​The battle over TV viewers continues to rage, with more choices (both on air and off) than ever. So networks are using every weapon in their arsenals, including stepping out of their firmly formed identities and genres to offer different types of programming to their loyal audiences.

It’s why Bravo will premiere its first scripted series ever next month with Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, why E! has Elizabeth Hurley’s Royals in the works and typically nonfiction brands such as History have already seen success with Vikings and The Bible. The new frontier is scripted, and networks who were previously known for their reality shows are starting to enter uncharted territory in large numbers.

Last month, reality-based truTV premiered the scripted series Friends of the People along with its brand overhaul; WE tv debuted The Divide this past summer; and even Animal Planet announced a drama special, The Whale: Revenge From the Deep, and graphic novel adaptation The Other Dead.

Bravo has made its name with reality franchises like Real Housewives, Top Chef and Watch What Happens Live, so its foray into scripted is a big move. Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce comes this December with a new project, Odd Mom Out, to follow next year.

Boosted by these success stories, the new focus on scripted series is largely a network’s way to secure audiences with varied content, both reality and non-reality. TV fans have so many choices now, with the addition of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and intense cable packages, that networks are under the gun to ensure the loyalty of audiences they already have, but to expand that viewership to people who may not have watched before.

“There are so many choices for viewers that you have to find new ways to deal with your rivals,” Lara Spotts, Bravo’s SVP of development, told the Associated Press.

Read more at WRAL.com.

Brief Take: In the competitive world of on-air TV, networks are finding that viewers rely less on genre and more on entertainment in any form, so many brands are taking a long look at themselves in order to reevaluate how they can deliver that entertainment to loyal and new audiences alike.

[Image courtesy of Bravo]

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