Key Takeaways

• Estimates indicate that as of 2020, at least 2,000 unscripted series existed on television.
• Across streaming platforms, 32% of the total content is unscripted, which includes reality TV, while 68% is scripted.
• The number of reality/unscripted shows is increasing: in 2015, there were only 750 total unscripted series on primetime cable.

Introduction

Current Reality TV Percentage

• According to Variety research published in 2020, "No one’s done a definitive count of the number of original unscripted series currently on television, but many estimates put it close to 2,000 (compared with 532 scripted original series in 2019, per FX Research). And that number might still be low."
• Of streaming services in 2020, the majority had more scripted content than unscripted.

 

Source

 

• Across streaming platforms, 32% of the total content is unscripted, which includes reality TV, while 68% is scripted.
• As of June 1, 2020, Hulu had 265 reality programs, Netflix 180, Tubi 135, Amazon Prime Video 129, IMDb TV 37, HBO Max 28, Disney+ 21 and Vudu 14.
• On cable and network TV, reality shows are more popular "because the payoff is in the high revenue return and simple production value." Reality TV also makes product placement easier and thus increases advertising revenue, as well as makes it easier to produce new episodes and fill the schedule with new content.
• Senior buyers and sellers for broadcast, streaming and cable networks all agree that reality TV is currently experiencing a boom — a “roaring ‘20s of non-scripted” according to one buyer — that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• According to an unnamed TV publisher, quoted in 2020, around 75% of their "company’s current original programming mix" was unscripted shows. While they intended to produce more scripted shows in the future, the economics of unscripted production made it much easier to produce.

Historical Reality TV Percentage

• Between 2018 and 2019, the percentage of unscripted projects in development across more than 150 streamers, including "social and short-form platforms such as Quibi and Facebook," increased from 24% to 51%. From 650 purely linear platforms over the same time period, however, unscripted projects in development actually decreased, from 44% to 41%.
• In 2015, there were 750 total unscripted series aired on primetime cable — "83 percent higher than the number of scripted shows." Of those 750 programs, 350 were new.
• Expert predict that the amount of unscripted shows will continue to increase as these shows are less expensive to produce than scripted shows: "TV networks and streamers can load up on these [unscripted] shows relatively inexpensively to increase their odds that a viewer will find something to watch. And when an unscripted show succeeds, companies can quickly and cheaply produce more episodes of it and spin off related series."
• Netflix is also betting on an increase in unscripted content in the future. According to their unscripted chief Brandon Riegg, "his division is still in its infancy." He states: "Part of the goal is, we’re trying to provide something for everyone... And unscripted is probably the broadest content genre that’s out there, right? It’s everything from game shows to docuseries to these big competition formats. We’re working hard to get all of that covered and do the best shows in those various categories."

Research Strategy