The ‘Off Campus’ Effect: Streamers Smitten With Scripted Romance Over Dating Shows, Research Shows

Streaming platforms are smitten with romance – predominantly the scripted kind.

New research from Ampere Analysis shows that 83% of first-run romance commissions in the first half of 2026 were scripted. Of those, 40% were adapted from books, which has been the case since 2025 (since 2023 the number of book adaptations has increased by 73%, a trend partly prompted by the rise of BookTok).

That is a big shift from the second half of 2022, when there was an almost equal split between reality and scripted romance shows. That’s despite reality romance formats such as “Love Island” and “Love is Blind” still drawing in plenty of fans.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Prime Video and Netflix who are leading the trend of commissioning scripted romance.

The media analytics firm also found the romance genre has remained “unusually resilient” with audiences in the 18-24 bracket, who show the same level of appeal as they did back in 2020 despite declining in interest in other major genres. The first quarter of 2026 showed 49% of respondents were enjoying romance, the same number as in the first quarter of 2020. Meanwhile in the same period interest in comedy as well as action and adventure fell by 9% while crime and thriller dropped by 5%.

“Scripted romance shows are currently central in the cultural zeitgeist, and none more so than literary adaptations,” said Mariana Enriquez Denton Bustinza, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis, pointing to shows such as “Off Campus” and “Heated Rivalry.” “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.”