By: Anna Holzhauer
The Bachelor, Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise are the most dramatic, love encompassing show aired on ABC. These contestant fight for love as they travel around the world, go on dates, and experience some of the most exotic adventures. The real question is, how are they able to afford the amount of traveling the contestants do throughout the season?
According to CNN, The Bachelor has been running for so long due to the spinoff being introduced “The Bachelorette” and later “Bachelor in Paradise”. A majority of their profits come from advertising (187.3 million dollars from the 2014-2015 season). If you subtract the costs of production and the costs of traveling, each show brings in about 86 million dollars in revenue for this reality franchise and averaging around 4.7 million viewers.
The Bachelor has aired 20 seasons so far and is hoping to continue this dramatic show going forward. With the amount of time that has passed since that first episode, technology has changed as well. With the development of apps such as Twitter and Instagram, it has increased the demand for the show. About 352,000 tweets were made from just one season of the Bachelorette. More people are wanting to watch this show because of what they are seeing on social media. Along with that, there are more ways for viewers to watch the show today. Not only are you able to live stream when it is aired, but you are also able to go back and rewatch this show. With that said, the demand and supply for viewing the Bachelor has increased.According to Chris Harrison, the host of all three shows, says the Bachelor is "A bizarre anomaly in TV. Typically, a show finds an audience and then that audience gets older and the younger audience doesn't think it's cool". Yet the Bachelor has been able to appeal to a whole spectrum of viewers ranging from youth to elders.
The ads, viewers, and popularity of this reality TV franchise is what has kept it running for so many years.
Works Cited
"The Bachelor, " "The Bachelorette", et al. “The Business of 'The Bachelor' Franchise.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/media/bachelor-business/index.html.Poggi., Jeanine, et al. “Coming Up Rosy: Inside the Business of 'The Bachelor'.” Ad Age, 12 Oct. 2015, adage.com/article/media/business-bachelor/300852/.
The Bachelor is a good example of how a firm, or in this case a TV company, can be successful in a monopolistically competitive firm. Due to the variety of differentiated TV shows offered, airing shows is a form of monopolistic competition where firms compete for product demand. As you mentioned in your post, the show's advertising capabilities and appeal to a variety of audience generates a steep demand curve for the show, thus a large amount of profit per episode aired.
ReplyDelete“The Bachelor” effectively utilizes the component of advertisement to increase its profit in order to keep sending its contestants to exotic places. I agree that the use of social media has definitely exponentially increased the awareness of the TV show and in that way increased the demand for it by both old and new viewers. However, I also believe that mass advertising can have a negative effect as well as could possibly be reflected on the chart from 2012-2013 to 2014-2015. With social media covering a show so thoroughly comes the opportunity for both support and backlash. Many former contestants have admitted online and through published works the inaccuracy and falsehoods that are hidden from the audience. Law suits have even occurred over certain allegations about the program. These “startling” truths and negative press can turn viewers away from the program, decreasing both demand and profit. The producers of “The Bachelor” franchise should be increasingly careful in this growing age of social media as more and more of their audience has access to both sources of positivity and negativity. This can hurt their demand and supply as less people too will want to be a contestant, not wanting to be associated with a tainted reputation.
ReplyDeleteI have never got into this show but I have seen ads and lots of word of mouth advertising from viewers who don't even realize they are doing it. Social media had increased the amount of viewers from utilizing the advertisement strategies. Although there are a good amount of new viewers due to advertising, I am sure there is also along with that negative things such as bad reviews and bad comments that are public for people to read. This huge company has a lot going for them but they need to make sure to try to keep everything that viewers can see publicly, positive.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered how reality TV shows could afford these lavish vacations for contestants but this really made sense. This show uses Advertisement to increase its profits and keep the show relevant and worth while for its viewers. Along with the shows great advertisement use the social media side also seems to play a huge part as you said because it is free publicity.
ReplyDeleteSocial media definitely helps advertising for shows like this, because they can get so much exposure and word of mouth from other people posting about their show, without having to pay for the advertising. If they had to pay to advertise instead of the social media exposure they have right now then it would be much harder for them to keep a big audience and make as much money as they are now.
ReplyDeleteThis show has gotten more and more popular over time ever since technology had been advancing. There are way more social media sites and ways of advertising to bring awareness to The Bachelor and the other shows on ABC. I think that is an insane amount of money they are creating in revenue per year taking into account all of the fancy trips they go on. However there is really no limit on the range of audience member who can watch this show so they are able to have more viewers than most other TV shows.
ReplyDeleteI personally have never been addicted to this show. But every time I see an ad on Instagram or even TV I wonder how these contestants can afford to go on these glamorous trips. But now I can see how all of their revenue comes from advertisement. This is a show with rising popularity and many are willing to pay the money to have ads through the show. I jut wonder how long they will be able to afford all of the trips? I mean what if we hit a recession or the inflation rates really go through the roof? How will they afford the trips, film team, and contestants?
