What makes it different is that the audience knows that what happens on the shows actually does happen in real life. In regular television shows, the network has to worry if the acting is convincing enough to appear real. Since there is no acting and what happens is actually real, audiences do not need to be convinced. This simple aspect of the voyeur shows draws in the audiences. Another reason why the voyeur shows succeed is that people are by nature very nosy.
People are curious about what other people do behind closed doors.
The voyeur shows provide a safe and acceptable way to peer in on the lives of others. The shows are a way of gossiping, except the show creates and elaborates on the gossip. The reason that Survivor was so much more successful than the other shows is because the creators of Survivor combined the voyeur type show with a high stakes quiz show. In the year before Survivor , Who Wants to Be a Millionaire dominated the television ratings. The difference between the two shows is that in Survivor , there are characters with distinct personalities and there is drama between them.