UPDATE April 23, 2021: While Bravo is in fact expanding its hit Below Deck franchise, it will be to Norway and Australia, not Iceland and Australia as reported earlier this week. Click here to read the updated story.
ORIGINAL STORY: Bravo is expanding its hit Below Deck franchise with new series set in Iceland and Australia, according to an exciting new report.
Deadline reveals exclusively that the network is so happy with Below Deck, they’re doubling down. NBCUniversal is reportedly in the early stages of developing the new shows, with no additional details including concept or casting, having been released.
If Below Deck Iceland or Below Deck Australia (our titles, not theirs!) do in fact air, they will join the original series, Below Deck Mediterranean which has aired five seasons, and Below Deck Sailing, which is currently in its second season. Bravo also aired a Below Deck companion show called Below Deck Galley Talk during the recently-aired eighth season of the mothership show so if the two new series make it to air, the network will have a total of six shows in the franchise on the schedule.
According to the report, original production company 51 Minds Entertainment is not involved in the new series, which are actually being produced by Shed Media. Reality viewers will recognize Shed from Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City and VH1’s Basketball Wives.
As the report points out, Bravo is extremely happy with the Below Deck franchise, and it makes sense. Not only is the show huge on social media but it actually brings in more viewers than most of the network’s Real Housewives shows.
Rod Aissa, who is the EVP of Unscripted, Documentary & Lifestyle at NBCUniversal, recently told Deadline that they consider Below Deck the “perfect” reality series.
“You have people coming in for a week, so there’s always new characters that come in, in terms of the guests,” he told the trade outlet. “You have a crew that is getting to know each other, and relationships are evolving over the course of the season. You have these drop-dead gorgeous backdrops — you just want to be there, and you want to be on the boat, and you want it to be served by these great people that are running the boat.”
Deadline also points out that the series could air on either Bravo or NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock TV.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo.
