By Ronald Joe Morovia
The Africa Young Voices Media Empire and Africell Housemates Salone Reality Television Show has brought immense satisfactions to Sierra Leonean Entertainment quest.
This is according to a research done by Bilal Conteh, a Sierra Leonean student at the ACTA Universitatis Danubius in Tuckey.
The reality television show brought together different Sierra Leonean youth in one house to mingle and show off their personalities and magnanimity while entertaining their viewers.
The research according to Bilal Conteh was inspired by the uses and gratification theory of the media, adding that the focus on reality television was to examine the motives of viewers that watched the famous Sierra Leonean reality TV show ‘Housemates Salone Season 2.
The study adopted a quantitative research method in the form of a survey questionnaire instrument completed by two hundred and twenty participants online.
The study comprises three parts, participants’ demographic information, participants’ awareness of the show and participants’ viewing motives.
According to findings of the study, young people between the ages of 18–24 and 25–34 mostly students and singles dominated the show’s viewers’ demographics, accounting for almost 80% of ‘Housemates Salone Season Two’ viewership.
It further indicated that 43.6% of viewers watched the show for 3–4 hours daily, while eviction shows, Saturday parties and diary room sessions accounted for viewers’ most liked aspect of the show.
The study further revealed that the viewership motives from the show includes; entertainment, voyeurism, social interaction and relaxation.
Among the four motives identified from the Housemates Salone Season Two show, entertainment motive was found to be the most important motive that piqued viewers’ interest in watching the show.
Reality Television shows are something new to Sierra Leone’s entertainment.
However, it introduction has gained momentum within the last few years attracting more interest that is geared towards development the show to make it more interesting and entertaining.
This study serves as a stepping stone for reality television research in Sierra Leone as it motivates academics and administrators to conduct more studies and invest more in reality entertainment.
