Creator-Led Reality Shows: OTTs turn to influencers as new faces of prime-time

In India’s rapidly evolving entertainment landscape, the next wave of mainstream stardom isn’t being shaped in film studios or casting offices, it’s emerging from creators’ living rooms. The lines between influencer, celebrity, and storyteller are blurring fast, and OTT platforms are racing to capture the momentum through creator-led reality and unscripted formats.

At the forefront of this shift is JioStar’s creator-first vertical, Sparks, which has quickly turned into one of the platform’s strongest engagement engines. In just nine months, Sparks has rolled out 30 creator-led shows featuring nearly 300 Indian influencers and comedians, from The Society with Munawar Faruqui to Engaged: Roka Ya Dhoka with Uorfi Javed and Harsh Gujral.

“Creators today are second to none when it comes to fandom,” said a JioStar spokesperson. “They’re not just influencers anymore; they’re storytellers, community builders, and cultural forces shaping how people experience entertainment.”

The new entertainment economy: trust, scale, and built-in distribution

Industry experts agree that creator-led formats mark a natural evolution in how content is produced and consumed.

“Reality TV always thrived on our instinct to peek into someone else’s life,” said Siddharth Jalan, Founder & Chief Brand Strategist at SquidJC. “The difference now is that audiences already have a relationship with these creators. They feel more real and accessible, which makes the emotional investment far deeper.”

For OTT platforms, this authenticity translates into an instant viewership advantage. “Influencers sit perfectly at the intersection of audience and distribution,” Jalan added. “They bring both—and at a speed traditional media could never match. It’s why people subscribe to platforms they might’ve never considered before, just to watch a creator they follow.”

Rajnish Rawat, Co-founder and CEO of Social Pill, believes this strategy is a no-brainer in a competitive OTT environment. “Platforms are essentially licensing existing fan communities,” he said. “When creators with millions of followers bring their audience along, you’ve got guaranteed day-one viewership. That’s distribution gold.”

He draws parallels with the global phenomenon Beast Games by YouTuber MrBeast on Amazon Prime. “It’s the same playbook—using creator fandom to de-risk investments and amplify reach,” Rawat said.

The advertising advantage: integration over interruption

As platforms embrace this new wave of entertainment, brands are finding innovative ways to insert themselves into the story, literally.

In Game of Glory, Domino’s Pizza came onboard as the “binge partner,” seamlessly integrated through food-themed challenges. “It didn’t feel like advertising, it felt like culture,” JioStar’s spokesperson said. “That’s the real value of Sparks: meaningful attention, active participation, and cultural relevance.”

Rawat notes that creator-led shows offer brands an ecosystem beyond traditional placements. “You’re not just buying a 30-second ad spot,” he said. “You’re investing in a networked experience, where the show, cast, and creator channels all work in tandem. For D2C brands with limited budgets, the ROI is massive.”

According to Jalan, brands that succeed in this space are those that integrate organically into the narrative. “If your brand doesn’t have a story, it won’t stick,” he cautioned. “But if it fits naturally, the engagement is deeper and the recall is higher.”

Categories best suited for such integrations include beauty, fashion, wellness, consumer tech, and increasingly, fintech and quick commerce, experts said.

From short-form fame to long-form storytelling

For creators themselves, reality and unscripted shows represent creative evolution.

“The emergence of creators launching long-format shows was inevitable,” said Yuvraj Dua, creator and host of Playground on Amazon miniTV. “Short-form content can only take you so far. Larger formats let us expand our craft and connect with audiences more deeply.”

Dua sees it as a win-win: “Creators gain the platform and resources to elevate their ideas, while brands benefit from authentic storytelling and meaningful visibility.”

The rise of creator-led entertainment underscores a cultural shift in how India consumes media. Viewers no longer just watch shows; they follow personalities they trust, across platforms and formats.

For platforms like JioStar, that trust is translating into sticky viewership and loyal communities. For brands, it’s unlocking the holy grail of modern marketing-authentic influence at scale.

As Jalan put it, “Every creator dreams of being on TV, and every TV executive dreams of going viral. Right now, that marriage is producing the most exciting stories in Indian entertainment.”