Vulture’s inaugural industry survey of the stars, execs, hosts, podcasters, and franchises shaping the future of their genre.
 

MAY 8, 2026

 

The Masterminds of Reality TV

Vulture’s inaugural industry survey of the stars, execs, hosts, podcasters, and franchises shaping the future of their genre.

Portfolio: Art Streiber

 

The Distinguished Honorees

MASTER OF CULTURE

Andy Cohen Bent the World to His Reality

He was first to put Bravo stars on par with Oscar winners. Now unscripted TV is bigger than he ever imagined.

FOREVER ICON

The Seven Faces of Kathy Hilton

Brilliant comedian. Anxious traveler. Dog that locks her jaw to your leg.

Subscribe now to get unlimited access to everything New York, including subscriber-only newsletters, exclusive perks, the New York app, and more.

Subscribe Now
 

➼ The Audacity of Nene Leakes After an explosive exit and years of personal tragedy, the queen of reality TV is ready to return to the house she built.

➼ What Parvati Shallow Watches (and Listens to) With Her Daughter “I’m a big believer in roping in your talented, creative friends to help parent your children.”

➼ Let’s Send Ariana Madix to the Moon Maybe in space, she won’t think about dying.

➼ Bravo Can’t Just Keep It in the Family The network made a show for Gen Z starring the Housewives’ kids, but the normies are bringing the drama too.

 

ADVERTISER CONTENT

 
Learn more about OpenWeb
 

Inside the Control Room

The Nicest Show on Reality TV

Love on the Spectrum, an unscripted series where everyone’s charming and drama isn’t the point, is somehow a Netflix hit.

Rob Mills’s Hulu-verse Will Be Just Fine

He hopes Bachelor Nation can see Taylor Frankie Paul’s season, but there’s other drama to manage.

How NBCU Built the Most Powerful Streamer in Reality TV

Unpacking the future of Peacock and normie Traitors: ‘It’ll be a very different game.’

 

Last Night Was a Reality-TV Show

While Vulture successfully gathered this year’s honorees in groups of twos and threes for their cover shoots, the question of the night would be this: What would it be like to get all these stars — Bravolebrities, gamers, podcasters — all in a room together?