‘Real Housewives’ Cleared In 85% of U.S.

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

NBC Universal has cleared its off-Bravo Real Housewives franchise in more than 85% of the U.S. for a fall 2010 debut.

The show has been sold to stations in the NBC Local Media, Hearst Television, CBS, LIN, Media General, Post-Newsweek, Raycom and Sinclair broadcast groups in all-barter, one-year deals. Stations and NBCU each will have 7 1/2 minutes of ad time in the to sell in the one-hour strip.

Since its spring 2006 debut on Bravo, The Real Housewives of Orange County, now in its fifth season on the network, has grown more than 200% among women 18-49. The recently completed second season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta won its Thursday 10 p.m. time period against all cable programs in adults and women 18-49.

Next up in the franchise is the controversial Real Housewives of D.C., which may or may not feature White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi, and the second season of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, which ended its first season with a dramatic table-turning scene.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.