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.
[TimeWarner Media Sales: Bravo - CableMediaSales.com Retrieved September 1, 2008.]["A Tale of Two Networks." Entertainment Weekly #1001, July 11, 2008, pg. 42.] 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.
[Romano, Allison. "NBC Puts Its Stamp on Bravo." Broadcasting and Cable. February 17, 2003.] 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.
["Bravo tops survey of gay-friendly companies." The Hollywood Reporter May 13, 2008.] Bravo's age demographic is people 18-54, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau's cable television profiles.
