“She has a better image today than before”, observes Sam Zirah

Twenty years ago, nobody knew the word “reality TV”, not even the candidates who were about to evolve under the watchful eye of the twenty-six cameras. Loft Story. While the project was initially presented as a “sociological experiment”, the production of the program and the audience quickly understood that Loana and Jean-Edouard’s love affairs would be of more interest than analogies with the theories of Pierre Bourdieu.

Over the years, the concept has taken a turn, with television channels abandoning so-called confinement programs such as Nice People or Secret Story, for a new generation of emissions launched by The angels of reality TV which consisted, let us remember, in bringing together former participants of The Island of Temptation, Loft Story or Secret Story. Even though the framework was new, the principle remained the same, and the candidates had assimilated it well.

” Loft Story, at the time, we were in a certain naivety, in a totally spontaneous reality show, where the candidates were not at all aware, seasoned practices ”, remark
Sam zirah, the YouTuber with a million and a half subscribers who regularly receives reality TV stars in his Parisian studio. “The candidates who today are in Angels, The Marseillais, The Princes of Love are candidates who have followed, who have a history, who can know what happened, ”he adds.

Propose a brand image

By taking part in the various programs with full knowledge of the facts, “the candidates have become more professional,” says Sam Zirah. Result ? “Reality TV has a better image today than before” according to the YouTuber who explains that by creating their business, the participants give a more credible image and capitalize on their success.

Making their face a brand is one of the goals that some of the figures of the genre set for themselves. Twenty years ago, some hoped to achieve notoriety quickly and build a reputation. “It was perhaps somewhere also good for the ego because we realize that often, there are life stories behind where they need to repair certain things of their past”, decrypts Sam Zirah.

Signing autographs in the street (when it was still done) or taking selfies with strangers (when the photo was not marred by masks), it does good morale. However, it does not fill the wallet and those who take part in reality shows have come to understand it. “Today, I have the feeling that the means are very pecuniary,” notes the youtubeur. The different reality shows, the buzz, are means that will allow access to a certain purpose which will be product placement, put as much money as possible, perhaps, and then one day, we will no longer talk about them. “

What future for reality TV?

By calling on former candidates and former candidates, it becomes difficult for productions to simply lock their protagonists in a house under the watchful eye of dozens of static cameras. But ten years after the first episode of Angels, the mechanics always seem to be the same: “the superb villa, the dream vacations, the jobs, the interactions between them, the problems. “

“I think we have to completely revise the writing of reality TV and certainly adapt a lot more to social networks. A real marriage can be done, I think it has to be done and I think I will do it, ”announces Sam Zirah. The YouTuber works on several program concepts, one of which seems more advanced than the others. “For ten years, we have had a phase with a lot of love stories, to believe that reality TV, it is only couples and breakups. False, reality TV is quite another thing ”, promises the one who is“ eager ”to present the fruit of his work.