ReplyDeleteI don't usually watch 'The Bachelor', however it is interesting to me how much money they are creating by filming people looking for love. The have created a culture around it where people tune in every week and are always looking forward to next season. While I don't watch it I often hear about it and it makes me curious how much the word-of-mouth advertising make increase their business as well. It also makes me wonder if they will continue to air the show until it's burnt out, or if they will cancel anytime soon. However, after seeing the amount of revenue they have made, I would guess it will be around for a long time more.
ReplyDeleteI am not really someone who watch's a lot t.v. but I found this very interesting being I didn't know how t.v. shows brought in money. I have only seen this show a couple of times because some of my friends what the show. But I hear a lot about it because of them and I find it interesting in how word or mouth can really make a t.v. pop into a production. For me I have wondered in this show will go out on a high note or if it will go until no one people are watching it anymore. But with the amount of money that is brings in and the amount of viewers I don't see this show going away anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm not someone who watches this show, but I'd be lying if I said that I have never heard anyone talk about it. Somehow it has managed to stay relevant over a long course of years, which is unusual for shows of the type, since as mentioned their audience outgrows it. This show doesn't seem to be going out anytime soon, as social media usage grows each year, the ratings likely bounces off those usage rates as the awareness increases.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that the Bachelor is able to keep up enough profits to keep the show running for over 20 years. I am an avid fan of all bachelor shows and will personally always watch each season even if the season is not that great. This is why the bachelor is so successful in my opinion because they get people hooked on the show and get people talking about it. Then, they are able to create a demand for the show and ultimately make profits off of it. Without the Bachelor shows, I don't think the economy or ABC network in particular would be doing very well.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the drama that evolves around the show is a key factor to the show's hype. Creators of the show have even made brackets (like march madness) to get fans to interact about who they have getting the final rose. Advertising and social media are obvious key factors in promoting the show, but doing something like this creates free publicity and a buzz around social media involving the show. Like Dana said, its word of mouth advertising, which makes the Bachelor not have to promote as much advertising because of the publicity it has already created around social media.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this show but numerous friends of mine talk about it all the time. I did not know that the show has been on for 20 twenty seasons. This is very impressive as not many drama/reality TV shows last that long. It makes sense that the Bachelor doesn't have to use much advertising because I have seen a lot of hype and free promotion on social media. As long as social media continues to grow I don't see how the Bachelor won't continue to grow along with it.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of how much money reality tv shows can actually make. I am surprised that with all the new ways people watch tv (netflix, hulu) the viewers have not decreased and the show is still able to make profits from showing ads. With the demand for normal tv shows decreasing I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years it is not as popular, or moves to be on netflix instead of being shown on a regular tv show.
ReplyDeleteI think the main thing that leads to the success of these drama shows is the cliff hangers. I never been the person to watch these shows, but I can easily understand the idea. The producers are always going to throw in some crazy event that forces consumers to watch the next show. They can just keep repeating this cycle and they will always generate revenue. It will be interesting to see if reality TV shows can keep driving these successes or if they will crash and burn.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all shocked by the profits produced by the Bachelor or its spinoff shows. Even if you don't watch the show, yuo definitely know when a season is running and that it is filled with all kinds of drama. The show utilizes more advertising than any other reality tv show. People get so invested in the show because of the way its edited and advertised as viewers are constatnly waiting for the next dramatic moment. Honestly, I think it is comparable to march madness in the way that people use this show as a gathering with friends as everyone makes predictions about who will win. If you watch the show once you can get attached to contestants and then when their the next Bachelorette or they are advertised to be appearing on Bachelor in Paradise you can't help but follow along on their "journey to find love". Personally, I think the whole scheme to find love is ridiculous as very few engagements end with alsting marraiges, however I would be lying if I said I didn't find it very entertaining and easy to miss an episode. This is definitely due to the manipulation used by marketing strategists that know thei audience, people like me, and show them the drama they want to see. Bachelor producers know television and they know their market, so they will continue to have these ratings and their vast success.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen either The Bachelor, or one of its spin-offs, but the amount of times I have seen advertising for them is an enormously large number. With the excessive amount of advertising, there's no wonder why people tune into these shows year after year. I have also heard that this show is scripted, and if there's any way to make money nowadays it would be through manufactured drama. Even if this isn't true, it would be a pretty smart scheme to lure in viewers and ultimately make millions in profit.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising how much money The Bachelor makes. However, when I read that it is in its 20th season, I realized that the show must be making a great deal of money to not only survive, but thrive for this long. I think that The Bachelor has become sort of like a monopoly because it is the biggest reality TV show about finding love. If the audience wants to watch something like that, they have to watch the bachelor. I agree that social media has resulted in an increase of popularity for the show, and causes drama and suspense even for those who don't regularly watch the show.
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