Bravo

Bravo
Bravo Logo
Launched	December 1, 1980
Owned by	NBC Universal
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	By Bravo
Headquarters	Rockefeller Center, New York City, U.S.
Sister channel(s)	NBC USA Network Syfy CNBC MSNBC Oxygen Universal HD Telemundo mun2 Chiller Sleuth
Website	BravoTV.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 273 (SD/HD)
Dish Network	Channel 129 (SD) 880 (HD)
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings for channels
IPTV
Verizon FiOS	Channel 185 (SD) 685 (HD)

Bravo is an American cable television channel owned by NBC Universal. It is currently seen in more than 80 million homes and was the first service dedicated to film, drama, and the performing arts when it launched by Cablevision as an advertisement-free channel in December 1980.^[1][2] In the early 2000s it switched from covering performing arts, drama, and indie film to being focused on pop culture like reality shows, fashion shows, makeovers, celebrities, and so forth. Bravo's programming schedule includes feature films (primarily from the Universal catalogue). Bravo also airs reruns of series from parent network NBC, and produces original reality content, most popularly Real Housewives, Inside the Actors Studio, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Queer Eye, Top Chef and Flipping Out.

Ownership

Bravo TV was originally a service of Cablevision's Rainbow Media. Between 1999 and 2001, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had a 20% stake in the channel (in addition to fellow Rainbow channels AMC and Romance Classics). In 2001, a stake of Bravo was acquired by NBC; the company bought the entire channel for $1.25B in 2002.^[3] Parent company General Electric's merged NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment in May 2004, and Bravo's corporate offices are at NBC's Rockefeller Center in New York. Other cable channels owned by NBC Universal include CNBC, MSNBC, mun2, Sci-Fi Channel, ShopNBC, Telemundo, Sleuth TV, Chiller, Universal HD and USA Network, as well as some partial ownership of international cable channels such as CNBC World, CNBC Europe, and CNBC Asia.

Target audience

Bravo has strong recognition among the young and among gay viewers in the United States. A study released in May 2008 ranked Bravo as the most recognizable brand among gay consumers.^[4] Bravo's age demographic is people 18-54, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau's cable television profiles.^[1]

Distribution

According to CableMediaSales.com, Bravo is currently available in more than 80 million homes.^[1]

Promotion

Bravo gives substantial advertising to both their original and off-network programming. Heavily promoted original content includes Inside the Actors Studio, Project Runway, Top Chef, and Celebrity Poker Showdown. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which Bravo now produces in-house, was once an example of the off-network shows aired by Bravo, such as The West Wing.

Programming

Bravo's "makeover" came in 2003 with reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which hit 3.5 million viewers.^[2]

Bravo utilizes block programming for both new shows and successful existing ones. Bravo has also had great success with programming franchises. These include: 100 Greatest... TV and film retrospectives, based upon the concept of AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies; Project Greenlight and Project Runway; Showbiz Moms & Dads and Showdog Moms & Dads; and Party/Party and a handful of successful gay-themed dating and reality shows (e.g., Queer Eye and Workout, which features a lesbian lead).^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 and 2006, Bravo carried coverage of the Olympic Games during the overnights and mornings produced by NBC. In 2008, the channel carried no coverage, as NBC Universal had acquired Oxygen, allowing Bravo to continue to carry their general programming schedule during NBC coverage of the Games.

The Future

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

In mid-April 2009 Bravo revealed new shows which will be premiering in the later months and returning programs. New series include:

• American Artist, from production company of Sarah Jessica Parker, is the Project Runway for aspiring art stars.
• Design Sixx, will follow Manhattan husband and wife design team Cortney and Robert Novogratz, who have turned many abandoned New York buildings into Architectural Digest-worthy living spaces.
• Kell on Earth, revolves around the frenetic life of fashion and public relations guru Kelly Cutrone, who has been featured in MTV's The Hills.
• Launch My Line (formerly announced as Celebrity Sew-Off) is fashion design competition for celebrities who always dreamed of being fashion designers. Twin brothers Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2, will host. Contestants have yet to be announced.

The channel also unveiled several series in development including docuseries about florist to the stars Eric Buterbaugh and celebrity hairstylist Laura Bennett; Secret Life of Supermodels; Jackie's Gym Takeover, which features Jackie Warner as a fitness club savior in the spirit of Kitchen Nightmares; and Social Heights, about New York City high society.

Previously announced series pick-ups include Chef Academy, chronicling chef Jean-Christophe Novelli's move to Los Angeles as he opens a cooking school, and Double Exposure, which follows photographers Markus and Indrani.

The channel will continue to mine product placement and licensing opportunities, selling Kooba handbags carried by the teenagers featured in NYC Prep and winning designs from The Fashion Show (the Project Runway replacement) on its web site.

In Development

Both series adhere to Bravo's core unscripted programming brand of food, fashion, beauty, design and pop culture. Blueprint is a dramedy about best friends - one straight, one gay - who run a hot New York design and architecture firm. Laurence Andries (Six Feet Under) and Leslie Morgenstein and Bob Levy are executive producers.

30 Under 30 - also set in New York - follows several young list makers, including a chef, an artist, a real estate agent and a gossip blogger (which has supplanted gossip newspaper columnist). It's from executive producers Jonathan Prince, (who produced former NBC series Cane and American Dreams as well as A&E's The Cleaner) and Alana Sanko.^[5]

Originals

Bravo HD

Bravo HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Bravo. It launched on October 3, 2007, and DirecTV was the first provider to add it.^[6] It is also available on Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, and some Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Brighthouse Networks^[7] systems.

This is the second version of Bravo HD; the current Universal HD launched as Bravo HD+ in August 2003. Bravo HD+ had a completely different schedule than the regular Bravo and aired only HD programs. The current Bravo HD airs programs in both high definition and standard definition.

Canadian Bravo!

Bravo! (with the exclamation mark) is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned by CTV Limited a division of CTVglobemedia. It uses the "Bravo" name under license from NBC Universal. However, aside from the name and the interview series Inside the Actors Studio, there has been essentially no connection between the two channels since 2001, when the American Bravo channel (then under the ownership of Cablevision's Rainbow Media) changed its direction away from focusing on performing arts towards a general programming direction. Many of Bravo's original programming now airs in Canada on the Alliance Atlantis Communications slate of specialty channels, namely Slice, Food Network, and HGTV.

See also

• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels

References

External links

• Official Website
• Full Episodes
• http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6620706.html