The Real Housewives of Orange County Returns for Second Season  7/18/06

BRAVO RENEWS 'THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY' FOR A SECOND SEASON, WITH DOCU-SOAP TO RETURN FOR EIGHT EPISODES THIS YEAR

BRAVO INKS DEAL WITH EVOLUTION FILM & TAPE INC.TO PRODUCE SECOND SEASON

PASADENA, Calif. -- July 13, 2006 -- Bravo has renewed its docu-soap series "The Real Housewives of Orange County" for a second season, it was announced today by Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production for Bravo, during the network's session at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, CA. Bravo has tapped Evolution Film & Tape Inc. ("Fear Factor," "Big Brother") to produce the second season, with series creator Scott Dunlop also returning as executive producer. The second season will feature original cast members, along with new personalities that will be introduced. The new season is scheduled to begin production in Orange County, CA on eight episodes later this summer, with series debut set for late 2006 on Bravo.

"'The Real Housewives of Orange County' debuted as a unique concept for television with its provocative exploration of the daily ups and downs of a group of sophisticated and complicated real-life women," said Lauren Zalaznick, President, Bravo. "It's a perfect series for Bravo that connects viewers with unique characters, and creates ongoing buzz."

"The new season will pick up from where the last season left off, but with new dramas, new relationships and new characters," said Berwick. "Viewers can continue to follow the complicated lives of each of these ladies, and experience their emotional highs and lows."

The premiere season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" sparked heated viewer and critical buzz, with the Los Angeles Times saying the show "crystallized Orange County's identity as home of the nouveau riche" and the New York Times describing it as "educational" and "fascinating." Tom Shales of the Washington Post observed that the show offered "insight into contemporary values" and "modern American materialism," and the New York Post called it "fascinating television." The Hollywood Reporter said the series played "more like a documentary than a…voyeuristic reality show" and delved "into such meaty subjects as choosing a housewife's life over a career, looming empty nests, midlife crisis, teenage drug and alcohol experimentation, teaching kids the value of money, the first tastes of adulthood, being that suddenly single mom and simply fitting in."

The first season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" averaged a 0.7 HH coverage rating, 646,000 total viewers, 503,000 viewers 18-49 and 440,000 viewers 25-54. The series increased Bravo's average in the time period (Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m.) by 19% in total viewers, 47% in 18-49 viewers and 26% in 25-54 viewers year-to-year. The program built on average by 39% on its 18-49 lead-in and by 42% among women in the demographic. The series also ranked as the youngest program on Bravo during its run with a median age of 34.4 and as one of the most upscale shows on cable's most upscale network.

Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" follows a group of sophisticated women and their families who lead glamorous lives in a picturesque Southern California gated community in Orange County. The Orange County "housewives" are used to the good life and will do everything they can to hang on to it. They each have their own personal story to share, from surviving an ugly divorce to choosing a career over a life of leisure, and they've granted Bravo an all-access pass into their lives, families, friendships, careers, and homes. The women take viewers along for the ride and into their real-life dramas that show how life isn't always perfect behind the gates.

Eight second season episodes of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" will be produced by Evolution Film & Tape Inc., with partner's Douglas Ross, Gregory Steward, Kathleen French and Dean Minerd serving as executive producers. Series creator Scott Dunlop also returns for the second season as executive producer.

Bravo is the cable network that plugs people into arts, entertainment and pop culture with original programming, acclaimed drama series, movies, comedy and music specials, and by showing a whole different side of celebrities. Currently available in more than 80 million homes, Bravo is known for breaking exciting new personalities, shaking up the way we look at style, media, fame and Hollywood, pulling back the curtain on the creative process and making influential and inventive original programming. Its critically acclaimed original programming includes the Emmy nominated "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," 13-time Emmy nominated "Inside the Actors Studio," "The Real Housewives of Orange County," "Top Chef," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for Outstanding Reality Program "Queer Eye," and the four time Emmy-nominated hit competition series "Project Runway."

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been a NBC Cable Network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information visit www.bravotv.com

Source: Bravo Press Release