Broadcasters, streamers step up investment in premium non-fiction content

India's broadcasters and streaming platforms are ramping up investment in premium non-fiction offerings, betting on reality, comedy and other unscripted formats to attract viewers, build long-running franchises and drive engagement across television and digital platforms.

While reality programming has long been a television staple, broadcasters and streamers are now significantly increasing investment in premium unscripted formats, as competition for viewers intensifies and companies look to build scalable entertainment franchises.

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According to an Ampere Analysis study, unscripted programming accounts for nearly 30% of all content across television and streaming platforms in India, highlighting the genre's growing importance in the country's entertainment ecosystem.

India's annual spending on content, excluding sports rights, has topped $2 billion, with broadcasters and streaming services increasingly relying on unscripted content to boost viewership and extend engagement beyond their core platforms.

Star Plus is returning to big-ticket non-fiction with The 1% Club, featuring Anil Kapoor. Sony is investing heavily in the genre to strengthen its Hindi GEC portfolio. Netflix is expanding its unscripted slate with homegrown formats such as ‘Lock Upp: Sach Ya Saza’ and Samay Raina's ‘India's Got Latent’. Prime Video has partnered with Banijay Asia for the Indian adaptation of the Dutch reality show ‘The Alliance’.

Netflix India’s vice president for content, Monika Shergill, said that in the early days of streaming, viewers were primarily drawn to premium scripted shows. With the streaming ecosystem maturing, audiences are once again embracing non-fiction content.

"At its core, non-fiction appeals because people are fascinated by real people," she said. "For us, non-fiction and comedy have always been strategic priorities. They're categories we've continued to invest in consistently, even as audience tastes have evolved."

Netflix's growing unscripted slate also includes ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’, one of the platform's biggest breakout non-fiction successes.

On the television side, Hindi GEC leader Star Plus has returned to premium non-fiction with ‘India Ke Top 1%’, a quiz-based reality show hosted by actor Anil Kapoor.

"As a general entertainment channel, we recognise that non-fiction serves a different strategic purpose. Fiction primarily caters to your core audience, whereas non-fiction has the ability to bring in new viewers and expand the universe of the channel," said Sumanta Bose, head of Hindi entertainment business for Star-branded channels at JioStar.

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Bose said the format has already proved itself across 14 international markets, making it a strong fit for Indian audiences.

"We're constantly looking for white spaces. That's an ongoing exercise because India is evolving rapidly, and so are the aspirations and anxieties of our audiences," he said.

Other broadcasters are making similar bets. JioStar's Colors continues to anchor its entertainment strategy around ‘Bigg Boss’ while expanding its reality slate with ‘The 50’.

Sony Entertainment Television's flagship non-fiction franchise remains ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, and the network has recently added ‘Wheel of Fortune’ hosted by Akshay Kumar. MTV, meanwhile, continues to invest in youth-focused reality franchises, including ‘Splitsvilla’.