Is time running out for reality TV parenting shows?

August 22, 9:10 AMOrlando Parenting ExaminerRobyn Kurth

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Orlando Parenting Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The audience is shrinking for reality TV parents, but there
is a market for educational shows about parenting. (Photo
of Nadya Suleman from Zap2it.com)

If you missed the Nadya Suleman “Octomom” special on the Fox network on Wednesday night, you’re not alone.

According to Usmagazine.com, “4.2 million viewers tuned in to (Suleman’s) two-hour special Wednesday night. Just 3 million watched Monday's episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- down half a million from the week before, and less than a third of the record-setting 10.6 million who viewed the June show in which they announced their split.”

So has the reality TV gravy train for parenting shows finally run out of steam? It depends on what your definition of a parenting show is. There are about a dozen shows on the networks or basic cable depicting various aspects of childbirth and parenting—from A Baby Story, Birth Day, and Bringing Home Baby on TLC to Supernanny on ABC and Nanny 911 on the ABC Family network. For programs about large families, TLC is also the home of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and 18 and Counting, and WEtv tossed its hat into the ring for “life in a large family” programming with Raising Sextuplets over the summer.

Shows that are done in a documentary style, such as A Baby Story, actually have something to teach their target demographic—in this case, women in their childbearing years. I used to watch A Baby Story faithfully during my first pregnancy, until I had a “baby story” of my own. The key to a successful parenting program is showing viewers something that they can relate to. Even on the Nanny reality shows, which add the gimmick of a British nanny dispensing advice to bewildered American parents with unruly children, viewers can either identify with some of the behaviors displayed, or at least tell themselves “Well at least my kids don’t act THAT bad.” The educational value--however slight--is showing the onscreen parents how their coping mechanisms and attitudes contribute to their children's poor behavior.

What has happened to Jon & Kate Plus 8 is what those of us who have worked in video production like to call a “scope change,” in which the client (in this case the on screen “talent”) decide to change the direction of the program from what was agreed upon in the original treatment. A scope change usually adds money to the production budget, and in this case it is affecting the overall ratings. Jon & Kate Plus 8’s ratings were respectable for a basic cable TV show when the show was about relatable family dilemmas like going shopping and potty training, but the show’s original target audience isn’t as interested in Kate’s tummy tuck, Jon’s hair plugs, the book tours, free vacations, product placement, or the scandals on the cover of People Magazine.

Since the dawn of the television era, programming has primarily served the purpose of entertainment and escapism and to a much lesser extent (sadly), enlightenment and information. As long as parents are looking for insight into childbirth and childrearing, there will be a market for parenting-themed shows. They might not have the blockbuster ratings of American Idol, but shows that educate viewers in any way, shape or form rarely do. For first time expectant parents, there is actually something to be learned from a program like A Baby Story, where the onscreen parents’ personal lives are merely a back story to the childbirth experience.

As for Jon & Kate and Octomom, the low ratings seem to indicate that most viewers find the antics of these parents to be neither entertaining nor escapist, and whatever informative qualities the Gosselins' show may have had a few seasons ago has been lost in the shuffle of the tabloid headlines. So when it was reported that Jon Gosselin was even considering his own reality show (Divorced Dads Club is reported to be a working title) media watchers and parenting bloggers shared a collective giggle for the reality TV star who hasn't quite figured out that his train has left the station.

For more info: Get parenting tips and links to Discovery Health parenting programs. Read more about Kate Gosselin's Today Show interview and the impact that her divorce has had on her children.