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9 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Bravo is taking a victory lap for its 2023 performance.
According to 35-day Nielsen data, nearly every returning season of a Bravo-first series that premiered last year saw season-over-season growth among total viewers. That includes the second season of Below Deck: Down Under, which grew by 110%. Vanderpump Rules Season 10 saw 109% growth.
Among others were The Real Housewives of Miami Season 5 (+81% growth), Southern Hospitality Season 2 (+44% growth), and Married to Medicine Season 10 (+37% growth).
The NBCUniversal-owned network is also touting another interesting metric: viewer loyalty. Nielsen data shows that, on average, Bravo viewers tuned into the network on more days of the year than viewers of any other cable network.
It will likely not come as a surprise that Vanderpump Rules saw series’ most-watched season — a fairly big accomplishment for the show in its tenth installment. The season saw a sizable spike in viewership in the wake of Scandoval. You know, when longtime stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix split due to an alleged affair between Sandoval and co-star Raquel Leviss.
Even though the drama on screen hadn’t caught up to the real-life gossip just yet, viewers were eager to get back into the series. That’s probably why Part 1 of the Season 10 reunion is now Bravo’s most-watched episode of all time across platforms, with 5.9M viewers in L+35.
That episode collected 3.6M viewers in the 18-49 demo, which is the biggest demo audience for the network in more than 12 years.
The momentum continued as Part 3 of the Season 10 reunion was the most-watched episode of any Bravo series in 9+ years and Vanderpump’s most-watched episode of all time. Across all platforms, 142M hours of Vanderpump Rules Season 10 were consumed across all platforms.
As expected The Real Housewives franchise also performed well for Bravo.
Season 13 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is currently tracking to be the most-watched season of any show in the franchise in more than four years.
Episodes are averaging 4M total viewers, with about half from the 18-49 demographic. On Peacock, it’s looking like Season 13 is Bravo’s top linear-first season in the 35-day window.
Meanwhile, The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 is currently averaging 2.7M total viewers per episode in the 35-day window, up 10% over last season. That includes about 1.4M viewers per episode in the 18-49 demo, which is an 8% increase vs. Season 7.
The Real Housewives of Potomac is on track to have the show’s most-watched season ever across all platforms.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is in the same boat, up 18% season-over-season in total viewers to average 2.4M after 35 days. In the demo, Season 4 has grown 19% to 1.4M.
The season premiere stands as the NBCUniversal cable portfolio’s most-watched next-day premiere on Peacock.
Adding to the Real Housewives dominance, Season 13 of New Jersey managed the series’ best season in nearly 11 years in L+35. Part 3 of the reunion was the show’s most-watched episode since 2016 with 3M viewers tuning in.
Bravo also scored big outside of these franchises. Here are a few other highlights:
Married to Medicine Season 10 — pacing as the show’s most-watched season across all platforms with 2.1M viewers. That’s up 46% from Season 9.
SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B — Bravo’s top freshman series of 2023 in the 18-49 demo across all platforms after seven days of viewing.
Southern Charm Season 9 — looking to be the show’s most-watched season in over four years in the 35-day viewing window, averaging 2.6M viewers.
And because audiences just can’t get enough of Bravo content, Watch What Happens Live Season 20 (where Andy Cohen breaks down all things on the network) draws about 681,000 total viewers across all platforms after 35 days, which is 15% growth over last season.
