Memo to media outlets, journalists etc. Why do you feel the need to announce who’s been kicked out of reality tv shows? We live in a technologically advanced era. With the help of Sky+ and the BBC IPlayer millions of people are time shifting their viewing habits.

Take the Apprentice for example. One of the more classier reality tv programmes (I say this on the day that Big Brother 10 launches in the UK).

There are 3 types of people in this example:

1. those who watch the Apprentice and saw it at the time it went out on TV. They’ll be interested in the outcome of the show but they already know the result.
2. There are those who will watch the Apprentice time shifted, they’ll be interested in the result but will not want to know the outcome until they find the time to view it themselves.
3. And there’s those who don’t watch the Apprentice and couldn’t care less who’s been fired.

So why do you need to tell us who’s been fired?  Person number 1 already knows. Person number 2 doesn’t want to know. And person number 3 doesn’t care.

Some news outlets report it without revealing it. The BBC News and Guardian website for example will title the story “Sir Alan fires another candidate” and then you have to click the link to find out.  But some newspapers, such as our local Evening Express website will happily tell you on the front page, “xxxxxx and xxxxxx will go head-to-head in this year’s Apprentice final after Sir Alan Sugar fired three contestants”.

The number of episodes in this series of the Apprentice that have been spoiled for me because the outcome has been revealed before I got a chance to see it.  I could just avoid the news, but being on the radio I do have to do my “research”.

Newspapers and media organisations, please take in the account the above example for next years Apprentice.

Thank you.