Reality shows may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s something about them that’s just satisfying to watch even for the most sophisticated TV enthusiasts. Reality shows can launch careers, crush dreams and turn ordinary people into household names. Just ask Kelly Clarkson, Mike «The Situation» Sorrentino or NeNe Leakes. We are beyond the days of the experiment that was MTV’s The Real World. Today, you can hatch a business on Shark Tank or take a deep dive with Pawn Stars.
You can follow ghost hunts, cheer for undiscovered talent, watch socialites duke it out, witness bachelors and bachelorettes look for love or learn how to care for animals and the planet. Plenty of camera crews have gone where no one has gone before. Someone tell Captain Kirk that you’ll soon be able to stream civilians in outer space as part of a new reality show trend. NASA has Space Hero in the works and Discovery will air Who Wants to Be an Astronaut? at some point this year.
You probably won’t find anyone from The Real Housewives or The Bachelor traversing the galaxy (yet?), but you can watch their shows on streaming services. As a fan, you may regularly turn to specific channels to catch the latest installment of your favorite series. While Apple TV Plus or HBO Max — two brands known for prestige television — aren’t necessarily our first choices to get your reality fix, plenty of other streaming services deliver the reality goods. But sometimes, it’s a challenge to keep up with the shows and reality stars you’re interested in seeing.
Whether you stream reality TV as a guilty pleasure, for inspiration, fun or education, the services below offer enough to watch in small doses or as a bingeable feast. Just be aware that every season of your favorite show might not be available to stream.
Read more: Netflix Considers Livestreaming
How we chose these reality TV streaming services
Other streaming services such as Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, Prime and HBO Max offer high quality entertainment, but when it comes to reality TV, scope and preference is key. Though we looked at their reality rosters, the platforms on this list have large catalogs to offer for established franchises, new releases and originals.
Netflix may not be top of mind for this genre, but according to Nielsen, the streamer has found huge popularity with some of its unscripted titles. Specifically, Selling Sunset and The Great British Baking Show have performed very well. For that reason, Netflix edged out rivals like Prime and Disney Plus. I also examined Parrot Analytics statistics between 2020 and 2022 and found that shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race, Shark Tank, The Voice and Survivor are consistently in the top rankings in terms of audience demand.
