The rapid developments in satellite technology and electronic media have led to the mushrooming of television channels across the Arab World. The growth of the ‘Reality TV’ genre is one development resulting from this. Across the Arab region reality programmes like ‘Arab Idol’ ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ ‘Star Academy’ ‘Super Star’ ‘Star Academy Maghreb’ ‘Najm Alkhaleej’ ‘Al-Wady’ ‘Arabs Got Talent’ to name a few have been popular amongst audiences from different age groups mostly the youth. Although it came late to the Arab world reality TV has finally managed to become a hit with the rise of Rotana (an Arab music video channel) The Middle East Broadcasting Channel (MBC) and various Lebanese private channels.

An often quoted figure is that ‘Super Star’ (broadcast on the Lebanese Future TV) for instance received 80 million calls in its second season. Part of the popularity of such programmes is that they are not costly to produce compared to current affairs and documentary programmes. On average a reality TV programme in the US costs about 750 thousand dollars whereas a soap opera TV series will be over 2.8 million dollars in production costs. The same goes for Arab reality TV programmes which have become the digest of many private TV channels.

Some would think that reality TV programmes deliver mere content that serves segments of the public. A closer look reveals that such programmes have resulted in complex reactions and debates about politics religion culture and identity in the Arab region.

“Big Brother’s” cultural shock

In 2003 a TV series in Bahrain introduced the first version of ‘Big Brother’. Al-Ra’ees (the title of the programme which stands for ‘The Boss’) chose a remote island where it placed six males and six females in an Arab type of ‘Big Brother House’. Since the housemates included a Christian the experience for some of them was very revealing given the cultural differences and the religious discrepancies and practices between Muslims and Christians. Although a prayer place was included and the call to prayer took place regularly the show was condemned from the outset and was deemed outraging to the cultural norms of the Gulf region.

It was for instance criticized as part of ‘an American strategy to take over the Middle East by infiltrating the hearts and minds of Arab youth’ (wnd.com). No wonder then that after only three episodes “Al-Ra’ees” was axed and as a result this version of reality TV has never succeeded in the Arab region. It is worth mentioning here that the planning process for the genre did not carefully consider the cultural sensitivities of the region.

The production company and the channel which broadcast it did not perceive that the programme might provoke the religious sentiments of its audiences due to the controversial setting. The project backfired resulting in the total failure of the programme.

Overall this type of genre which now dominate Arab TV can be viewed as a trend to tabloidise Arab media content a phenomenon heavily criticized with reference to the Western media during the last two decades. Song contests like Arab Idol and Arab got Talent tend to receive ample negative comments from religious leaders commentators academics community groups and policy makers. One key criticism directed at Arab Idol was its potential power to distract the Arab street from serious issues and trivialize public opinion concerns.

For instance while season 2 of Arab Idol attracts millions on Arab TV neighbouring Syria has been engulfed more and more by civil war. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to Lebanon Turkey Jordon and other neighbouring countries. The regime of Bashar Al-Assad has become more ruthless in dealing with the Syrian opposition. While TV screens across the Arab world were busy reporting live bloody scenes of the war including the destruction of total towns and villages MBC kept its viewers glued to the Arab Idol songs contest in Spring 2013. The programme then was seen as an attempt to take audiences away from this harsh reality; probably an attempt to help them escape even for few hours per week the often depressing news of the Syrian crisis.

One more controversy relates to the star-making potential of such programmes and the promising financial gains which the winners may achieve eventually. In light of the vacuum that Arab youth have been witnessing because of unemployment and marginalisation in a war-torn region these reality TV programmes constitute a refuge for many of them and a substitute for the lack of means to achieve their dreams for fame and fortune-making. Many participants in the music contests for instance see this opportunity as a fast track towards stardom and amassing wealth without years of hard work in education and professional work.

An exception among many of these TV shows is “Stars of Science” which is a distinctive programme on Arab TV geared towards building capacities. Broadcast on the Saudi TV channel MBC4 this programme is considered innovative and different from the usual entertaining reality shows on Arab TV. Nujoom Al-Uloom (Stars of Science) brings together innovators from various Arab countries whose main task is to invent a technological gadget that is eventually marketable. The total prize awarded to the winning team is $600000 in cash which is shared between the team members. The show which is sponsored and backed by Qatar Foundation and takes place in Doha opens the appetite for Arab geniuses to showcase their talent and pitch for a project that can potentially attract investors from within and outside the region. So far the show has brought to light numerous talents from various Arab countries most of whom had been unknown until their appearance on the programme.

Arab TV can potentially serve as a constructive force for the betterment of Arab consciousness. Apart from a handful of exceptions so far the Arab TV market is far from playing that role. It should steer away from the copy-paste of Western Reality TV formats which trivialise Arab concerns and instead invest in making more innovative TV content which meets the challenges of the Arab region.