Nick Martell
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
to watch it all burn on screen.
Alliances may be formed, hookups may be had, blood may be shed, careers will end.
But the biggest drama is the business model, because reality TV is going through middle age.
Yetis, here's what we find fascinating about this story.
On traditional TV, reality TV has actually fallen.
In 2009, American Idol was the undisputed number one show on TV.
Totally.
But today, it barely breaks the top 20.
On the other hand, in streaming, reality TV has exploded in a way no other genre has.
Love Island USA was the number one new original show in 2025.
And it wasn't the only one.
Mormon Wives smashed Hulu streaming records, beating the Kardashians.
And five of the top six shows streaming on Peacock right now, I just checked, they're reality shows.
That's right.
We brought the receipts.
So Alex Cooper, the modern day Howard Stern, Ryan Seacrest love baby-
is ordering up all of it.
It's reality TV squared.
People are escaping reality by watching reality TV, which is ironically not real.
Oh, and by the way, for the streamers on the supply side, reality is Hollywood's very real profit puppy.