Since its inception in 1984, MTV, Music Television, has produced 62 music series. However, since 1998, the channel has produced 89 reality shows (“List of programs broadcast by MTV”). Today reality shows are the second most watched genre of programming on television (Nielsen). Programs like “American Idol” and “Pawn Stars” are just some of the top-rated reality shows (Nielsen). Television executives are developing more reality series because the programs attract large audiences. The proliferation of reality programs, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, has been the subject of debate and investigation by both experts and scholars (Nabi 371-372). In her 2003 article “Reality-Based Television Programming and the Psychology of Its Appeal,” UC Santa Barbara Communications, Professor Robin Nabi provided a comprehensive definition of the genre. “Programs that film real people experiencing events in their lives, contrived or not, as they occur” (Nabi 372). Furthermore, Nabi classified the genre with 5 characteristics: “(a) people portraying themselves, (b) filmed at least partly in their living or working environment rather than on a set, (c) unscripted, (d) with events placed in a narrative context, (e) with the primary purpose of entertaining the viewer. In essence, reality programs feature ordinary people engaging in unscripted actions and interactions” (Nabi 372-373). As with other television genres, reality programs can be divided into 6 subgenres: “romance, crime, informational, reality-drama, competition/game, and talent” (Nabi 373). In the context of Prof. Nabi's definition, reality television is not a new invention; reality television programs have been going on for decades. The structure of early reality programs such as 1948's “Candid Camera” has been recycled in more recent programs such as “Punk'd” (“Reality TV”). However, today, television is saturated with reality programs. Why now? Why the rapid rise? In his book “The Bias of Communication” Harold Innis classified the history of society into two traditions: the oral tradition and the written tradition. In the oral tradition, everything that mattered was communicated orally (Innis 2). Consequently, according to Innis “oral tradition emphasized memory and training” (Innis 9). The emphasis on face-to-face communication, as opposed to communication through media such as pen and paper, is best suited to slow content: narrative, story, wisdom, knowledge (Innis 1-10). The active participation of citizens in the public sphere has allowed for an encouraged debate on issues of politics, philosophy and welfare (Innis 191).