BravoCon 2025: Andy Cohen aims to 'democratize' the event by streaming on Peacock

Fans of the beingness of world bid and stars from the Bravo web are loyal and fierce. BravoCon, a three-day solemnisation of each things Bravo, is similar the Super Bowl oregon the Olympics to them, according to Andy Cohen, the originative unit down the network.

“I don’t deliberation it’s hyperbole, particularly for a Bravo fan, to accidental that,” Cohen said.

That’s wherefore helium and leaders astatine Bravo and its genitor company, NBCUniversal, were motivated to bring this year’s BravoCon, moving Friday done Sunday astatine Caesars Forum successful Las Vegas, to fans who can’t marque the trek to Sin City.

Peacock volition beryllium delivering its astir robust sum of the lawsuit yet, offering unrecorded entree to buzzy main-stage panels and next-day, on-demand streaming for respective different events from the weekend. Highlights see 5 “BravoCon Live With Andy Cohen” shows, panels with the casts of deed bid similar “The Traitors” and “Below Deck,” and sneak peeks astatine the upcoming seasons of immoderate beloved Bravo favorites, including “Vanderpump Rules,” which returns Dec. 2 with a caller formed of “SUR-vers.”

BravoCon is returning aft organizers opted to skip a Vegas normal successful 2024, hosting much intimate gatherings successful New York and Los Angeles instead. But adjacent with a year’s break, the event’s popularity hasn’t waned: General admittance wristbands for the weekend, which tally astatine astir $675, are sold out, and lone one-day passes, which outgo $300, remain. Add-on experiences similar the glamorous awards show, the Bravos, and unrecorded tapings commencement astatine $220. That cost, positive question and accommodations, marque the lawsuit inaccessible for galore fans. That’s thing Cohen wanted to change.

Cohen volition enactment successful 2 “Ask Andy” sessions this year, successful which fans tin airs their burning questions to the big and “Real Housewives” enforcement producer.

(Nicole Weingart / Bravo)

“Bravo is simply a spot for everybody,” helium said. “If you couldn’t get tickets to BravoCon, you tin beryllium determination connected Peacock, and you’ll beryllium hyper-served connected Peacock. [We] don’t privation to consciousness similar this full lawsuit is down a monolithic paywall. It’s benignant of democratizing the event. I conscionable deliberation that’s truly important, that it beryllium arsenic inclusive arsenic possible, and the structure beryllium arsenic large arsenic possible.”

Viewers tin watercourse the panels held connected the Bravoverse Live Stage successful existent time, and they volition person the accidental to revisit panels on-demand, portion each sheet held connected the Gold and Glam stages volition beryllium disposable connected Peacock the adjacent time astatine 9 a.m. PT. (Some events volition besides aerial connected Bravo; a afloat docket is connected the BravoCon site.) Select panels from the 2023 normal are besides disposable to watercourse connected the platform.

Frances Berwick, the president of Bravo and Peacock Unscripted, emphasized the extremity of making the lawsuit inclusive of each Bravo fans, and she said she looks guardant to “inviting caller and antithetic viewers” into the Bravo satellite with the accessibility streaming provides. Still, the halfway squad down the lawsuit wanted to guarantee they support the prime and worthy for those who are heading to Vegas.

“We didn’t privation to undercut the worth for summons payers, but determination is truthful overmuch much to really being determination — from the constituent of presumption of seeing people, getting up adjacent to the talent, conscionable and greets, photograph ops, the Bravo Bazaar — that it’s a truly antithetic experience,” she said. “We realized that should not beryllium a information successful presumption of holding backmost immoderate of the panels [from streaming access].”

Berwick is credited with helping to physique Bravo into the powerhouse it is today, and she was instrumental successful the motorboat of BravoCon successful 2019. She and Cohen, speaking with The Times connected abstracted calls, said they started tiny with the archetypal BravoCon, which was held successful New York. This year, Cohen said they expect 30,000 fans to descend connected Las Vegas for the weekend.

“There truly aren’t excessively galore amusement brands that I deliberation you could expect this benignant of assemblage to beryllium galvanized around, and it conscionable speaks to the loyalty and the passionateness of the instrumentality basal that we tin bash it,” Berwick said.

The tone of the play is overwhelmingly positive, according to Berwick and Cohen, with in-person attendees traveling with friends oregon making friends astatine the event. Cohen says it’s “like a destination wedding wherever everyone loves the bride and groom.” He and those down BravoCon are hoping at-home viewers inactive get a sensation of that energy, particularly since they’re capable to enactment successful the speech astir each the newsy panels and events arsenic they unfold successful existent time.

More than 150 “Bravolebrities” are participating successful this year’s panels and events astatine BravoCon.

(Nicole Weingart / Bravo)

The mechanics down making BravoCon disposable for some unrecorded and on-demand streaming has been successful the works for 5 years now, since Peacock launched, said Matt Strauss, the president of NBCUniversal Media Group.

“We had ever built a level that was engineered to beryllium capable to enactment unrecorded due to the fact that we truly wanted to pat into the pulse of what we thought was imaginable with streaming,” Strauss said. “We person built a level that’s been engineered astatine scale, and it’s been tested.”

Live entree was important due to the fact that of a acquisition the Peacock squad learned astir viewers erstwhile the astir caller play of “Love Island USA” dominated the level and popular civilization astatine ample this summer: “FOMO. People did not privation to miss retired connected the societal aspects,” Strauss said. He and his squad person created “a full idiosyncratic experience” wrong Peacock specifically for BravoCon, with casual entree to what’s happening unrecorded and personalized playlists based connected users’ interests.

And fans shouldn’t fret astir experiencing hiccups with the unrecorded content, Strauss said. “Our occupation is to present a world-class acquisition that conscionable works,” helium said, noting that they person been preparing for the lawsuit for months.

Cohen said helium is anxious to grow the acquisition this year, and feels the excitement astir BravoCon is simply a “great root of pride.”

“It’s a testament to the powerfulness of this brand,” helium said, “one of the fewer brands successful tv that tin predominate the benignant of h2o cooler, popular civilization conversation, inactive successful 2025 wherever it’s truthful hard to interruption through.”