Written by Nuremy Mohd Khairi
Reality TV shows are now common in Malaysian television industry as the industry are following the trend of American reality TV shows which have managed to gain popularity around the globe. Thanks to this, similar programs in Malaysia such as Akademi Fantasia and Mencari Cinta were accepted positively. Not only that, reality TV shows that involve toddlers as the main casts such as “Lara oh Lara” and “Little Princess” Aishah also received overwhelming feedback and rating.
These shows have managed to generate quite a number of audiences, deliver excitement to them and create controversies in the local entertainment industry. In a record, the third season of Akademi Fantasia managed to bring in 1.7 million audiences by using their voting system through audience short messaging system.
To most of television producers, advertising agents, aspiring contestant and devoted viewers in Malaysia, such reality TV shows have given a new colour to the Malaysian television industry.
However, the government was not too happy with the launched of these shows. Complaints from the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia saying that Malaysians merely borrowing extensively from the western culture.
Having said that the target audiences for these reality show in Malaysia are probably the Malaysian youth who can be influenced easily by the western culture elements in those programs. Due to this, government are trying and still looking for ways to put a limitation on the current reality shows