NBC Universal has promoted Frances Berwick to president of Bravo Media.
Bravo has seen its ratings and original programming output climb significantly under Berwick's watch. She had been serving as Bravo's executive vice president and general manager since January 2008 and will continue to report to Lauren Zalaznick, president, NBC Universal Women & Lifestyle Entertainment Networks in her new post.
"Under Frances' oversight as general manager, Bravo Media has experienced phenomenal growth across all areas of the business while attracting the most affluent and educated audience in cable entertainment," said Zalaznick in a statement. "With this richly deserved promotion, I have no doubt that Frances will continue to lead this team and drive Bravo's white hot success to even greater heights in the years to come."
During Berwick's tenure as general manager, Bravo has seen its original programming slate increase by one-third. The network was awarded a Peabody Award in 2008; garnered an unprecedented number of Emmy nominations in 2009; and over the past four years achieved record-breaking successes across all ratings and financial metrics.
Moreover, the network completed a refresh of the Bravo Media brand with the 'By Bravo' tagline last year and seen a number of its franchises contribute from a consumer goods revenue perspective.
From 2005-08, Berwick, who was named a Wonder Woman by the editors of Multichannel News in 2007, served as executive vice president, programming and production, supervising all of Bravo's development, production, scheduling and acquisitions.
Earlier in her Bravo career, Berwick oversaw the development and production for the Emmy-winning series Queer Eye . After NBC's acquisition of the brand from Rainbow Media in 2002, Berwick developed, produced and launched Emmy winners Top Chef and Project Runway, two-time Emmy winner Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Flipping Out,Rachel Zoe and Work Out, as well as The Real Housewives franchise. Since 1996, she also has overseen the channel's longest-running original series, 14-time Emmy-nominated, Inside the Actor's Studio.
One of Bravo's longest tenured employees, Berwick early on introduced high-profile original series including Michael Moore's The Awful Truth, the Emmy Award-winning Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within, Bravo Profiles and The It Factor. She also oversaw programming for the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and programmed Bravo and IFC's international networks in Latin America and Canada.
Berwick joined Bravo Networks in 1996 from Britain's Channel 4 Television, where she headed international TV distribution and licensing. Prior to that, she was in the sponsorship division at Sadler's Wells, where she raised funds for stage productions.
