WEDNESDAY'S "TOP CHEF" DELIVERS LARGEST 25-54 AUDIENCE TO DATE


NEW YORK -- April 21, 2006 -- 1.25 million total viewers tuned in to Wednesday night's seventh installment of Bravo's culinary competition series "Top Chef," making it the most viewed episode for the series since it took over "Project Runway's" 10:00 p.m. timeslot on March 8. The series also smoked the competition this week, besting the Food Network's "Next Food Network Star" in the key 18-49 and 25-54 demos.

The April 19 episode of "Top Chef" garnered 853,000 viewers 18-49, 838,000 viewers 25-54 (an all-time series high in the key demo), and a 1.1 HH coverage rating. Since taking over for "Project Runway" at 10:00 p.m. on March 8, "Top Chef" has grown steadily, and last night's telecast surged from the previous week by 15% among total viewers and 22% among adults 18-49. The series also reached an all-time high among adults 25-54, representing a 24% increase from last week.

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"Bravo is incredibly proud of 'Top Chef,' and the steady growth of the series is a true testament to this quality show and the appealing personalities featured," said Frances Berwick, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Bravo.

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 and award-winning original programming includes "Blow Out", "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List", "Inside the Actors Studio," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for Outstanding Reality Program, "Queer Eye" and the Emmy-nominated hit competition series, "Project Runway."