Media

Comment: Operation Transformation and the death of diet culture

It is little surprise to hear that RTÉ has told independent production companies to develop new shows to replace the controversial series, writes Jessie Collins

Diet Culture: RTÉ’s commissioning editor for documentaries and series told an industry briefing last week that the 15-year-old programme Operation Transformation “can’t go on forever”.

A week can be a long time in politics, but 16 years is a very long time in the world of reality television.

When Operation Transformation first aired on RTE One in January 2008, it was a time when shows following contestants’ real-life struggles were prime viewing (Big Brother was already on season 9) while conversely social media was in its infancy, never mind the fact that there was effectively no online streaming services to ...