Australian reality TV producer Chris Culvenor, who helped develop the Netflix series Dating Around, said Netflix's rush to invest in reality would inevitably influence the content people watch on free-to-air TV and vice-versa.

"We're seeing broadcasters take new risks," he said, citing his forthcoming extreme miniature golf series Holey Moley, which has been commissioned by Seven and began shooting in Queensland last week.

"There's a generation of programmers who are competing with Netflix and Amazon and they need to compete with programs that are world class."

Mr Culvenor said there had been an "explosion" of unscripted commissions on the streaming platform.

"Dating Around launched on Valentine's Day in 2018. Netflix has been one of our biggest and most important clients ever since. I think we might see two parallel tracks of shows: shows that are big budget with broad appeal which may be provocative, may ask big questions but are designed to be a real event when they launch," he said.

"I also think we're going to see another stream of content which is going to be a little bit more niche. Lower-budget programming which is really targeted at specific audiences. It might be audiences of foodies or audiences interested in home or lifestyle."

Marc C-Scott, a senior lecturer in screen media at Victoria University, said he wouldn't be surprised if Netflix builds a level of interactivity into some of its reality shows in the near future.

"They've done it with [dystopian drama] Black Mirror," he said. "It could be something as easy as choosing camera angles like Big Brother. With that [choose your own adventure] Black Mirror episode they had to make their own software. So they're now invested in that space."

Netflix isn't the only streaming service looking to diversify its content. While Australian comedy and drama will continue to be the backbone of Stan's catalogue, the business is planning to develop its first-ever original reality program. An original documentary series is also due for release next year. Nine is the owner of Stan and this masthead.

"In broadcast TV you're looking for reality shows to pull a big audience on whatever is the broadcast night," Stan's chief executive Mike Sneesby said. "Your revenue model is advertising-driven. In the world of streaming, that currency is important in terms of creating a desire for people to sign up to a service. But also for us you want a product that can be evergreen six months, twelve months, 10 years after it goes up on our platforms."

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Amazon Prime will continue to focus on a wide breadth of content but executives have indicated they are particularly interested in high-access documentaries. Like Netflix, HBO's streaming platform has invested in health and wellness with A World of Calm and boosted its LGBTIQ programming with the voguing reality competition Legendary.

Meanwhile, Disney+ will continue to invest in high-budget productions including the musical Hamilton and Beyonce's visual album.

A Netflix spokesman said the platform was only in the "early" days of original unscripted programming.

"One of the beauties of the unscripted genre is the power to connect on a deeply human level," the spokesman said. "People want to see themselves reflected on screen, and there's no purer form of that than unscripted – it showcases real people, real stories, real struggles and real victories."