It's true that reality shows now account for a larger share of primetime on the broadcast networks, and with ratings that often justify that larger share.
   The perception is that shows such as "Survivor" and "American Idol" are gaining that larger share at the expense of scripted shows--sitcoms and dramas.
  Actually, that’s not true. 
   In fact, the opposite is so. Over the past five years, the hours slotted for dramas and comedies actually have increased.
  Reality's gains have instead come at the expense of newsmagazines, movies and game shows.
   “There has been much talk about there being too many reality shows and how they are starting to supplant scripted series," says Steve Sternberg, Magna Global USA executive vice president and director of audience analysis.
  "A look at what’s been going on over the past five years, however, shows this not to be the case, at least in terms of amount of programming aired.”
   That's the finding of a Magna Global study released yesterday.
    Over the past five years, reality shows have risen from 4 percent to 13 percent of broadcast programming.
  Over that same period, comedies and dramas have gone from 53 percent to 57 percent.
   By contrast, newsmagazines, movies and game shows have dipped from 28 percent to 17 percent. 
  Reality is also apparently siphoning off ratings from those genres, especially among younger people. 
   In 1999-2000, reality shows accounted for just 3 percent of total ratings points among 12-17s and 18-34s. This year that has grown to 19 and 20 percent, respectively.
  But newsmagazines, movies and game shows have sunk by more than 50 percent, slipping from 27 percent among teens to just 12 percent this year and from 28 to 12 percent among 18-34s.
   Perhaps surprisingly, the decrease was even more pronounced among 35-49s and adults 50-plus, partly because there are fewer viewing options in those three categories now. 
  The 35-49s went from 31 percent to 14 percent while 50-pluses dropped from 39 to 19 percent.
   In those demos, reality did see humongous jumps, from 3 to 16 percent of all ratings points among 35-49s and from 3 to 11 among 50-pluses.
   Reality ratings and appearance on the schedule rise during the midseason.
  “If we compare just the January-February period, which has had significantly more reality than in the fall, we see that while the percentage of reality hours on the broadcast networks is substantially higher than for the full season, the percentage of scripted series is still essentially unchanged,” Sternberg says.
   “But during this period the percentage of adult 18-34 rating points garnered by scripted series did decline.”
   Sternberg also found that half of the top 10 shows among adults 18-49 with household incomes of more than $100,000 were reality programs, though that dipped to three for 25-54s with more than $100,000.
   Further, he says that reality shows can help stem the flow from broadcast to cable. He cites several series, such as Fox’s “Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé” and CBS’s “Survivor: All-Stars,” that boosted television usage on the nights of their premieres versus the previous week while 18-49 cable ratings dipped at least 10 percent versus the same time slot the previous week.
   “Reality shows have proved to be very effective counter-programming to both dramas and comedies, ” Sternberg says, "and they have served to draw viewers back from cable, and in many cases improve overall television usage for the time period."