The power of reality TV

(Bear with me, this is cycling related)

Last night, my husband was watching a show about the rise of the UFC. I happend to catch a part of it where they talked about how they transitioned from a "blood and guts, too violent for pay-per-view, no rules knock-down brawl" to a real professional sport. In the beginning, they were frowned upon by just about everyone. Now, it's a hugely popular sport that is rising in recognition and respect (and money). How did they transition from 'bar room brawl' to 'professional sport'? Besides having the right backing and instituting the right rules, they had reality TV.

Apparently, they were able to break into the mainstream by creating a reality TV program called The Ultimate Fighter where a bunch of guys competed to win the title (while their lives were filmed, of course). Now, most of the young guys I know love this stuff...and it's starting to appear all over the place.

So, my thought...is there a way to do this with cycling? Could the cycling community truly reach the masses through reality TV? I'm not sure what type of show would do it, but it would probably have to involve a competition of some sort. And I think that it should be focused on commuting by bicycle more than riding for recreation or for professional sport. My DH immediately thought about following the lives of a professional team through a season, but I think that would just be viewed as the cycling world's attempt to fight back against the doping image. It wouldn't really encourage 'regular' people to get out on bikes. I'm thinking something more along the lines of a show that would illuminate what cyclists go through as they ride the streets, how they can improve their lives/fitness/relationships and save money by riding a bike... about how it changes lives... Of course, this wouldn't be big network stuff...but maybe on fitTV, or TLC or something...

I'm just not sure how to make it marketable (if that's possible) and who to pitch it to....

Any ideas? (I'm just thinking out loud here...)

Bicycling magazine has a feature in which they give someone a new Lime bike and then the recipient does an interview later to discuss how they used it. Most of the stories recount amazing personal transformations with the aid of the bike. I think a show along those lines would go along way towards changing public attitudes about cycling. Give a group of deserving folks a bike and follow up on what they do with it...

That's a cool idea. Discovery has already done some shows about cycling, but most of it was to support their team during the tour a few years ago and all that. Although, they also did a show about a family that was touring across the country by bike - mom, dad, teenage daughter, tween son on a tandem pulling a toddler in a trailer. I like the idea of an ongoing series though.

They have a series, I can't think of the name, on Discovery Health channel that follows a person trying to lose weight. Each episode has a new person with their experiences that not only cronicles if they were successful, but the pit-falls they faced and the things that held some people back, etc., etc. What I really liked about the two episodes I watched were that it showed clips from their daily life that made them real people and not just another peron trying to lose weight like some of the other weight loss shows.

So something like that but showcases a cyclist would be a very cool show. I would be interested in it showing a wide variety of cyclists, anything from families who ride on trails on the week-ends to commuters to racers, so that the general public could find something they identify with and realize that cyclists are just folks.

I guess what I'm saying is Discovery would be a good start. It would be nice if their main channel picked it up becuase it has a greater veiwership than their specialized channels. But even then it would be better than nothing at all to help expose cyclists.

I think this idea is great. I don't have a very creative mind to offer ideas, however, I would say that a prime channel like ABC, CBS, NBC etc. would have the most impact on the amount of viewers watching.

For myself lately, I noticed more big company commercials are using cycling to get their point across. I always hope that it will plant a seed in one more persons head to think, hmmmm maybe I should ride a bike.

I also agree that a the show should cater to the average person wanting to just go out a ride a bike, like you said for commuting or something. Not just racing.

~ JoAnn

A series that could show someone starting to commute by bike, maybe just once or twice a week to begin with, then more often, then maybe moving on to do other stuff by bike - and becoming as car-free as possible would be AWESOME.

And their physical transformation (if they're couch potatoes from before) would be an added bonus...

So who is going to contact Discovery and push this idea???

Love it!