Acquisition by NBC, shift to reality
In 1999, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired a 20% stake in the channel, which it subsequently sold back to Rainbow Media in 2001. National Broadcasting Company, Inc. bought the network in 2002 for $1.25 billion; it had owned a stake in the channel and its sister networks for several years up to that point.[11] NBC's then-parent company, General Electric, merged the network and its other broadcast and cable properties with Vivendi Universal Entertainment in May 2004 to form NBC Universal.
In 2003, Bravo began airing reruns of The West Wing for several years, including running marathons on certain holidays.[12][13][14][15][16][17]
Bravo saw a massive success in 2003 with the reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which garnered 3.5 million viewers.[5] The network began to add more reality shows to its lineup, some of them also very successful, including Project Runway in 2004, and Million Dollar Listing, The Real Housewives of Orange County and Top Chef, all in 2006. All spawned numerous spin-off shows, and some even turned into international franchises. The success of all these shows led Bravo to change its format from focusing on performing arts, drama, and independent film to being focused on reality series, pop culture, fashion and celebrities. In 2009, Entertainment Weekly put "Bravo reality shows" on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "From Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Fab Five to Project Runway's fierce fashionistas to the kvetching, perma-tanned Real Housewives franchise, Bravo's quirky reality programming mixes high culture and low scruples to create deliciously addictive television."[18]
A study released in May 2008 ranked Bravo as the brand most identified as gay-friendly among gay consumers.[19] Bravo's age demographic is people 18–54, according to the Cable Television Advertising Bureau's cable television profiles.[4]
Other successful reality series followed, including Shahs of Sunset (2012), Vanderpump Rules (2013), Married to Medicine (2013), Below Deck (2013), Southern Charm (2014), and Summer House (2017). Bravo's first ever scripted series, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, premiered in 2014 and ran until 2018.[20]
On February 7, 2017, coinciding with the premiere of another scripted series, Imposters, Bravo updated its imaging with a refresh to its speech bubble-inspired logo, with the letters now all rendered in lowercase (replacing the wordmark text based on the logos used by the channel between 1994 and 2005), and a neutralized imaging to attract more male viewers. The "...by Bravo" marketing tag was also phased out from general use.[21]
On November 20, 2024, NBCUniversal announced that it would spin off most of its cable networks and selected digital properties into a new publicly traded company known as Versant, (formerly referred to as "SpinCo" until May 2025) owned by Comcast shareholders, with NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus as CEO. Bravo was notably excluded from the spin-off, due to its position as a major content provider for NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.[22][23]
