When it comes to cable-network Bravo, executives at NBCUniversal may be shouting “Encore!”
The home to reality-series staples including “Summer House,” “Watch What Happens Live” and “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” is scoring new ad commitments in TV’s annual ad-sales market, according to four people familiar with the matter, and it is doing so while most of its basic-cable competitors are seeing Madison Avenue’s money drifting away.
“Do you need any cable networks besides maybe Bravo and sports?” asks one media-buying executive, who helps advertisers allocate their budgets for TV commercials.
“There is no doubt that reality programming is having a massive cultural impact right now, and brands are attaching themselves to the powerful reach and relevance it brings. At NBCUniversal, we’ve seen our shows – from ‘Love Island USA’ to ‘The Traitors’ to all things Bravo — drive significant advertiser interest season-over-season with record demand,” says Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships in a statement provided in response to a query from Variety. “While it is still early in the negotiation process, this Upfront is signaling a continued strength in the unscripted and Bravo spaces for us.”
