''The Revealed: A slightly different reality show'' is a nature documentary

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

, following the lives of

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

s living in

Prague Zoo Prague Zoological Garden (Czech: ''Zoologická zahrada hl. m. Prahy'') is a zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. It was opened in 1931 with the goal to "advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public" in the district of Troja in ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is a joint project of

Czech Radio Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating since 1923. It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC. The service broadcasts throughout the Cz ...

and telecommunication company Visual Connection. Presented as a parody of human

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, the objective of the broadcast is to show the behaviour of gorillas living in captivity, and the gorillas have been seen eating, sleeping, socialising, solving brain-teasers and giving birth.

History

The project was created by Miroslav Bobek, a producer at

, and started broadcasting on 7 November 2005. Czech Radio installed 16 cameras in the gorilla pavilion in Prague Zoo and live

s were placed on the project's website, broadcasting 24 hours a day. Viewers were able to vote for their favourite gorilla via

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

. On 15 January 2006 the winner, 15-year-old male Richard, won 12

melons A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of botanical berry, berry, specifical ...

, a pun on Czech slang that uses the word melons instead of millions when speaking about large sums of money. The show was originally intended to last for three months, but it became so popular that its producers decided to continue broadcasting, and it is still running.

Gorillas

* Richard: male, * 9 November 1991 in

Frankfurt Zoological Garden The Frankfurt Zoological Garden is the zoo of Frankfurt, Germany. It features over 4,500 animals of more than 510 species on more than 11 hectares. The zoo was founded in 1858 and is the second oldest zoo in Germany, after Berlin Zoological Gard ...

* Kamba ''(Liana)'': female, * 1972 in Africa * Shinda ''(Victoria)'': female, * 14 June 1991 in

Apenheul Apenheul Primate Park is a zoo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It specializes in apes and monkeys. It opened in 1971 and was the first zoo in the world where monkeys could walk around freely in the forest and between the visitors. It started with just ...

* Kijivu ''(Grey)'': female, * 18 March 1993 in Apenheul * Moja ''(One)'': female, * 13 December 2004 in Prague Zoo, daughter of Richard and Kijivu, sister of Tatu and Kiburi, the first gorilla born in Prague Zoo * Tatu ''(Third)'': male, * 30 May 2007 in Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja and Kiburi. Died 27 July 2012 due to accidental hanging. * Kiburi ''(Proud)'': male, * 24 April 2010 in Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja and Tatu * Nuru: male, 22 December 2012 in Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja, Tatu, and Kiburi.

Marketing

Although the project started as a parody of human reality shows and an educational programme, it has become an effective

internet marketing The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

strategy, attracting substantial attention from the media and the public and creating publicity for Prague Zoo. Both the zoo and the Czech Radio website have received an increased number of visitors as a result of the project. ''The Revealed'' is a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

project. Clips of all the webcasts since the show began are accessible via an archive on the project's website, with comments from

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

primatologists Primatology is the scientific study of primates. It is a diverse discipline at the boundary between mammalogy and anthropology, and researchers can be found in academic departments of anatomy, anthropology, biology, medicine, psychology, vete ...

ethologists Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

and other specialists, along with

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

s and articles about the project. The website also carries a discussion forum and blogs, one of which is maintained by the gorilla zookeeper, in which he answers questions from visitors to the website about the gorillas' lives. The show's creators have used the show to warn about gorillas becoming a critically endangered species. Money raised from merchandising, charges for SMS voting, and

online auction An online auction (also electronic auction, e-auction, virtual auction, or eAuction) is an auction held over the internet and accessed by internet connected devices. Similar to in-person auctions, online auctions come in a variety of types, with d ...

s of paintings and photos of the Prague gorillas has been used to help wild gorillas in Africa. News about the gorillas supported in Africa is also reported on the project's website.

Awards

A DVD based on the show was awarded the Comenius-EduMedia 2007 award by Gesellschaft für Pädagogik und Information. It was also awarded the Panda Award at

Wildscreen Festival Wildscreen is a wildlife conservation charity based in Bristol, England. The charity was founded in December 1987 from a trust which had operated since 1982, with the initial aim of encouraging and applauding excellence in the production of nat ...

in 2006, in the ARKive interactive award category. The project's website came fourth in the Internet Project of the Year category at the

Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX E ...

in 2006.

References

External links

Official website of The Revealed

Official website of Český rozhlas

Official website of the Prague Zoo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revealed Internet documentary films Reality television series parodies Mass media in the Czech Republic Apes in popular culture Czech Television Czech Radio Czech radio programs