The grim landscape of reality television in the Los Angeles area was highlighted by another significant drop in the second quarter of 2024 following a rough start to the year. Figures negated expectations that unscripted production would accelerate despite industry contraction and belt-tightening coming out of the strikes.
The latest production report is from the local film office, FilmLA, which found that on-location filming of the format from April to June this year fell nearly 57 percent to 868 total shoot days compared to the same period in 2023. In the previous quarter, reality television production was also behind its 2023 levels, down roughly 18 percent to 1,317 shoot days.
Reality television in 2024 has had some bright spots during the second quarter, with Selling Sunset, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, American Idol, 90 Day Fiance, The Golden Bachelorette, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Accident, Suicide or Murder all being filmed in the City of Angels area during the quarter. Unfortunately, there was still a significant drop in production days for reality television that brought down the report’s entire television category, which has typically been an anchor of production in the area.
“Generally speaking, unscripted television is a location-heavy format that generates significant permit volume,” FilmLA’s VP of Integrated Communications, Philip Sokoloski, said in a statement. “The employment impact of reality production is lower than it is for scripted TV, and projects are not incentive-eligible through the State of California. It remains an important part of LA’s production economy.”
The FilmLA report is just one of the latest diagnostics showing the downward spiral of reality television production, which has also narrowed job availability, tightened budgets, and made executives even more cautious about taking risks on new project concepts.
A contributing factor in the decline of reality television in the area is that the category does not qualify for tax credits in California. This means that productions take on the full cost of the project without subsidies, unlike other major production hubs, like Georgia and New Mexico, which crafted their programs to make such content eligible.
General manager for nonfiction production companies’ trade association, NPACT, Michelle Van Kempen, added in a statement, “The unfortunate reality for unscripted production in California is that not only is the volume of business down across the industry, but because other states (and countries, for that matter) offer producer-friendly incentives in unscripted, business is increasingly going elsewhere.”
Producer Patrick Caligiuri (Naked and Afraid, American Idol) expressed little surprise over FilmLA’s data, stating it’s “not surprising because the numbers reflect what everybody in the industry has been feeling over the last year.” The producer rang the alarm on the state of reality television in a TikTok post that said, “Reality TV is dead.” He says that the struggle continues for many workers. “No one’s saying they’re making the same rate they were making before. Everybody’s saying at this point, ‘I’m lucky to get a job.’”
Currently, California is the only major production hub that doesn’t allow above-the-line costs to qualify for incentives; however, starting in 2025, credits will become refundable for the first time since the program’s creation in 2009.
