New York Times is reporting today that Bravo TV and Foursquare are teaming up to offer new player badges and special prizes when viewers visit some 500+ Bravo locations in an effort of course to promote specific shows which appear on  Bravo TV network. Frankly, I have been a little overwhelmed by the recent number of location based iPhone Apps. I have used originally BrightKite, later moved onto Foursquare and recently started using Gowalla App.

All of them are similar in nature and out of all them, there are times I have ended up using all three of them when I had time to kill while waiting for someone. But at the end I wish we finally had just one of them (or may be I need to make my own decision and stick with just one of them…). Imagine have several different twitter-like services, it become to much to handle after a while. The ongoing problem is that some friends of mine use Foursquare, others use Gowalla and there are a few left using BrightKite…  Hopefully in the near future we will see a clear winner in a location-based social networking battle and deals like the one reported below may be just what is needed for one service to catch a stronger following. Time will tell. In the mean time, good for Foursquare for scoring points with Bravo!

Bravo TV and Foursquare will announce a new partnership on Monday that will integrate Bravo TV shows with the game aspects of Foursquare, a social networking site that encourages people to interact in the real world. The partnership hopes to engage viewers long after they turn off the television, close their laptops and stop watching Bravo’s TV shows.

Starting Monday, Bravo will begin offering Foursquare players “badges” and special prizes when viewers visit more than 500 Bravo locations. The locations will be picked by Bravo to correspond with select Bravo shows including “The Real Housewives,” “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” “Top Chef,” “Kell on Earth,” “Top Chef Masters” and “Shear Genius.”

“We really want to tap into the power of Foursquare by engaging their audiences and bringing our Bravo viewers these unique experiences on a national level,” said Ellen Stone, Bravo’s senior vice president for marketing. Mrs. Stone said Bravo would start creating on-air TV promotions telling viewers how to play the Bravo-enhanced features of Foursquare.

(via Foursquare Teams With Bravo TV – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com).