Original concepts made a significant comeback in US scripted commissioning in 2025, accounting for 51% of new series commissions according to 3Vision Show Tracker data. The shift comes as the wider commissioning market is showing signs of recovery.
That recovery is also changing the type of projects being commissioned. Original concepts fell from 47% of new commissions in 2019 to just 30% in 2024, as commissioners increasingly leaned on established intellectual property. In 2025, that trend reversed sharply, with originals rising to their highest share across the period.
The biggest movement in the opposite direction came from literary adaptations, which dropped from 37% of commissions in 2024 to 22% in 2025. TV series adaptations remained relatively stable at 15%, while film adaptations continued to represent only a small share.
Recent years have also seen commissioners explore IP beyond more traditional books, films and TV series. Other non-traditional adaptations such as real events, podcasts and others reached 8% in 2024, helped by the increasing importance of video game adaptations.
Series such as Fallout, The Last of Us and Twisted Metal have demonstrated the potential for gaming franchises to translate into major television properties. While the other types of adaptations fell back to 4% in 2025, this does not necessarily indicate that interest is slowing.
There is already a sizeable pipeline of further adaptations in development. Amazon’s God of War series is one of the most prominent examples, while studios continue to explore established gaming franchises as a source of recognisable IP with built-in audiences.
The 2025 data therefore looks less like the end of television’s reliance on IP and more like a rebalancing. Established properties remain an important part of commissioning strategies, but after several years of increasingly adaptation-led development, original concepts are once again taking a much larger share of the market.
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