Netflix's Reality TV Success: Love Is Blind and the Competition

Netflix's Reality TV Dominance

Love Is Blind may have been a success during its 2023 seasons, but it’s shockingly not at the top of Netflix’s list of reality TV series for the first half of the year. Reality TV has become one of the most interesting categories available on the streaming platform. Netflix’s reality TV lifestyle and competition series have been taking things up a notch throughout the year, and with the premiere of new shows along with the return of others, there's been a lot of curiosity over what’s been the most successful. It seems like Love Is Blind season 4 should have the top spot.

Love Is Blind hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey, with the contestants sitting on couches behind them

According to Netflix’s annual “What We Watched” report, Love Is Blind season 4 was the 15th most-watched overall series in 2023, with an impressive 229,700,000 hours viewed from January 2023 to June 2023. While the report has Love Is Blind in competition with scripted series, it still didn’t take the top spot for reality TV. The most watched reality TV competition series of the year was Physical 100 season 1, which garnered a massive 235,000,000 hours viewed and ranked in the 17th slot overall for 2023. Physical 100, a South Korean competition, was a massive hit early in 2023.

Love Is Blind and Physical 100 were among the top 20 most-watched shows on Netflix from January to June, as well as the two highest-ranking reality TV series on the list overall. With massive competition, it’s incredible to see two reality TV series place so high on the list. Within the top 200, several other Netflix reality TV series were included on the list. Perfect Match season 1, which included stars from the Netflix reality TV universe, ranked at 30 with 176,800,000 views, while Selling Sunset season 6 ranked at 133 with 82,800,000 hours viewed. The list proves that reality TV has become an extremely popular Netflix genre.

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Analyzing the Success

While the “What We Watched” report is a nice tool to measure what’s happened throughout the year on Netflix's reality TV lineup, there are some limitations to what’s being reported. With the report showing only six months' worth of data, things are a bit skewed for those who are hoping to see year-round numbers. Also, the list is not measuring the number of views on a show, but the number of hours a show has been viewed. This means the runtimes of series episodes may be a factor when trying to compare shows at different rankings. While the list is helpful, it should be taken at face value.

Netflix’s Love Is Blind is one of the most innovative dating shows on reality TV, pushing its contestants to try their hand at a relationship in circumstances they normally wouldn’t find themselves in. While it wasn’t the top-ranked series for the first six months of 2023, it held its own with over 229 million hours of the season watched by viewers. While other shows may have done better, the long-running Netflix reality dating series was able to rank high with a new cast and new connections. Love Is Blind may do even better in 2024.

Looking Ahead

Love Is Blind season 6 premieres February 14, 2024, on Netflix.