“Love is Blind” isn’t just Netflix’s latest weekly watercooler, it’s the most valuable romance reality franchise of the streaming era. As Season 10 rolls out, Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics model estimates the “Love is Blind” franchise has generated over $410 million in global streaming subscriber revenue since first premiering in 2020. That’s more than any other major romance reality franchise across major platforms in that period.
That lead is meaningful because it is not a one-off. Romance reality is built for repeatable, compounding returns with familiar format rules, fresh casts and endlessly renewable social conversation. In practice, that structure behaves similar to the franchise engines of scripted series, but with faster iteration cycles and fewer creative bottlenecks.
Looking at the top romance reality franchises highlights that “Love is Blind” isn’t a one-off outlier. “90 Day Fiancé” sits in a close second at $403 million in global streaming revenue since 2020, powered by a sprawling constellation of spinoffs that can be swapped in and out like modules. “Love Island” follows at $319 million, while legacy brands like “The Bachelor” have still been able to translate to major streaming value, even as their center of gravity has evolved across platforms and viewing habits.
Notably, Netflix hasn’t put all its chips on “Love is Blind” alone in this genre. Our estimates show that “Too Hot to Handle” and “Love on the Spectrum,” both Netflix originals, have collectively delivered about $300 million combined in global streaming revenue since 2020. That’s the strategic advantage of romance reality: once the platform learns the production and marketing playbook, it can replicate the machine across multiple brands, talent pools and cultural contexts as the franchise goes global.
It isn’t just top-tier hits delivering the goods either. The romance reality genre has been claiming a larger share of subscriber revenue on streaming platforms over time. In the U.S./Canada, the genre’s revenue share has climbed across platforms as it expands reality slates, localize formats and lean into weekly release rhythms that sustain retention.
No platform illustrates this shift more dramatically than Peacock. As of the third quarter, around 4.5% of Peacock’s series-driven streaming revenue is attributable to romance reality. This is up from under 1% in 2021. The step-change in recent quarters is tied to the breakout performance of “Love Island USA,” which we estimate has contributed over $30 million in revenue to Peacock since Season 7 premiered. That’s a genre title not only driving demand, but materially moving the revenue mix.
Different stories explain the shift on various platforms. Netflix’s share has risen as its in-house franchises scale internationally. The share of revenue attributable to this genre on HBO Max rose following the mid-2023 integration of a reality-heavy Discovery+ catalog which expanded the platform’s supply of sticky, repeat-viewing unscripted series.
The final twist is what makes this genre doubly valuable. These shows are typically far less expensive to produce than scripted series, meaning they can deliver higher ROI — more revenue impact per dollar of cost. In an era where streamers are optimizing for profit, romance reality isn’t just a guilty pleasure. It’s one of the smartest franchise bets in the business.