Westcott said that networks’ making certain episodes exclusive to streaming platforms has a two-fold benefit.
“In a lot of cases, those companies still want them to watch on linear television,” he said. “So they're getting great ad rates for those shows, but they want to find a way to get them to try their private streaming platforms.”
Tanya Giles, chief programming officer of ViacomCBS Streaming, said the company is “very pleased” with how “Love Island” has performed on the service — and that Paramount+ plans to continue to make certain reality content exclusive to its platform.
“What we have learned is when you have franchises, you have passionate fans,” Giles said. “As a company, we want to allow for multiple touch-points for those fans, and streaming gives us that opportunity.” Shows such as “The Challenge: All Stars” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars,” both spinoffs of linear reality programs, are exclusive to Paramount+.
Reality TV is timely — but maybe too timely
But not all reality shows are destined to be hits. Netflix’s “Sexy Beasts,” a dating show in which contestants wear prosthetic makeup to disguise their physical appearances on dates, was widely advertised on social media, but did not appear in the U.S. Top 10 and failed to make much of a cultural impact.
According to Sappington, the key to the success of reality TV is a viewer connection to the contestants or judges. That puts a lot of pressure on casting directors to bring in personalities who will have viewers invested in their arcs.
“Something like that actually causes viewers to want to come back and watch, and without some type of either connection or curiosity, it's just not going to hit,” Sappington said. “That's one of the reasons why it's really hard to predict which reality TV shows are going to end up being successful.”
While reality shows are generally quick and easy to produce, they’re sometimes equally easy to forget. And once the outcome of the show is revealed in a finale, Westcott said, viewer interest may wane.
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