An Analysis of the Cultural, Educational and Value Contents of some Selected Nigerian Reality Television Programmes

Abstract This study analysed some reality television programmes shown in Nigerian television stations. This arose as a result of numerous criticisms against the reality TV programmes. Anchored on the Reflective-Projective theory, Content analysis method was adopted to generate data for the study. Three research questions were set and the content of three purposively selected reality television programmes; Big Brother Africa, Gulder Ultimate Search and MTN Project Fame for the 2011 season, were analysed. A total of Twenty-one (21) episodes of the three reality television programmes were analysed from May 12, 2011 to December 19, 2011. Results show that reality television programmes have educational contents meant to teach the audience skills being performed or perfected by the contestants but the programmes have little or no cultural or traditional value to add to the lives of its audience. The study recommends that to avoid exposing the culture of Nigerians to extinction, reality television programmes producers must ensure that there are rich cultural/traditional contents in their programmes which will ensure that their audience, especially young Nigerian, do not simply abandon their culture for foreign ways of life. The study contributes to discussions on reality television/television effects, particularly in the area of audience influence. Key Words: Reality Television, Reality Programming, Programme Schedule, Gratification and Celebrities _______________ *Oritsesan Wilfred Olley, Ph. D. is a Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria. **Grace Nwagbara, Ph. D. is of the Department of Communication Arts, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, April 2017, 50 – 60