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Powerful Phenomenon that is Reality TV -  Competing against other participants has always underpinned RTV

In Australia, shows like Australia's Amateur Hour, New Faces, Pot of Gold, Young Talent Time, Bert's New Faces, laid the foundation for reality television, although without the often 'staged dramatics'.  These pioneers didn't carry the generic label, RTV.  To varying extents these programmes from the 60's to the early '90s always involved 'Competition against the other Participants'.

In the beginning of the Reality TV Phenomenon in the USA around 1998 there were zero hours of Reality TV in network primetime. Today, there are as many as 15 network hours a week, with dozens more on cable, all hitting top ratings week after week.  What began as a slow moving trend, is now dominating television worldwide.

In the early 2000s, the U.S. network and cable landscapes sprouted shows like Survivor, American Idol, Trading Spaces, and Big Brother.  Since then, a season hasn't gone by without a show that emulated those shows, or any of the hundreds of other reality shows that were spurred by these four originators. 

The fundamental plot of nearly all Reality Television is -

(a)    each competitor competes to win against the other competitors; or

(b)    each survivor competes to survivor against the other survivors until the next elimination round.

In Australia, examples of RTV with a plot of 'competing' or 'surviving' includes Australia's Got Talent, Australian Idol, Master Chef, Backyard Blitz, My Kitchen Rules, House Rules and Australian Survivor.