• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Even before “The Bachelorette” disaster, unscripted TV shows -- long the savior of TV networks' not-so-secret cost-cutting remedy for prime-time entertainment -- were in decline.

This comes as TV networks and streamers keep spending more on high-priced sports programming, with little left for unscripted content.

Separately, unscripted TV shows -- reality-based “soap”-like TV series -- are drawing weak viewing, with strong story arcs ever harder to attain and propagate.

That said, “The Bachelorette” did foster major news headlines for this newly proposed TV season with its star Taylor Frankie Paul, who faced assault charges from some years ago.

But that story line was not part of the show’s “content.” No matter. The entire season was scrapped.

The issue for unscripted content is what production companies now get paid -- much less money.

From a financial point of view, premium streamers of all types have driven down the licensing fees paid to production companies, making unscripted content more risky.

Many of those shows end up with barely break-even status. That has shifted the focus for producers moving on to other content.

In addition, young audiences have moved away from traditional TV network unscripted content and more to social media short-form video series on sites such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook’s Reels and other digital destinations.

This includes 15-minute shows (on YouTube) as well as one- or two-minute new-ish "micro-dramas" series episodes, all free and on-demand.

All this has made it even harder for traditional cable TV networks to compete with the unscripted shows -- which are already hard hit from industrywide sharp viewing declines from general pay TV cord-cutting on cable, satellite, and virtual platform operators

It wasn’t always this way. TV networks used profitable, low-cost, unscripted shows for decades to fund other content.

On a major broadcast network, unscripted content can run as cheap as $1 million to $2 million an episode. Cable TV scripted episodes can cost even less, at $500,000 to $600,000.

This is all up against high-priced scripted broadcast content -- such as a procedural drama at about $4 million to $5 million an episode, or high-value action adventure scripted episodes ranging from $6 million to $10 million.

What remains? Only the really top echelon of unscripted shows: NBC’s “The Voice”, ABC’s “American Idol,” Fox’s “The Masked Singer” -- mostly musical competition shows.

Perhaps the key ingredient for these shows is the "live" feel with big in-studio audiences.

Can the remaining proponents of unscripted TV find another way to get back that tune in, and that engagement?