Established unscripted TV formats are migrating from linear TV to YouTube and vertical video platforms, providing new ways to reach elusive demographics and providing owners of reality formats new revenue streams.

The received wisdom that Generation Z has abandoned television in favour of scrolling through shortform social media content is, according to industry insiders, wide of the mark. What this demographic is actually rejecting, it turns out, is not the medium itself but a certain kind of storytelling – and unscripted reality formats are proving particularly adept at bridging the gap between traditional broadcasting and the platforms where younger audiences spend much of their time.

Amie Parker-Williams, director of commissioning and production at MTV Entertainment Group International, argues that the issue is one of emotional distance rather than format fatigue. “They’re not rejecting TV, they’re just rejecting distance,” she says. “A lot of linear formats are made with distance in mind. Gen Z likes to be close to the action, likes to be close to the vulnerability of whoever’s on screen and [for them to be a] reflection of them.” For Parker-Williams, the solution lies in prioritising intimacy over spectacle – content that feels raw, honest and personal rather than polished and remote.

That instinct is borne out by the performance of some of the UK’s biggest unscripted formats with younger viewers. The most recent season of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here is a telling example. The show drew the broadcaster’s biggest audience of 16- to 34-year-olds, in part because popular 24-year-old YouTuber Angryginge was cast as a contestant and went on to win the series. The casting decision demonstrated how established formats can reconnect with younger audiences when they feature talent those audiences already follow and trust.

Another example is ITV Studios striking a deal with YouTube collective The Sidemen to produce their own version of long-running quiz show The Chase for the group’s YouTube channel. The Sidemen’s version of the show attracted 15 million views, using the same studio and format but featuring the collective’s own talent rather than carrying over any presenters from the original broadcast version.

“It’s really clear there is a place for unscripted IP in this creative and digital ecosystem,” says Kaio Grizzelle, digital commissioning editor and interim lead at Channel 4’s digital brand Channel 4.0. “There have been some really great examples of producers and broadcasters embracing this new generation and understanding that it’s not going to cannibalise views or the brand. It’s actually going to enhance its ability to reach.”

Grizzelle is equally keen to dispel another assumption frequently made about Gen Z – that this cohort has a short attention span and will not commit to longform content. He points out that The Sidemen upload a video running to two and a half hours every Sunday that consistently attracts millions of views, and notes that a third of Channel 4.0’s viewers watch content on a television set at home. “We’re seeing a rise in longform,” he says.

Ross Appleton, VP and general manager for the UK at Fox-owned streaming platform Tubi, echoes that point, noting that 80% of viewing on his platform, including among younger audiences, takes place on a television screen. “The desire to watch stories in the premium environment and to enjoy the best quality production is still there,” he says.

Yet alongside this appetite for traditional formats delivered through new channels, an emerging trend may be about to deepen Gen Z’s relationship with unscripted content further still. The booming microdrama market – short, mobile-first episodic content designed for vertical viewing on smartphones – is beginning to turn its attention to reality television, with early results suggesting the combination could be a potent one.

The format, which has until now been dominated by scripted drama often built around melodramatic cliffhangers, is evolving rapidly. Timothy Oh, general manager at COL Group International, which operates the vertical microdrama streaming app FlareFlow, acknowledges that audience fatigue is already setting in with some of those early conventions. “When everybody is tired of it, that’s when innovation starts,” he says.

For COL, that innovation has taken the form of a partnership with Refinery Media to relaunch the long-running reality competition SupermodelMe as a mobile-first vertical micro-series, designed from the ground up for smartphone consumption rather than simply re-edited from existing footage. The compressed format allows viewers to follow a full competition arc in around 90 minutes rather than over several weeks – a proposition well-suited to the viewing habits of a generation accustomed to consuming content at pace and on the move.

Nani Freitas, CEO of EndemolShine Brazil, describes micro-reality as “a natural evolution” of the unscripted genre. Younger viewers, she argues, are “increasingly drawn to interactive, personality-driven stories, designed specifically for the vertical screen.” What is becoming clear across the industry is that Generation Z’s relationship with reality television is not diminishing – it is simply finding new shapes.

