With nearly every scripted primetime show on television airing in HD nowadays, it's downright baffling that hits such as
Survivor and
The Amazing Race are still showing up in pixelated standard-definition. There's no doubt these shows are raking in millions from advertisers, but producers are still refusing to make the HD leap. Reportedly, Mark Burnett (executive producer of
Survivor) was quoted as saying that "HD would be a nice addition to [the show], but [it] already has a high visual quality." We've also heard a battery of excuses surrounding the risk of expensive HD cameras being damaged in the wild, but it's easy to see the real reason behind the holdout is dollars and cents. Until viewers start turning their eyes to alternatives that are in high-definition, these giants are apt to keep on cranking out new seasons with the least total upfront cost. Needless to say, it's been a hot minute since anyone 'round these parts have tuned into any reality show not broadcast in 720p / 1080i, but we're definitely hoping to revert our attention back whenever the bigwigs in charge get with the program.
[Thanks, Will P.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JVirg1 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:06PM
Eh, I have my High Def TV, and surround sound all hooked up and is amazing to watch. I have the Harmony remote all programmed. I have DirecTv and all the high def programmed, and a large antenna on my House to get all the locals in high def. I have an HD DVD player. I have a PS3. I also have a 20" rca crt TV mounted on the wall near all of it. 90% of the time I watch the 20". Actually have not turned on the other in about a week now. I am just kinda over HD. Oh and my Netflix queue if full of standard DVD movies. Haven't gotten a high def one from them in months. I do watch them on the big screen though with surround sound. But right now I am getting all the series discs for the Supranos which I watch on, yep you guessed it, the 20" with a $25.00 magnavox DVD player I got at Walmart.
Jeff N. @ Feb 20th 2008 5:59PM
JVIRG1, you are kind of over HD? Wow! You are an odd duck! Sorry, but someone who likes to watch SD on a 20" screen after watching a High Def Wide screen experience, is truly different.
JVirg1 @ Feb 20th 2008 7:02PM
Hey Jeff (my name also),
Yeah I imagine I am odd. I had the 20" tv mounted in my living room a while ago and I did not want to take it off the wall. Also have one mounted in my bedroom. I have a 32" high def Tv in my bedroom that has not been on in months. And like I said I basically have only turned on the one in my living room to watch a movie (like when I go all out and make popcorn) or when I watch football. And I find the difference between the SD dvd's and the High Def ones to be kind of minimal. Perhaps clearer but does not greatly enhance the actual movie. I was turning on the big screen and watching it but watched a lot of TVLand and channels and shows like that and just figured this is stupid to turn on all this on and just started watching the 20" and rarely go through the trouble of turning it off and turning the other on even during prime time. I guess I am odd. I imagine someday all shows will be in HD and I will take the small one off the wall and patch it up.
Steve Soricelli @ Feb 20th 2008 5:25PM
At least the American Gladiators is in HD. Kinda sorta a reality show.
Jeff N. @ Feb 20th 2008 5:58PM
It all comes down to the reality shows are produced on the cheap, and they want to keep it that way. Of course Survivor would look great in HD as would Amazing Race, and would great enhanced the shows. They go to some great exotic locales many of us will never see in our lifetime. It's too bad the Producers see no advantage to filming in HD. It really comes down to being too cheap to doing it in HD. I saw that Ice Road Truckers was filmed in HD and that is pretty rough territory to film in. And they have about 1/5 the viewers on the History Channel as does Survivor on CBS. Ohh well.
Doc @ Feb 20th 2008 6:04PM
There is no excuse for a major television network to not at this point record any show in HD. It's not like your some local small town operation in IOWA. I think you have it in your budget. Can someone at these tv stations let the brass know that they already have HD equipment? PLEASE!
Mr. E @ Feb 20th 2008 6:30PM
Agreed! I don't watch this kind of garbage, but even Mythbusters on Discovery HD is now produced in high definition. When the Discovery channel is producing higher quality "reality" type shows than a top three network, that's just pathetic.
wireless.nemo @ Feb 20th 2008 6:08PM
reality tv sucks. so do people who watch it.
shawnmos @ Feb 20th 2008 6:11PM
Reality shows cater to the white trash of America. Most of the people that watch that crap probably don't have HDTVs anyway.
Vince Anido @ Feb 20th 2008 6:15PM
It really comes down to cost. Reality shows as a whole have MUCH lower budgets than traditional television. They also require many more cameras at any given time for much longer durations of production.
The cost involved in camera rental for a single camera narrative vs a HUGE multi-camera shoot like Survivor is significant. Most of those types of shows have around 10 cameras shooting at any given time. That's some serious cash...
Also, the cost added to post-production cannot be discounted.
