Mar 30, 2026 8:55pm IST
From ‘The Traitors India’ to ‘Wheel of Fortune’; India’s Versions of Global Reality Shows Bringing in Huge TRPs
When Indian studio heads say that young desis love to experiment with their viewing choices, they are not wrong. The past few years have proved that India is ready for all types of content, especially on streaming platforms. We can see this in the numbers reality shows have pulled in for broadcasters in recent years. The non-fiction space is thriving and how. Indian producers have adapted unique foreign shows and some popular shows in the past two to three years. Here is a quick look at how they fared on the charts.
‘The 50’
Shiv Thakare won the first Indianized version of “The 50” that aired on Colors TV and JioHotstar. The show was adapted from the French original, “Les Cinquante.” “The 50” India ended on March 22 with five people making it as the finalists. On the show, we had 50 people residing in a castle and competing with each other in a game with high stakes. The show had the aggression we associate with Indian reality TV. As per BARC numbers, it failed to touch the TRP of even one point across Indian homes in terms of TV viewing. However, it was a success on JioHotstar with the platform sharing figures of 8.1 million views on March 12, 2026. By these figures, it was the most watched show on OTT.
Related Stories
‘Wheel Of Fortune’
This American reality show started in the US in 1975 and has had a successful run of 43 seasons. The Indian version came to our screens from February 2026 on Sony TV. The TRPs of the show are quite good given the channel. It is around 0.5, which is extremely healthy.
‘The Traitors India’
Last year, India got its own version of “The Traitors,” which has its origins in The Netherlands. It is a Dutch reality game show created by Marc Pos and Jasper Hoogendoorn. The series did not air on TV but was available on Amazon Prime Video. The finale week got 3.1 million views, which made it a bonafide success for the production house, BBC Worldwide and Prime Video.
‘Temptation Island India’
“Temptation Island”, a popular reality show from the US, took years to come to India. The risque content of the reality show was the reason broadcasters thought a million times before taking the plunge. Finally, Banijay Asia produced the Indian version in 2023. It got 4.9 million unique viewers, which was a very good number. It was aired on JioCinema.
‘Reality Ranis of the Jungle’
The survival show in the jungle is an adaptation of the global Warner Bros. show, “Reality Queens of the Jungle.” A truly different reality show, saw its second season in September 2025. It came on Discovery channel and Discovery+.
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.