Frances Berwick

As Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment, Frances Berwick leads original content, program strategy and business operations for NBC and NBCU’s six cable entertainment networks: Bravo,E!, Oxygen True Crime, SYFY, USA Network and Universal Kids, as well as original content and acquisitions for Peacock.  

In this role, Berwick leads content teams responsible for scripted, unscripted, late-night, and specials programming. She also heads first-run syndication, which currently produces five shows, including the Daytime Emmy Award-winning "The Kelly Clarkson Show." As the head of content, Berwick manages partnerships with studio partners, both within and outside the organization, as well as showrunners, producers, and creative talent. She also has operational oversight of marketing, communications, program strategy & scheduling, and business affairs.

Previously, Berwick served as Chairman, Entertainment Networks, where she oversaw program strategy and business operations for the broadcast and cable entertainment networks.

Under Berwick’s leadership, NBC has more shows in the top 20 than any other network. The network is home to the #1 unscripted series “The Voice,” the highest-rated night of dramas on television with “One Chicago” and the #1 entertainment program in the 18-49 demographic with “Saturday Night Live.” Additional late-night hits “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” are both #1 in their time periods in the demo. 

On the cable side, Bravo ranks among the top 5 cable networks among the 18-49 demo and boasts the most loyal and engaged audience across all of cable entertainment. The network is currently home to more than half of the top 20 reality series on cable. USA Network extended its streak as a top 5 cable entertainment network for more than 25 years.

Prior to her Chairman roles, Berwick served as President, Lifestyle Networks for NBCUniversal (Bravo, E!, Oxygen True Crime and Universal Kids) where she oversaw a portfolio of some of the most popular and culturally relevant hits on television, running daily operations for the networks, including development, production, program planning, marketing, research, digital and communications. 

In this role, Bravo was the #1 cable entertainment network among female viewers with popular series including Emmy Award-winning “Top Chef,” “Project Runway,” “Vanderpump Rules,” “Southern Charm,” and the “Below Deck,” “Million Dollar Listing” and “The Real Housewives” franchises. In 2019, she oversaw the launch of BravoCon, the first-ever immersive experience for the Bravo superfan. The event was attended by over 10,000 consumers and sold out in 60 seconds.  

At Oxygen True Crime, she spearheaded the shift to a multiplatform true-crime destination in 2017, which resulted in the network becoming one of the fastest growing on cable, led by popular original series that include the flagship “Snapped” franchise, “Cold Justice,” “Killer Couples,” “Criminal Confessions,” “In Ice Cold Blood,” and breakout hit specials such as “Dahmer on Dahmer: A Killer Speaks” and “Aaron Hernandez Uncovered.”

At E!, Berwick led the network’s success as a global, multi-platform pop culture powerhouse with some of TV’s most buzzy unscripted programming, including “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Very Cavallari,” and “Botched” on linear, and “The Rundown” on Snapchat. Under her leadership, E! also became the home of the “E! People’s Choice Awards.”

In 2017, Berwick oversaw the preschool network’s rebrand and transformation from Sprout into Universal Kids, which expanded the target audience from preschool age up to 11-year-old kids. 

As General Manager of Bravo from 2008-10, Berwick oversaw a 33% increase in original content and led her team to four consecutive years of record-breaking successes across all ratings and financial metrics.  From 2005-08, Berwick was Executive Vice President, Programming and Production, where she supervised all of Bravo's development, production, scheduling and acquisitions.  

Earlier in her career, Berwick oversaw the development and production of the successful Emmy-winning series "Queer Eye.” She also developed, produced and launched Emmy winners “Top Chef” and “Project Runway,” two-time Emmy winner “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,”Emmy-winning original series “Inside the Actors Studio” as well as the “The Real Housewives”franchise, which has since become a global phenomenon. In 1996, Berwick joined Bravo from Britain’s Channel 4, where she headed international TV distribution and licensing. It was there that she sold shows and formats and Film4 Productions, including “Four Weddings and aFuneral,” “Don't Forget Your Toothbrush” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Prior to that, she was in the sponsorship division at Sadler's Wells (a leading London Theater) where she raised funds for stage productions.

Berwick has received numerous accolades throughout her career including two Peabody Awards, three Primetime Emmys and a National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications Award (NAMIC). In addition, Berwick was presented with the Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement in 2013 by New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and has also been named a Multichannel News Wonder Woman and one of the Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100 Women in Entertainment. Berwick is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS).

Berwick has a master’s degree from Edinburgh University and resides in Manhattan with her husband and son.