Bravo (US TV channel)

Bravo
Launched	December 1, 1980
Owned by	NBCUniversal
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	Watch What Happens (2005-2010) By Bravo (2010-present)
Headquarters	Rockefeller Center, New York City, U.S.
Sister channel(s)	NBC USA Network Syfy CNBC MSNBC NBC Sports Network E! Oxygen Universal HD Telemundo mun2 Chiller Cloo
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 237 (SD/HD)
Dish Network	Channel 129 (SD/HD) Channel 9449 (HD)
C-Band - H2H/4DTV	AMC 18 - Channel 203(East)/262(West)
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings for channels
IPTV
Verizon FiOS	Channel 185 (SD) 685 (HD)
AT&T U-verse	Channel 181 (SD) Channel 1181 (HD)

Bravo is an American cable television channel owned by NBCUniversal launched by Cablevision as an advertisement-free premium channel in December 1980. According to Nielsen Ratings Data, Bravo is currently available in 88 million homes.

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 catalog. Bravo also airs reruns of series from parent network NBC, and produces original reality content, most popularly The Real Housewives of..., Inside the Actors Studio, and others. Bravo's corporate offices are at NBC's Rockefeller Center in New York. Andy Cohen is the Senior Vice President of Production and Programming.

Background

Bravo launched as a commercial-free premium channel on December 1, 1980 owned by Cablevision's Rainbow Media; the channel claims to be "the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts". Cablevision launched Bravo as a premium channel available two days a week and sharing channel space with the softcore porn channel Escapade. In 1981, Bravo had 48,000 subscribers in the U.S.; four years later there were around 350,000. A 1985 profile of Bravo in The New York Times observed that most programming consisted of international, classic, and independent film. On Bravo, celebrities such as E. G. Marshall and Roberta Peters provided opening and closing commentary to the films. Performing arts on Bravo included the show Jazz Counterpoint. During the mid-1980s, Bravo converted from a premium channel to a basic cable channel. By the mid-1990s, Bravo began adding sponsorships as PBS did and included commercial breaks by 1998. Bravo signed an underwriting deal with Texaco in 1992 and within a month broadcast the first Texaco Showcase production, a stage adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

In the Encyclopedia of Television, Megan Mullen perceived certain Bravo programs as "considered too risky or eclectic for mainstream channels". Those programs were Karaoke and Cold Lazarus, the final serials by British playwright Dennis Potter shown by Bravo in June 1997, and Michael Moore's documentary series The Awful Truth from 1999.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer owned a 20% stake in the channel from 1999 to 2001. NBC bought the network in 2002 for $1.25B; it had owned a stake in it and its siblings for several years up to that point. Parent company General Electric merged NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment in May 2004 to form NBC Universal.

Bravo's "makeover" came in 2003 with reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which hit 3.5 million viewers. Entertainment Weekly put "Bravo reality shows" on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "From Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Fab Five to Project Runway's fierce fashionistas to the kvetching, perma-tanned Real Housewives, Bravo's quirky reality programming mixes high culture and low scruples to create deliciously addictive television."

A study released in May 2008 ranked Bravo as the most recognizable brand among gay consumers. Bravo's age demographic is people 18-54, according to the Cable Television Advertising Bureau's cable television profiles.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Bravo

Bravo utilizes block programming for both new shows and existing ones. Bravo has also had success with programming franchises. These include: Project Runway; Showbiz Moms & Dads and Showdog Moms & Dads; and Party/Party.^{[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 NBCUniversal had acquired Oxygen, allowing Bravo to continue to carry their general programming schedule during NBC coverage of the Games.

Bravo HD

Bravo HD (known on-air as HD by Bravo in line with the network's imaging campaign) is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Bravo. It launched on October 3, 2007, and DirecTV was the first provider to add it. It is also available on Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, AT&T Uverse and some Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks 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.

Relationship with international Bravo channels

An Australian channel called Arena re-brand its presentation, following an alignment with Bravo Media. Arena uses the Bravo slogan "Watch What Happens" and has access to Bravo-produced products.

A Canadian channel called Bravo! (with the exclamation mark) was launched in 1995 by its original ownership, CHUM Limited. It uses the Bravo trademark under license from NBCUniversal, and initially both channels shared a focus on the performing arts. However, since the American channel's format shift in the early 2000s, there has been essentially no connection between the two channels, aside from the name and the small number of arts-related series that remain on the U.S. channel, such as Inside the Actors Studio and Work of Art. Presently, Bravo! Canada is a division of Bell Media which is owned by BCE Inc..

As the terms of the Canadian channel's license require it to maintain a focus on the performing arts, it will not broadcast the U.S. channel's reality TV series. Many of these series currently air on the Shaw Media slate of specialty channels, including Slice, Food Network, and HGTV, with some shows airing on other channels owned by Bell Media (such as MTV Canada) or third parties.

In the United Kingdom, a TV channel called Bravo launched in 1985 independently of the U.S. service. The British channel, which closed on January 1, 2011, focused on men's programming for most of its existence, and never carried an arts or pop-culture format, nor much, if any, of the U.S. channel's programming.

External links

• Official website
• Full Episodes
• Bravo Renews Four Series