Bravo

World Screen Weekly, March 1, 2007

CHANNEL: Bravo

COUNTRY: U.K.

LAUNCH DATE: 1985

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: More than 20 million across the U.K.

OWNERSHIP: Virgin Media Television, a division of Virgin Media (formerly NTL) that operates a portfolio of channel brands, including Trouble, LIVING, Challenge and Ftn.

MANAGING DIRECTOR, VIRGIN MEDIA TELEVISION: Jonathan Webb

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, BRAVO WORLD,

TROUBLE & CHALLENGE: Celia Taylor

MANAGING EDITOR, BRAVO WORLD: Dave Clarke

DESCRIPTION: With the tagline “Entertaining Men Since 1985,” Bravo in the U.K. bills itself as the leading, if not the only, destination for men aged 16 to 44. The channel features a mix of acquired programming, including U.S. dramas and comedies, documentaries and sporting events, and a slate of original productions.

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Towards the end of last year, Virgin Media Television’s male-skewing network Bravo underwent a rebranding that included the launch of a new motto: “Entertaining Men Since 1985.” According to Dave Clarke, the managing editor of Bravo World—encompassing Bravo and sister channel Bravo 2—the new tagline, which “borrowed from the terminology of high-class luxury brands,” while at the same time being “slightly tongue in cheek,” reflected a decision to “mature and grow up the Bravo brand,” he says.

For Clarke, two original productions from last year symbolize the channel’s coming of age: I Predict A Riot, dealing with the phenomena of rioting, and The Real Football Factories, inspired by the successful feature film The Football Factory about football hooliganism. “Bravo has always been a very archive-heavy network, but those clips were generally offered up in a voyeuristic manner, with no real analysis or insight,” Clarke says. “I Predict A Riot was a really powerful show because it enabled us to give the viewers the eye-popping visuals, which we know they want, but we were also able to subtly slip in some real journalism, which made the program that much richer.”

The Real Football Factories, meanwhile, was Bravo’s most successful original production last year, Clarke says. “That was jam-packed with fantastic archives, which we know our guys love to see, and it was about why these people do it, what their motivation is.”

The channel has commissioned two new football-themed shows in the run up to the second season of The Real Football Factories, set to provide a global look at hooliganism this May. They are two one-off specials: Britain’s Greatest Football Managers (working title) and Football: The Glory Years (working title).

On the acquisitions front, Bravo’s biggest thus far has been that of the David Mamet/Shawn Ryan CBS drama The Unit from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. “We went out there and acquired the show under pretty stiff competition from the terrestrials and our multichannel rivals. We picked up all rights and stuck our necks out and sunk a lot of money into above-the-line marketing, which is something that we hadn’t done on Bravo for about five years. Thankfully it delivered really strong numbers.”

Another prominent U.S. import has been Blade: The Series, the Spike TV show from Warner Bros. based on the feature-film franchise. “Blade has been a phenomenon,” he says. “The first episode did over 400,000 viewers on its first transmission and over the first week, with a couple of repeats, it did over 750,000. That’s proper ratings and it’s the best ratings we’ve ever had. That was immensely satisfying.”

Clarke is sad to see that Blade wasn’t renewed for a second season in the U.S., as was the case with ABC’s Day Break, which Bravo is launching next month. “I stand by the fact that I think it was a really, really strong show,” he says.

U.S. dramas and other key productions, like A&E’s Dog the Bounty Hunter as well as a lineup of cutting-edge documentaries, air in the prime-time 10 p.m. to midnight slot. Early evening features classic American series like Dukes of Hazzard and Walker, Texas Ranger, and the daytime schedule features factual fare as well as scripted repeats. Late night, Bravo airs an Adult Swim block of adult-skewing animation.

WHAT’S NEW: The revamp of Bravo included ageing up the target demographic of the network from 16 to 34 to 16 to 44. “It’s a relatively small-scale adjustment, but it actually makes quite a difference in how we buy and what we buy and the tone with which we commission,” Clarke explains. “We wanted to make sure we’re not going to alienate or lose our core 16 to 34 male viewer, the younger end of the spectrum.” That led to the launch of Bravo 2, which Clarke refers to as “Bravo’s cheeky younger brother, who’s a bit more salacious, a bit more unabashed and just tells it like it is.”

Clarke will be looking for a slate of factual content for both Bravo 2, which he describes as a “hungry little beast,” and the flagship Bravo’s daytime and early evening schedule.

Bravo will also continue seeking out top-notch U.S. acquisitions, and Clarke says he is actively following the development slates at the U.S. networks.

Clarke is also looking for “unique and exclusive content for our website,” which, he says, “has long been an integral part of what we do. We’ve got a lot of great stuff for Blade. When we were filming a promo for The Unit in L.A. we made sure that we got loads of exclusive interviews and pieces for our website, which we also use on our mobile service as well. It’s pretty vital.”

Bravo is also now in the market for co-productions with American networks, given its success with shows like A&E’s Dog the Bounty Hunter and Spike TV’s Ultimate Fighting Championship. “The shows that we buy from the U.S. from the likes of Court TV, Spike TV, A&E, it would make sense for us to work more closely with them.”

WEBSITE: www.bravo.co.uk