Netflix is boosting the market for unscripted TV like 'Tiger King' and 'Love Is Blind' - and so are its rivals
- Netflix and other streaming services are driving the market for unscripted programming in 2020, according to a new report from media research firm Ampere Analysis that was presented at the MIPTV Online Plus event this week.
- For the six months ending February 2020, there were roughly 350 documentary and 170 reality projects commissioned, compared more than 530 dramas, the top genre across projects commissioned globally.
- Netflix and other streaming services drove much of the growth in the unscripted space, as the share of unscripted commissions across streamers rose to its peak of 55% in the months of October and November 2019.
- Netflix's vice president of unscripted originals, Brandon Riegg, has been pushing the streaming company to experiment with genres all over the unscripted landscape, such as recent hits "Tiger King" and "Love Is Blind."
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The market for unscripted programming including docuseries and reality shows is thriving, thanks to Netflix and other streaming services.
During the six months ending February 2020, nearly as many documentaries and reality series were commissioned as dramas, according to a new report from media research firm Ampere Analysis that was presented at the MIPTV Online Plus event this week.
During that time period, there were 352 documentaries and 172 reality projects commissioned, compared with 537 dramas, the top genre across projects commissioned globally.
Netflix and other streaming services drove much of the growth in the unscripted space.
The Ampere report showed an uptick in unscripted commissions across 160 streamers, including Netflix, Quibi, and Facebook Watch.
The average share of unscripted programming in production or development at streaming services rose steadily, reaching its peak of 55% in the months of October and November 2019. In the month of December, it stood at 51%, compared with 24% in that month a year earlier. The share of unscripted commissions at linear networks, by comparison, ticked down to 41% from 44% a year earlier.
The study included platforms such as Netflix, Quibi, Facebook Watch, Disney Plus and HBO Max, as well as around 650 TV networks like BBC, Channel 4, and four major US broadcast networks.
Netflix is the top commissioner across genres, with 310 titles in production or development as of April 1, Ampere told Business Insider.
The February study also showed that Netflix released a steady stream of unscripted titles acquired from outside studios over the previous six months.
On average, Netflix released about 32 hours of licensed documentaries per month and 55 hours of reality programming, which Ampere said indicated a modest yet consistent volume of output, as compared with larger release spikes for other genres like comedy that suggested a handful of big package deals.
For Netflix, the rise in unscripted content was carefully charted
Netflix's vice president of unscripted originals, Brandon Riegg, has been pushing the streaming company to experiment with genres all over the unscripted landscape, from music competitions like "Rhythm + Flow" to docuseries like "Cheer," and dating shows like "Love Is Blind."
The streaming service recently landed one of its biggest unscripted hits with the docuseries "Tiger King." It also greenlit a new slate of reality shows, including new seasons of "Rhythm + Flow," "The Circle," and "Love Is Blind," a new series starring organizational expert Marie Kondo.
Netflix's next big unscripted push will be in the home renovation and property space. Riegg said the company has a number of projects in development that are due to hit this year.
Recent scripted production shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic could spur the unscripted genre even further. Deadline reported that producers of non-scripted programming had begun planning reality shows that could get to air quickly once production stoppages lift.
Here's Ampere's full breakdown of commissions by genre as of February 2020:
- Drama: 537 projects
- Documentary: 352
- Crime and thriller: 311
- Comedy: 277
- Reality: 172
- Entertainment: 155
- Science-fiction and fantasy: 155
- Romance: 148
- Kids and family: 119
- Horror: 12
- Action and adventure: 11
- News and current affairs: 8
Read the full inside story about Netflix's reality-TV strategy at BI Prime: Netflix's reality-TV boss reveals the strategy that led to a string of hits like 'Love Is Blind' and 'The Circle,' which have been renewed for 2 more seasons
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.