Netflix's Reality TV Binge

The streamer already has upended the original series, stand-up and film businesses; now, with a key new hire and a lofty budget, it’s taking on unscripted.

- Lacey Rose

Netflix doesn’t enter a genre quietly.Its first foray into scripted TV famously was a $100 million political drama from David Fincher and Kevin Spacey. One series quickly expanded to four, then 16 and now more than 30. Then it was standup, and before long that roster included Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld and Louis C.K. Then docs (from Werner Herzog, Ava DuVernay), big-budget films (starring Brad Pitt, Will Smith) and now reality. By year’s end, Netflix’s unscripted output, which includes docusoaps, competition series and talk shows, will be in the double digits. It’s expected to explode from there.

The timing, says reality TV vet David Lyle, couldn’t be better. Netflix’s aggressive push — which will ramp up considerably after the late 2016 hiring of director of alternative Brandon Riegg — comes as the unscripted community has seen profit margins squeezed and linear ratings decimated. By contrast, the streaming service promises a big appetite for programming (part of its $6 billion-plus content budget) along with a light touch on notes and a model that could prove significantly more producer-friendly than those offered by Amazon or the myriad traditional buyers.