There's a difference between small production cost videos and high production values videos: the former is more 'real' (in a way that reality TV definitely isn'

There's a difference between small production cost videos and high production values videos: the former is more 'real' (in a way that reality TV definitely isn't, since reality TV is phony). People seem to like that 'real' quality. It's not that higher production values wouldn't be accepted, but that those come with hired writers, actors, directors, high costs, and mass marketing to recoup those costs. The market can only support so much high-cost content, which means less variety than people want. Conversely, the market can support enormous variety in low-cost content.