Bravo Boosts Original Programming

NEW YORK: Bravo is adding a fifth night of original productions to its schedule, increasing its programming by an additional 20 percent.

Series returning to Bravo are The Fashion Show, back for a second season; Million Dollar Listing, in its fourth run; The Real Housewives of Atlanta, heading into season three; and Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, also in its third outing. Series pickups include Miami Social Club (working title), which gives a fly-on-the-wall look at life in the Miami scene; Million Dollar Decorators, which looks at Los Angeles’s high-end interior decorators; and Pregnant in Heels, spotlighting the owner/designer of a luxury maternity brand. Adding to the hit Housewives franchise, Bravo is also adding The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

There’s a number of series on the development slate for the network as well. These include the non-scripted series Around the World in 80 Plates (working title), a cooking competition series; Commander in Chef (working title), which puts chefs through culinary challenges; and Fashion Matters, an original two-hour special that features a design competition. Also in development are Hitmakers (working title), an elimination series about undiscovered talent, and a new series featuring Mia Michaels, a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance.

Bravo has scripted series in development also. These are I’m Not Myself These Days, inspired by the novel of the same name, and Room Service, a comedy-drama set in a high-end hotel that offers male escorts.

"From successful brand extensions with several of our franchises, to our award-winning digital initiatives, not to mention the sheer volume of pop culture hits we produced, 2009 was a banner year for Bravo," said Frances Berwick, the executive VP and general manager of Bravo Media. "The network reached a new level marrying creativity and innovation, and we’ll continue that momentum in 2010 with even more original programming and new initiatives to connect and engage our viewers on every platform available."

Added Susan Malfa, the senior VP of ad sales at Bravo Media and Oxygen Media, "Bravo’s continued success is driven by our track record of creating pop culture hits that allow us to make real connections with our audience which in turn make our media dollars work better—clients immediately see proof of their investment. The innovative path that we’ve been on the past year has allowed us to create off-channel opportunities with direct consumer connections, which is another outlet to showcase the proof of result when working with Bravo."