Food Network tastes new shows

Scripps Networks UK and EMEA has greenlit three series for its Food Network channel.

Donal Skehan 

Two of the new shows are being fronted by celebrity chef, food photographer and writer Donal Skehan.

Skehan has been given a second 10×30’ season of Follow Donal…, which sees him travel across Europe to meet the best food bloggers as they provide him with a whistle-stop tour of the continent’s cuisine.

The show is produced by Athena Films, with Claudia Riccio as executive producer, and the new run will premiere in the fourth quarter of this year.

The success of the first season, Follow Donal… To Vietnam, Food Network’s highest-rating original commission to date, has also led Scripps to work with Skehan on another new series, which will shoot later this year. Details have not yet been revealed.

The third new addition is Ching: Amazing Asia (working title), which returns celebrity chef Ching He-Huang to Food Network as she visits China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Japan to meet local chefs and learn their heritage, traditions and trade secrets.

Sentient Films is coproducing the 10×30’ series with Ching and her husband Jamie Cho. It will air on Food Network in the UK in the fourth quarter of this year before rolling out across Europe early in 2016.

All three series have been commissioned by Gareth Williams, VP of commissioning, and Nikki Cooper, commissioning executive, at Scripps Networks UK and EMEA.