Established unscripted TV formats are migrating from linear TV to YouTube and vertical video platforms, providing new ways to reach elusive demographics and providing owners of reality formats new revenue streams.

The received wisdom that Generation Z has abandoned television in favour of scrolling through shortform social media content is, according to industry insiders, wide of the mark. What this demographic is actually rejecting, it turns out, is not the medium itself but a certain kind of storytelling – and unscripted reality formats are proving particularly adept at bridging the gap between traditional broadcasting and the platforms where younger audiences spend much of their time.

Amie Parker-Williams, director of commissioning and production at MTV Entertainment Group International, argues that the issue is one of emotional distance rather than format fatigue. “They’re not rejecting TV, they’re just rejecting distance,” she says. “A lot of linear formats are made with distance in mind. Gen Z likes to be close to the action, likes to be close to the vulnerability of whoever’s on screen and [for them to be a] reflection of them.” For Parker-Williams, the solution lies in prioritising intimacy over spectacle – content that feels raw, honest and personal rather than polished and remote.

That instinct is borne out by the performance of some of the UK’s biggest unscripted formats with younger viewers. The most recent season of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here is a telling example. The show drew the broadcaster’s biggest audience of 16- to 34-year-olds, in part because popular 24-year-old YouTuber Angryginge was cast as a contestant and went on to win the series. The casting decision demonstrated how established formats can reconnect with younger audiences when they feature talent those audiences already follow and trust.

Another example is ITV Studios striking a deal with YouTube collective The Sidemen to produce their own version of long-running quiz show The Chase for the group’s YouTube channel. The Sidemen’s version of the show attracted 15 million views, using the same studio and format but featuring the collective’s own talent rather than carrying over any presenters from the original broadcast version.

“It’s really clear there is a place for unscripted IP in this creative and digital ecosystem,” says Kaio Grizzelle, digital commissioning editor and interim lead at Channel 4’s digital brand Channel 4.0. “There have been some really great examples of producers and broadcasters embracing this new generation and understanding that it’s not going to cannibalise views or the brand. It’s actually going to enhance its ability to reach.”

Grizzelle is equally keen to dispel another assumption frequently made about Gen Z – that this cohort has a short attention span and will not commit to longform content. He points out that The Sidemen upload a video running to two and a half hours every Sunday that consistently attracts millions of views, and notes that a third of Channel 4.0’s viewers watch content on a television set at home. “We’re seeing a rise in longform,” he says.

Ross Appleton, VP and general manager for the UK at Fox-owned streaming platform Tubi, echoes that point, noting that 80% of viewing on his platform, including among younger audiences, takes place on a television screen. “The desire to watch stories in the premium environment and to enjoy the best quality production is still there,” he says.

Yet alongside this appetite for traditional formats delivered through new channels, an emerging trend may be about to deepen Gen Z’s relationship with unscripted content further still. The booming microdrama market – short, mobile-first episodic content designed for vertical viewing on smartphones – is beginning to turn its attention to reality television, with early results suggesting the combination could be a potent one.

The format, which has until now been dominated by scripted drama often built around melodramatic cliffhangers, is evolving rapidly. Timothy Oh, general manager at COL Group International, which operates the vertical microdrama streaming app FlareFlow, acknowledges that audience fatigue is already setting in with some of those early conventions. “When everybody is tired of it, that’s when innovation starts,” he says.

For COL, that innovation has taken the form of a partnership with Refinery Media to relaunch the long-running reality competition SupermodelMe as a mobile-first vertical micro-series, designed from the ground up for smartphone consumption rather than simply re-edited from existing footage. The compressed format allows viewers to follow a full competition arc in around 90 minutes rather than over several weeks – a proposition well-suited to the viewing habits of a generation accustomed to consuming content at pace and on the move.

Nani Freitas, CEO of EndemolShine Brazil, describes micro-reality as “a natural evolution” of the unscripted genre. Younger viewers, she argues, are “increasingly drawn to interactive, personality-driven stories, designed specifically for the vertical screen.” What is becoming clear across the industry is that Generation Z’s relationship with reality television is not diminishing – it is simply finding new shapes.