Reality television has a reputation — and it always has. It’s not premium, it’s cheap to make, it’s easy to create. But in recent years, a few shows have proven that’s not the case at all. For Kinetic Content, it never has been.
Most of the popular unscripted shows today — from “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and “American Idol” to “The Bachelor” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” premiered in 2010 or before. The global “reality boom” exploded 25 years ago. In the years to follow, the majority of unscripted content that debuted took off for a moment and later fizzled out.
In fact, in the last 12 years, only four global non-scripted format hits have spawned multiple localized international versions in a foreign language, all while hitting the No. 1 ranking for their platform in their most recent season: “Married at First Sight,” “Love Is Blind,” “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” and “The Masked Singer.”
Chris Coelen, CEO of Kinetic Content, created and executive produced the first three of those four series, finding a sweet spot in the unscripted dating television universe — one that spreads internationally. “Love Is Blind” has expanded to Brazil and Japan, with Sweden coming soon. “The Ultimatum” has been remade in France while “Married at First Sight” has been formatted in Denmark, Germany and Italy.
While “90 Day Fiancé” and “Below Deck” have seen high ratings and spawned single-season international versions, both were produced in English, targeting American audiences.
“Love Is Blind,” which debuted in 2020, is the most popular unscripted series in Netflix history and the most widely seen unscripted series. The relationship show is the only unscripted series to make it onto Nielsen’s chart of top 10 original streaming programs in the U.S. during 2022, coming in at No. 8 with 13.1 billion minutes viewed. In 2022, Kinetic’s series spent a combined total of 145 days in the Netflix U.S. Top 10; “Love Is Blind” alone remained on the chart for 86 days, behind only “Stranger Things,” “Ozark” and “Cocomelon.”
The success of Kinetic is not new; “Married at First Sight” has been the top series on Lifetime since its 2014 launch, ranking more than 50% higher than any other program on the network. But it just keeps growing. “Love Is Blind” is its biggest series yet; unlike most shows, its viewership has climbedeach season. Although Netflix’s Top 10 didn’t exist yet when Season 1 premiered, Season 2 opened with 21.7 million hours watched while Season 3 opened with 24.9 million hours.
Season 4’s opening weekend topped both, with 25.5 million hours watched. Since the show’s episodes are released in batches, these account for only 2-3 days of viewing. Overall, the fourth season was viewed for more than 209 million hours.
Coelen is one of three producers with two separate series to hit No. 1 on the Netflix U.S. ratings in 2022, next to Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, who both make scripted content. Between “Love Is Blind” and “The Ultimatum,” more than 550 million hours have been viewed while in the Netflix global top 10 last year; in 2023, that number was matched, with both “Perfect Match” and “Love Is Blind” snagging the No. 1 spot.At the time of publish, Kintetic shows spent 108 days combined on the U.S. top 10 chart so far in 2023.
There’s a reason these series work and continue to work in other territories.
“We don’t take the opportunity to make these shows for granted, and I think that pays off,” Coelen says. “It’s really, really hard and time consuming, but ultimately, I think the quality of our storytelling stands up against any series — scripted or non-scripted. I’m really proud of the shows we do and the way we produce them.”
