Good news, Bravo fans: We’re getting two more “Real Housewives” spinoffs this year.
NBCU’s female-skewing cable nets went to the upfronts this week with goals in mind to lure in younger audiences and ramp up scripted projects. Oxygen is planning to achieve its goal with a rebrand coming later this year, along with seven new originals in the mix. Bravo has announced 15 new series, including two spinoffs of the “Real Housewives” franchise, a project in development from Morgan Spurlock, scripted series “Odd Mom Out” and bestseller adaptation “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.”
Oxygen’s rebrand, planned to roll out later this year, will try to target younger, modern audiences, along with its new programming focus on “authentic and relatable characters.” Though the cabler is already attracting the youngest audiences of a female network, it’s also among the fastest-growing cable nets, so it’s using that momentum to roll out new projects and expand its reality brand. For 2014, that means teaming up with pop culture names like T.I. and Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams for music-based unscripted series and slating a few arts and culture series like “Street Art Throwdown” and “Funny Girls.”
“This new slate of originals will deliver on the freshness, authenticity, high emotional stakes and optimism that this demographic is looking for,” said Frances Berwick, president of Bravo and Oxygen Media.
Bravo has a bit more on its plate this year, with an ambitious order of 15 new series, 16 returning shows and three currently in development. Among the series in development are “Gen XYZ,” a Morgan Spurlock-produced series about the career paths of women of different generations, and an interactive ad live estate sale called “Going Going Gone.”
“Our strategy of creating a total multiplatform lifestyle experience for our affluencers is paying off with not just viewership growth across the board, but also loyalty, which is at an all-time high for Bravo,” said Berwick.
Among its new series orders are also two “Real Housewives” spinoffs: “Kandi’s Wedding” and New Jersey castmembers Caroline Manzo’s “Manzo’d With Children.” Also in the works are a dating series, a guide to parenting, a reality look at British socialites (“Ladies of London”) and a few restaurant-based series from Gordon Ramsay and the “Top Chef” franchise.
Brief Take: With its massive slate of reality series, Bravo is securing its brand with its tried and true “Watch What Happens Live”/Andy Cohen space, while Oxygen hopes to take advantage of its younger-than-Lifetime demographics with digital initiatives and a programming focus on food and fashion.
[Image courtesy of Bravo]
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