Reality TV: THR's 50 Most Powerful List

Losing the Emmy for the first time in the reality-competition category’s history in 2010 was a blow to Van Munster, but it made it that much sweeter when the CBS series reclaimed the kudos from Top Chef last September.

PHOTOS: THR's 2012 Reality Power List

“Normally people don’t go back to winning,” he says. “It means that the academy takes the show very seriously.”

COMPLETE LIST: THR's 2012 Reality Power List

The Netherlands-born Van Munster estimates he has circled the globe 57 times in the last 10 years for Race, seeing little fluctuation in ratings in that time. His biggest non-Race endeavor is the summer launch of The Great Escape: a collaboration between Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Van Munster’s producer-wife, Elise Doganieri, the 10-episode run marks TNT’s foray into the reality genre.