Od Big Brothera do Warsaw Shore – przemiany narracji w reality show

The aim of the chapter is to analyse the transformation undergoing in the narration of television programmes on the example of the reality show genre. Currently, the media are witnessing significant cultural, social, and technological changes and are not indifferent to them. They themselves also undergo transformations, are subjected to constant processes, and react dynamically to their environment. The radical modification of programme production is part of the neo-television model, already developed in the 1990s by Francesco Casetti and Roger Odin. In order to trace the evolution in programmes, a comparative analysis was made of the first reality show broadcasted in Poland – the Big Brother (2001) and the Warsaw Shore (2013) produced over a decade later. The analysis was based on visual data coding according to grounded theory methodology. Theoretical image analysis was based on questions according to pre-created categories. The structure of the programme, the rules, the implementation of the image and its composition, the way the narrative was conducted, the participants' relationships, their behaviour and linguistic codes were considered. Thus, not only the visual layer, but also the structural, sound, graphic and editing layers were examined. The studies revealed significant changes in the conduct of the programme. Through a detailed analysis of the material, a list of clear differences occurring in the reality show on many levels was created, which at the same time showed significant transformations in television more generally. In treating television as a socio-cultural phenomenon, it is important to consider that these transformations are at the same time a reflection of specific and identified social, technological changes and the resulting audience expectations in the above research. A further research step might be to study subsequent programmes produced in a certain interval of time and answer the question of whether the programmes are again crossing new boundaries (such as Naked Attraction) or whether they are heading in yet another direction, which would require an in-depth analysis.