Bravo is expanding Andy Cohen's late-night talk show Watch
What Happens: Live! to five nights a week, the network said Monday.
The show, which currently airs at 11 p.m. on Sundays and
Mondays, will expand to Sunday through Thursday starting Jan. 8. WWHL
will air live four nights a week with one night live to tape.
The last season of series posted double-digit growth in
its ratings, according to Bravo.
"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," said Frances Berwick, president of Bravo
and Style Media. "It cements Bravo's tentpole in late night with this
one-of-a-kind live, relatable and truly unpredictable format."
Cohen, who is also Bravo's executive vice president of
programming, will give up that title in the expansion of his on-air role,
instead becoming executive VP of development and talent. He will still serve as
an executive producer on the Real Housewives franchise and Top Chef.
Longtime Bravo senior executive Jerry Leo has been promoted
to executive VP, program strategy and production to oversee the network's
current slate of more than 30 original series that Cohen will give up oversight
of.
The news also negates the idea that Cohen, who is said to
have been on the shortlist to replace Regis Philbin on Live! with Regis and
Kelly would leave to host the syndicated Disney-ABC morning program.
WWHL started as a daily blog written by Cohen,
then evolved into a Web series and premiered on Bravo in 2009.
