Modern Love: Dating Shows Are Out, Book Adaptations Are So In
Toward the end of 2022, reality dating shows on streaming were all the rage, with scripted romantic dramas taking a backseat. But thanks to a huge uptick in romance-novel adaptations, that positioning has switched — and by quite a wide margin.
A new study by Ampere Analysis found that, thus far this year, scripted dramas have made up 83 percent of first-run romance TV commissions. Since early 2025, 40 percent of those series orders have been literary adaptations, and over the past three years, first-run romance-novel adaptations have jumped 73 percent.
It is Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video leading the way. As a matter of fact, thus far this year, the two are singlehandedly (double-handedly?) carrying the torch, each accounting for 50 percent of these series orders. Here is something else to love: The jobs are staying stateside with 75 percent of the commissioned productions based in the U.S.
Romance is a reliable genre as young love is always in the air. Since COVID, 18-24 year olds have maintained the same levels of appeal year in and year out; nearly half (49 percent — let’s call them “girls”) of its surveys respondents consumed romantic TV series in the first quarter of 2026. That’s 7 percentage points better than the global average across all ages, a gap only otherwise seen in horror and anime. (Since 2020, comedy and action/adventure fell by 9 percentage points among the youngs; crime/thriller dropped by 5 percentage points.)
The genre also plays well on social media, where, you guessed it, the 18-24s hang. Thirty-one percent of survey-takers said social media influences their viewing choices, 9 percentage points higher than the average across all ages. The power of BookTok is real.
“Scripted Romance shows are currently central in the cultural zeitgeist, and none more so than literary adaptations, including Heated Rivalry (2025), Off Campus (2026), and Bridgerton (2020 — present). The continued success of these titles has encouraged global streamers to rethink their commissioning approach to new Romance content, moving away from Reality TV and towards higher-budget scripted shows with established fan bases,” Mariana Enriquez Denton Bustinza, a senior analyst at Ampere Analysis, said in a statement. “Romance and its book adaptations target a younger demographic that has become increasingly visible on social media. By tapping into these online communities, streamers improve their show’s chances of success and ensure longevity through sustained fan interactions and commentary.”
Ampere Analysis is a U.K.-based research firm focused on the entertainment industry.