Insights
Reality competition shows and their appeal in the United States
Jun 1, 2021
Competition-based reality shows, while based off of the long-used structure of episodic elimination, remain as a staple in American television with consistent demand. This has been the case since Cash and Carry and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts were released in the 1940s. Today, this subgenre has been expanded into a range of themes including cooking, knowledge-based, survival and performance. With the consistent demand for such programming, many streaming services are moving in on the format - in very creative ways. This is particularly the case for Netflix, which has over the recent years brought out a number of unique and rather specific reality competition shows. The move towards this content could likely be due to the broad spectrum of demographics and audience taste clusters such shows can be targeted towards at once. This article will cover the current trends of the genre in the United States while also discussing the possible directions this genre could move into in the future.
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