As the prices of cameras comes down, some shows are beginning to explore the idea of moving to HD, but at the end of the day - unless people stop watching them as-is, why would they invest the money?
EQC @ Feb 20th 2008 6:22PM
I'm still wondering when cartoon shows (Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.) will start making new episodes in at least a wide-screen format. Doesn't need to be HD...but it'd make me happy if these shows didn't have to be pillar-boxed.
Of course, I think a wide-screen format would probably require significant extra cost for cartoons, as 50% extra has to be drawn...
ZeroCorpse @ Feb 20th 2008 6:54PM
"South Park" made an HD episode, and "Justice League Unlimited" was in widescreen from its second season onward.
Cartoon Network HD was disappointing for me. It looked good, but it was in stretch-o-vision most of the time.
HDpurist @ Feb 20th 2008 6:47PM
I hope it's pushed indefinitely. No point in HD for these reality shows. Most are tired and old, especially Survivor and Amazing Race should be discontinued - absolutely garbage shows.
ZeroCorpse @ Feb 20th 2008 6:51PM
I know why they're avoiding HD.
They're afraid the normal-looking (and sometimes BAD looking) people on reality shows will SCARE the audience if they're seen in HD.
Think back. Wasn't that Richard guy always naked, and always hairy?
I never watch these shows, but I cannot imagine wanting to see them in HD. Hell, I'd like to see them go away entirely!
eugene @ Feb 20th 2008 7:06PM
ding ding ding! we have a winner! BTW, this is also the reason why I think they should shoot desperate housewives in SD... My wife and I caught a few seconds of an episode and my god do they look awful in HD.
David Hildreth @ Feb 20th 2008 8:04PM
Reality and game shows are where networks go for cheap programing. If a reality show goes HD they could have a harder time getting picked up.
Harpo @ Feb 20th 2008 8:08PM
I don't really buy the budget complaint. HDV cameras are just about as affordable as a good SD cam these days - you're basically stupid if you're investing in high-end SD cameras these days. HDV doesn't cut it for your dramatic shows, but for reality, it's tailor-made. Shoots on the same $2 tapes if you don't feel like putting out for the "HDV" stock.
As for post, most of the edit suites I imagine they're onlining these shows in, like Avid Adrenalines, are pretty cheap on a grand scale to upgrade to full HD capability.
I think another reason for not going HD is theses shows aren't as concerned about future-proofing - reality TV doesn't have the DVD after-life that dramatic series do. Many a low-rated drama is saved by potential DVD/Blu-Ray sales in the future, but reality doesn't get the same margin of error.
DustoMan @ Feb 20th 2008 10:47PM
So let me get this straight... they can shoot Planet Earth in HD, but not Survivor? That doesn't sound right to me.
Bill @ Feb 21st 2008 7:06AM
People look like garbage in HD, especially when they lack makeup.
Joe T. @ Feb 21st 2008 8:37AM
If you think people look bad in HD, you should see how people look in real life.
Jon @ Feb 21st 2008 8:16AM
Anyone who doesn't want to see Parvati in HD is nuts in my book
Rick Ewing @ Feb 21st 2008 10:23AM
Is there a cost argument? Sure....five years ago. Now it's mostly a lame excuse. I mean, if Discovery Networks can produce Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch (talk about a difficult show to shoot!), Smash Lab, Trading Spaces and a whole host of other shows in HD, what's the broadcast networks' problem with on location reality shows? I mean really! Professional small HD cams are available right now. And it's easy to edit with Final Cut Pro and a Mac before sending the dailies off to HQ. I mean really!
EP @ Feb 21st 2008 12:48PM
Yeah, but it also took over 70 camera crews and 5 years to produce Planet Earth. Plus, they obviously weren't shooting Planet Earth on the same kind of shooting schedule or the same kind of budget as Survivor where I'd image crews must submit hundreds of hours of footage on a DAILY basis for editing.
Look, as many have already said, it ALL COMES DOWN TO PROFIT MARGIN. The only reason networks are so in love with Reality and Gameshow TV is because relative to Scripted shows, Reality/Gameshow programs have a MUCH higher Profit-to-Cost ratio. I'd guess ad dollar buys are relatively equal between scripted vs reality TV (with the exception of blockbuster shows), but RealityTV requires very little production support relative to scripted shows making them cheap to produce.... few to no writers, little to no lighting/set design/set construction, no FX & CGI studio support, etc... Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that increases production costs in the slightest for Reality TV isn't viewed as beneficial by the networks.
Reality TV is akin to printing money. If you're minting nickels, you don't use 24k gold. You use zinc. If you're making dog food, you don't grind up Kobe beef... It's just bad economics.
H0tpockets @ Feb 21st 2008 2:32PM
if it was in hd i'ld watch it...