reality television fatigue.

MindShare's regional insights director James Chadwick said that advertisers however should not discount reality television, which still retains a lot of appeal for audiences. "We still think reality TV offers fantastic opportunities for brands," he said.

On a broader level, the survey revealed that regionally, the percentage of Asia-Pacific viewers tiring of reality television was 68 per cent, compared with the global average of 77 per cent. The online survey covered the opinions of more than 22,000 consumers globally.