Reality TV production continues to plummet in L.A.

by

Filming for reality TV shows in Los Angeles is struggling, with a significant drop in the number of days production took place during the first quarter of the year.

Filming for reality TV shows in Los Angeles decreased by 33.7% between January and March, totaling 463 days, according to data from FilmLA, a local production tracking organization. This is down from the 4th quarter of last year.

What’s particularly concerning is that this represents a significant drop of 52.5% compared to the same period last year (2025). During the first three months of the year, several reality TV shows were filmed in the Los Angeles area, including Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” CBS’s “Let’s Make a Deal,” and the second season of Lifetime’s “Dr. Pimple Popper: Breaking Out.”

FilmLA reported a decrease in reality TV production. Research from Luminate shows that the number of new unscripted shows premiering in the U.S. has fallen roughly 33% since 2022.

Reality TV shows didn’t perform well, which brought down the overall production results. However, other shows and films, especially those benefiting from tax credits, did see some improvement.

As a big supporter of filming in L.A., I’m happy to share that we had a really strong start to 2026! We filmed on location for 5,121 days in the first three months, which is over 10% more than the last quarter of 2025. While it’s slightly down compared to the same time last year – about 3.3% – it still shows L.A. remains a major hub for production.

Filming for movies significantly increased in the first three months of the year, with 687 days of production. This is a 45.2% rise compared to the previous quarter and a 52.3% increase compared to the same time last year.

Almost 22% of filming days were dedicated to projects that benefited from state tax breaks. These included the upcoming Netflix comedy “One Attempt Remaining,” featuring Jennifer Garner and John Cena, and “Behemoth!” from Searchlight Pictures, starring Pedro Pascal.

Tax credits played a significant role in television production, accounting for over a third (33.7%) of all filming days. This included popular shows like the “Baywatch” reboot on Fox and “The Rookie” on ABC, which benefited from these incentives.

FilmLA President Denise Gutches stated that although it’s too soon to forecast future trends, the recent growth in filming days across several areas suggests a potential increase in overall production. She also noted that while these initial numbers are positive, more effort is needed to fully restore filming activity and employment to the region.

Total TV production days for the first quarter were 1,196, which is a decrease of 28.4% from the same quarter last year and 4.1% from the last quarter of 2025.

Filming for TV dramas saw a positive trend with 472 shoot days, a 7.3% increase from the year before. Comedy filming also rose to 120 days, up 9.1% compared to the first three months of 2025. While still modest, TV pilot filming days increased from 13 to 15, offering a small boost to production activity in the Los Angeles area.

Commercial production remained steady, with 794 filming days – just 0.3% lower than the year before. Filming for photoshoots, student projects, and other types of productions actually increased by 2.8%, totaling 2,444 days.

Read More

2026-04-28 22:32