The road to Bravo’s estimated half-billion dollar Real Housewives franchise is paved with decisions based on excellent gut instincts, some missteps, and a trail of ex-cast members.
Through it all, the series based on women whose most bankable talent often is behaving badly, drives the success of the NBCUniversal cable network. Even one of its highest placed executives understands how some might shake their heads at the show’s success, but they have the numbers to prove that the opinions of critics and cultural guardians do not matter. In the past two years alone, there has been between $35.6 to $162 million in ad revenue; and ratings among ad-coveted females 18-49, which can reach two million viewers on any given night.
“Who would have thought that a fairly modest series would be here six years [later] as our longest running franchise?” Lauren Zalaznick, Chairman of Bravo’s parent company, NBCUniversal Entertainment & Digital Networks, and Integrated Media tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It's beyond incredible. It's absurd."