We are April 26, 2001. A UFO makes its appearance on M 6. Thirteen singles cut themselves off from the world for ten weeks under the omnipresent lens of the cameras.
The title: "Loft Story".
This new program, adapted from the Dutch “Big Brother” concept, and its participants are making headlines.
Not a blanket, not a discussion let alone Loana, Steevy and the rest.
A genre was born: reality TV.
Twenty years later, what is left?
The Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) asked itself the question within the framework of a study that Le Parisien - Today in France reveals exclusively.
An indefinable genre?
In two decades, reality TV has seen variations.
The confinement of the early 2000s has been replaced by relative freedom.
The direct gave way to the recorded.
Between 2010 and 2019, the CSA counted about fifty such broadcasts, with both “the Marseillais” and “the Angels” and “Koh-Lanta”.
That is 16,000 hours of broadcasting in total.
A phenomenon that has shifted over the years from TF 1 and M 6 to TNT while increasing.
But can we really define reality TV?
“These are all unscripted programs”, summarizes Nathalie Sonnac, president of the Television working group at the CSA.
“The real definition is confinement, with a vote of the public, retorts Alexia Laroche-Joubert, producer of
Koh-Lanta
.
And that no longer exists since the end of
Secret Story.
"
Because a turn was taken with the appearance of “Angels” and “Ch'tis” in 2011. “We freed ourselves from confinement and mechanics to go into a soap of the real”, remembers the producer.
"It's not real reality TV," says Angela Lorente, who has set up many productions of the genre.
It's the new
Helen and the boys
.
The candidates are guided, like actors.
"
“We started with live TV.
Anything could happen, like the episode of the swimming pool
(Editor's note: filmed antics)
with Loana and Jean-Edouard.
Today, that no longer exists, notes the semiologist François Jost, a specialist in reality TV.
Everything is controlled by the editing.
The narrative power is very strongly returned to the producer, who for example turned
Nabilla's
Allô into
a pinch.
An impact on all other emissions
“Reality TV has influenced all the other programs,” says Nathalie Sonnac.
It has thus gradually irrigated various types of entertainment, on all channels, through 140 formats over the past ten years, from talent competitions to coaching, from adventure games to "real fictions".
“They use the same codes,” explains the wise man.
A major element is the narrative interview, the collection of the emotions of the participants inherited from the confessional of
Loft Story.
"
“The Voice”, “Nightmare in the kitchen”, “Love is in the meadow”, “Rendez-vous in unknown land”, “Prodigies” or “the Day when everything has rocked”… In 2019, these derivatives represent a impressive total of 9,645 hours of airtime, five times more than in 2010. On the other hand, traditional reality television has “only” 2,030 hours of broadcasting, a volume however greater than sport.
But for creators and distributors, we do not mix tea towels and towels.
“
The Loft
did not invent the face-to-face interview!
Plague a producer of television contests.
Honored in the 2000s, reality TV stars are now invited to the red carpets, like Nabilla and Thomas Vergara at Cannes in 2019. LP / Frédéric Dugit
A rare voice that emerges from the shadows, Alexia Laroche-Joubert concedes that "reality TV has somewhat modified the way in which stories are told".
"The impact is more technical and artistic than societal", we recognize at M 6, where we consider incomparable "Loft Story" and "Love is in the meadow".
“Reality TV has always had a bad reputation in France, so no one takes responsibility.
But she inspired a lot, that's for sure, ”says Angela Lorente.
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“We are more and more interested in what people think.
We want to try to understand what they have in their head.
Today, any program, game, information or fiction includes testimonies facing the camera, ”adds François Jost.
What future ?
With 96% of broadcasts on three channels only in 2019 (NRJ 12, TFX, W 9), survival is difficult.
But they should not be buried too soon.
“Current reality TV is a profitable genre, with moderate costs.
And it brings together a very young audience, both in television and digital, ”explains Nathalie Sonnac.
At TF 1, the subject of the return of “Secret Story” comes up regularly on the table.
“Many are in favor, but others block completely.
And it costs too much to relaunch it on TNT, ”indicates a source close to the matter.
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Some even imagine that the genre born in the early 2000s has finally deviated in real life.
Particularly in view of the last few months.
“At the time, some authors compared the Loft to concentration camps.
It was nonsense!
remembers François Jost.
Today, being filmed is something that has been tamed.
There were webcams, smartphones… This familiarity of showing through images has become dominant.
And we finally returned to the Loft a bit with the confinements ...
“The real reality TV is on the news channels, where we storytelling everything,” laughs Angela Lorente.
The heirs of the Loft are also on social networks, where it's more cash, purer, more… real ”