Bravo Expands Andy Cohen's Late-Night Show

Bravo has officially entered the late-night fray, expanding its Andy Cohen-hosted Watch What Happens: Live to five nights a week.

Beginning Jan. 8, at 11 p.m., the network will air the sixth season of the half-hour interactive series Sunday through Thursday, with four nights live and one night taped.

The series, which launched from Cohen's daily blog to a web series before premiering as a late-night talk show in July 2009, has continued to grow, posting double-digit growth during its current fifth season, which airs twice a week on Sundays and Mondays.

 “Expanding Watch What Happens: Live to five nights a week is the natural progression for this hit interactive show, and a testament to Andy’s enormous appeal,” Bravo and Style Media president Frances Berwick said in a statement announcing the news Monday. “It cements Bravo’s tentpole in late-night with this one-of-a-kind live, relatable and truly unpredictable format.”

Under the deal, Cohen will continue to host the series and shift his role from executive vp programming at Bravo to overseeing development and talent, where he will focus on creating new content as the cabler builds its five-night-a-week lineup of original programming. He'll continue to serve as executive producer of Top Chef and The Real Housewives franchise.

STORY: Bravo Exec Andy Cohen Scores Seven-Figure Advance for Memoir

"In my wildest dreams when I started at Bravo seven years ago, I never imagined that I would end up fulfilling my lifelong dream,” Cohen said. “It’s the perfect storm -- I get to do the three things I’m most passionate about -- producing, developing and hosting for a brand that I love.”

As part of the move, Bravo senior vp program strategy and acquisitions Jerry Leo has been upped to exec vp program strategy and production fill part of Cohen's previous role. Leo's new duties will now include overseeing Bravo's slate of original programming of more than 30 series as well as the strategic planning of all linear and digital scheduling.

“Bravo is on track to have its sixth consecutive best year ever and Jerry has played an integral role in each year of the network’s success, Berwick said. "His knowledge of our brand, his many years of expertise and programming instincts will be instrumental to Bravo’s continued growth.”

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit

RELATED:
Andy Cohen to Pen Coming-of-Age Memoir