BRAVO Secures The West Wing; Emmy Award-winning Series to BRAVO Network in 2003; BRAVO Launches New Art of Television Strand.Business and Entertainment Editors BETHPAGE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001 BRAVO has acquired the exclusive cable television rights to the award-winning drama, "The West Wing," in a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution. The critically acclaimed and incredibly popular one-hour drama comes to BRAVO beginning fourth quarter 2003 and includes all episodes produced through 2009. The announcement was made today by Ed Carroll, Executive Vice President and General Manager, BRAVO Network, and Frances Berwick, Senior Vice President, Programming, BRAVO Network. Currently in its second season, "The West Wing" has already been honored with more than two dozen major awards, including a record-setting nine Emmy Awards (including Outstanding Drama Series), the prestigious Peabody Award, two Golden Globe Awards (including Best Television Drama), a Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith. , a Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a term often referring to the joint efforts of the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, west. Jointly, the two guilds act as the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and Award, the Producers Guild of America Golden Laurel Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Humanitas Prize, three Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (or TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming. They meet in the Los Angeles area twice a year, in January and July, in conferences known as Winter and Summer Awards and three Viewers for Quality Television Viewers for Quality Television (also called "VQT") was an American nonprofit organization (under 501(c)(3)) founded in 1984 to advocate network television series that members of the organization voted to be of the "highest quality." The group's goal was to rescue "... Awards. "The West Wing" offers a behind-the-scenes look at the life of the eclectic group of frenzied staffers in the Oval Office. The sophisticated series stars Rob Lowe, Dule Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen. Acclaimed dramatist Aaron Sorkin ("A Few Good Men," "The American President,") created the series and executive produces with Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. "The West Wing" is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television is the television production and distribution arm of Time Warner's Warner Bros. Entertainment and The CW Television Network (in which Warner has a 50% ownership stake). . "It's hard to imagine any current television series that would be a better fit for BRAVO," said Carroll. "The West Wing is smart, upscale and a perfect match for us from a demographic and psychographic In the field of marketing, demographics, opinion research, and social research in general, psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. They are also called IAO variables (for Interests, Attitudes, and Opinions). standpoint." "Noted for its devotion and commitment to critically acclaimed, top-quality programming, BRAVO is a perfect fit for 'The West Wing,'" said Eric Frankel, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution. "'The West Wing' struck an immediate chord with viewers and critics alike, and we're confident that the series will be a great addition to BRAVO's line-up and become a signature series for them as it is for us and NBC." In fourth quarter 2002, BRAVO kicks off a new showcase, the Art of Television, for quality off net series. The basic cable premiere of "The Larry Sanders Show" starring Garry Shandling will be the first off-net series in the new strand. "The Art of Television features groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed series that challenge the medium and appeal to an upscale, influential audience," said Berwick. "The West Wing will be the perfect follow up to the "The Larry Sanders Show." BRAVO has seen its ratings climb steadily over the past two years driven largely by original programs such as "Inside the Actors Studio Inside the Actors Studio is the Emmy-nominated, longest-running original series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz. " and "BRAVO Profiles." BRAVO's prime time ratings are up 36% broadcast season 1999 to 2000.(1) BRAVO, available to 52.4 million home(2), is among the fastest growing basic cable networks (1999-2000 YE(3)), and presents a wide-range of critically-acclaimed films, original series, and major Broadway and performing arts, most notably, Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (French for "Circus of the Sun") is an entertainment empire based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier. . Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CVC See CSC. ) and NBC, is at the forefront of innovation in cable programming. Rainbow manages BRAVO, IFC, American Movie Classics, WE: Women's Entertainment, MuchMusic USA, Rainbow Sports, News 12 Networks and MetroChannels as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow also holds a majority stake in Madison Square Garden Current arenas in the National Hockey League Western Conference Eastern Conference Properties. In addition, Rainbow is a fifty-percent partner in FOX Sports Net. Source: (1) Nielsen Media Research, Inc. Monday-Sunday 8-11 pm, EST (2) Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (March, 2001) Universe: 52, 449,00 (3) Nielsen Media Research, Inc. January, 1999-December 2000 calendar years. |
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