Globally, the Reality genre has experienced a decline in commissions, especially from VoD services, with the number of shows announced dropping by 36% between H1 2022 and H1 2024. This fall is led by first-run Romance and Dating titles, which only contributed 10% of VoD’s first-run Reality shows in H1 2024, compared to 23% in 2022,  and dropping in volume by 71% since the first half of 2022.

In part, this fall has been caused by global SVoD services shifting their focus away from US commissions. While previously the sub-genre’s top commissioning region, contributing 25% of all first-run Romance & Dating titles between 2019 and 2023, the first half of 2024 only saw two announcements, both from local US SVoD services. This move reflects a number of factors: market saturation; confidence in established renewed titles; and better opportunities for growth in other territories.

Netflix’s H1 2024 first-run Romance & Dating titles, for example, originate from Japan, Spain, the UK, and UAE, and represent 36% of the sub-genre’s first-run VoD titles. Localised formats among these announcements include Too Hot To Handle Spain, and Love is Blind Arabic.

Indeed, the streamer’s global reach and large catalogue of Original formats make it easy to recreate successful content in different markets without having to broker licensing deals. Exported formats not only pique the interest of new local audiences but also bring in pre-existing fanbases from more oversaturated territories. Of Netflix’s formats, the Romance & Dating show Love is Blind has the highest number of local versions, being commissioned in nine different territories.

Similarly, although VoD services aren’t prioritising new show ideas, they are still committed to already successful Romance & Dating content. The first half of 2023 saw renewed titles overtake the sub-genre’s first-run announcements for the first time since the H1 2021, with renewals accounting for 66% of the sub-genre’s commissions by H1 2024. Of these renewals, 74% were formats, including fan favourites such as Couples Therapy: Season 4 (Paramount+), Too Hot To Handle Germany: Season 2 (Netflix), and The Bachelorette Japan: Season 3 (Amazon).

Although the landscape for new Romance & Dating commissions seems bleak, VoD services have shown their willingness to renew successful programmes, with global streamers enjoying success when expanding existing formats from the sub-genre into different markets.