The rising popularity of the reality shows on Indian television channels has added a new dimension to the advertising industry. Reality shows are fast replacing the Saas-bahu soaps and other family dramas in terms of popularity and marketers are cashing in on the popularity of these shows. This article discusses the reasons for the high popularity of reality shows and the marketing opportunities therein.

Marketing is essentially about identifying customer needs and responding to those changing needs with appropriate product offers. Basically, customer needs are the starting point for marketing activity. Marketing is basically an exchange process. It involves understanding the customers' interest and developing products to satisfy these needs. The next step is promotion of the products. Grabbing attention, informing people and making a specific place in the mind of the consumers is the actual challenge for the marketers. The market, today, has become very competitive and, in order to survive, marketers have to develop innovative ideas which can impact the consumers. A medium which can create an `ocean of appeal' and yet be cost effective is the dream of all marketing executives. And reality shows, more or less, give them that opportunity. This new technique helps to reach the target audience effectively. Reality shows allow promoting the product even within the shows, which adds extra credibility and mileage to the brand. The popularity of these shows is the most important reason behind its usage as a platform for promoting the product or brand.

The main reason for the popularity of reality shows is that this concept broke the monotony and came out with interesting scripts and out-of-the box ideas. The advent of these shows can be traced back to the 1940s with the shows like Allen Funt's Candid Camera that captured candid reactions of people to humorous tricks and pranks. In 1948, talent search shows, like Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, used many of the same tactics employed by the present day version: 1) a nationwide search for talent using local and regional contests to narrow the field, 2) live telecasts of the finals with a resulting winner who on occasions emerged as a star. In fact, the Miss America Pageant, first telecast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved the status of a national celebrity. Reality shows became immensely popular during the early 2000s. Two reality series, `Survivor' and `American Idol' have been top-rated series on American TV. Shows, like Survivor, The Idol series, The Top Model series, Dancing with the Star series Fear Factor, Big Brother, etc., have had a global impact. Many countries influenced by these shows came up with their own versions of the shows and India is no exception to this.

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