How Bravo became NBCUniversal’s biggest streaming asset

Frances Berwick has risen through the ranks at NBCUniversal, overseeing various entertainment cable channels, including Bravo, which has remained a key part of the company's television future. Despite the decline of cable, Bravo has stayed in-house due to its fan-driven culture and ability to prop up custom advertising, live events, and the streamer Peacock. Berwick will lead the way, merging the reality network with its streamer, and Bravo and Peacock have grown inseparable, with Bravo viewers being a consistent, low-churn audience. Peacock relies on Bravo's low-churn, high-volume audience, and Berwick calls Peacock "critical to the Bravo ecosystem." Bravo's sizable audience also means that Bravo shows dominate on Peacock, with many viewers watching on Peacock, including 55% of viewers of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. The Peacock audience is different from the cable one, being noticeably younger and more willing to invest in nascent programming. Bravo and Peacock have entered a crossover content partnership, with Bravo stars breaking out on Peacock Originals, and some shows making the jump from streaming to cable. Despite recent bad press, Bravo has made changes to its approach to certain aspects of its shows, and on-camera talent suggests that productions have been more open to hearing about their experiences on the show. Bravo's synergy with Peacock is ostensibly the reason they kept it in-house, and the network's success is largely due to its ability to cultivate a brand, with live events, promotional tie-ins, themed advertisements, and gobs of advertising revenue.