Bravo

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 3:56pm on Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Bravo's Top Chef spinoff "Top Chef Masters" debuted on June 10, 2009. The show pits 24 world-renowned chefs against each other to see how well they fare in the tried and true format of Top Chef.

In each episode, the winners of eliminations are awarded cash donations for their charities. The first six episodes consist of four chefs competing against each other to name one winner. The six winners of each episode will then meet up for the final four weeks when one person will get eliminated each episode until the finale where one winner is crowned Top Chef Master. The winning chef will receive $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

Each episode of Top Chef Masters holds two challenges for the chefs.The first is a twist on the classic Top Chef Quickfire Challenge which tests their basic abilities — for example in season 2 of Top Chef where the contestants had to create an amuse bouche out of items from a vending machine. Each Quickfire Challenge will be judged by a blind taste test and a five-star system, similar to fine dining reviews.

The second challenge is a more involved elimination challenge designed to test the versatility and invention of the chefs as they take on unique culinary trials such as working with unusual and exotic foods or catering for demanding clients. The food will be tasted and evaluated by the judges and a wide range of tasters for whom the challenge is aimed, whether it is patrons at a five-star restaurant or a room full of hungry kids — the food has to appeal to the diner as well as the critics if the chef is to survive.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:05pm on Monday, April 20th, 2009

Bravo is booming, according to a story in Forbes from April 14, 2009:

"As the economy sputters, foreclosures soar and the unemployment rate races past 8%, a network devoted to wealthy subjects with expensive pastimes would seem in poor taste--or worse, unwatchable.

But the upscale offerings at NBC Universal's Bravo have proved anything but. The 29-year-old network, made popular by early unscripted hits like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Project Runway and more recent wish-fulfillment fare like Shear Genius and the soapy Real Housewives is coming off its best quarter to date. In addition to adding 100 new advertisers and posting double-digit revenue growth in 2008, first-quarter ad revenue for 2009 is up 21% compared to the same period last year."

Read the full story:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/14/television-bravo-advertising-business-media-bravo.html

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:10pm on Saturday, April 4th, 2009

The Weinstein Co. has agreeed to pay NBC Universal for the right to move the hit show "Project Runway" to cable network Lifetime, the New York Post reported on April 2, 2009:

"Harvey Weinstein and Jeff Zucker have kissed and made up.

The dueling moguls yesterday reached a settlement in their contentious legal standoff over hit reality show "Project Runway," with The Weinstein Co. agreeing to pay NBC Universal for the right to move the show to cable network Lifetime.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but a source close to the situation pegged the payment to NBCU from The Weinstein Co. in the "multiple millions of dollars."

NBC last year sued The Weinstein Co. for breach of contract after The Weinstein Co. struck the Lifetime deal without giving NBC's Bravo, where "Project Runway" has aired for five seasons, the chance to match any offer for the show.

Lifetime is paying roughly $150 million over the course of five years. That translates into more than $1 million per episode, based on the network running a 14-episode season twice a year over five years.

By contrast, Bravo paid just $600,000 per episode for the show during the last two seasons and less than that for the initial three seasons.

Lifetime likely won't make that money back from the show alone, but from the network's perspective "Project Runway," is a loss leader that can spawn spin-off shows and help rebrand the channel. Indeed, a companion series called "Models of the Runway" is already set to air, while another series called "Project Pygmalion" is in development.

The fact that NBCU settled caught people inside Bravo flatfooted. According to sources, insiders thought that NBCU's case against Weinstein was strong enough to potentially get the show back or, at the very least, hold it up in court long enough to kill momentum for "Runway" and give Bravo's own "The Fashion Show" a first-mover advantage.

"The Fashion Show," which is modeled after "Project Runway," is set to air May 7. Lifetime won't begin airing the latest season of "Project Runway" until this summer, most likely during the latter portion of the season."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:55pm on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Bravo has signed celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse to appear as a guest judge on the February 18, 2009 episode of Top Chef. The episode will take place in New Orleans and narrow the field to three chef contestants.