ATV under pressure: The business of love before a break!

ATV under pressure: The business of love before a break!

ATV's Austrian reality format “The Business of Love” has been a ratings hit for many years and last season attracted around 172,000 viewers per episode. In this eleventh season, men are looking for their “dream women” in Kazakhstan and Thailand. However, the show has recently come under fire, particularly for a controversial scene in which a very drunk woman is carried by a man after he talks about his sexual behavior. This presentation led to an outcry and sharp criticism from various political representatives, including the leaders of the SPÖ, ÖVP, Neos and Greens, who described the content as “sexist, racist and misogynistic”.

Critics argue that women are treated like commodities in the show and that violence and humiliation are normalized. Media Minister Babler has announced that he will discuss the content of the program with the ATV management in order to take a closer look at the allegations. In response to this criticism, ATV denied the allegations and stated that the episode in question had to be taken offline due to failing quality control. In order to avoid further problems, a new quality control should be carried out for the episodes that have not yet been broadcast.

Criticism and reactions

Due to the ongoing discussion, “The Business of Love” will be paused on March 26th. ATV explained that the fifth episode did not reflect the core of the format, which some viewers viewed with skepticism. Thomas Gruber, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1Puls4, spoke about the need to find a balance between entertainment and the ethical boundaries of reality TV formats.

These disputes demonstrate a larger trend within the media landscape in which gender studies and affect studies examine the relationship between bodies, emotions and affects. Reality TV has established itself as a central genre in which social hierarchies and power relationships become visible. The staging of emotions such as envy and joy shapes the discourse in popular culture and influences both the candidates and the viewers. Affective Societies In this context, deals with the standardization and optimization of bodies viewed in an affective economy in which emotions themselves become commodities.

The discussion about “The Business of Love” is therefore not just a criticism of a specific program, but also raises fundamental questions about gender representations, power relations and the commercial exploitation of emotions in the media. The results of such analyzes can promote individual reactions from viewers and a better classification of gender representations in the media landscape. Small newspaper reports that the debate on this topic could play an important role in the future development of reality TV formats.