Commissions for cookery-related content may be down, but innovative culinary creatives and next-gen social media tastemakers claim food formats aren’t past their sell-by date.

Since the 1990s, TV viewers around the world have had a seemingly insatiable appetite for food- and cookery-related shows, with producers and networks happy to cater to this hunger for culinary content.

The rise of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay, plus the emergence of hit formats like MasterChef and the Bake Off franchise, have seen audiences gorge on a banquet of small-screen delicacies.

However, in a worrying development, it seems like buyers have had their fill and decided to go on a diet. Orders for gastronomy-related TV content dropped off significantly in the UK and US last year as the global commissioning downturn, combined with a soft advertising market, took its toll.

UK-based research firm Ampere Analysis this month revealed that commissions in this space were down 26% in the UK and 21% in the US from 2022 to 2023.

Alice Thorpe, research manager at Ampere Analysis, says: “This is primarily attributable to the wider move towards cost-cutting, which we’ve seen from many of the major players in response to a challenging advertising market.”

And execs at the cutting edge of the business confirm the company’s findings. “It’s a huge challenge – the market is probably the worst it’s ever been,” says Lisa Edwards, chief creative officer at Studio Ramsay Global, Gordon Ramsay’s prodco.

“There’s a lot of reticence out there and people are risk-averse. When I worked at the BBC, I used to commission all those ‘chop & cook’ shows, but I don’t think those days exist anymore.

“However, I do think there’s an appetite for food-adjacent formats – combining cooking with themes such as travel, adventure or business. It’s like hiding the vegetables in the sauce. Food is such a universal passion and I still believe that an amazing must-have idea will get made.”

In 2021, Fox Entertainment in the US acquired Studio Ramsay from All3Media, with Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade overseeing the production of new content from the renamed Studio Ramsay Global.

The deal saw a broadening of Edwards’ responsibilities, though she admits having “the most watched chef on the planet as our CEO” makes her job somewhat easier.

“My god, I’m not complaining, I’m in an incredibly lucky situation,” she says. “Gordon is the biggest unique selling point there is, so why not lean into that and use it to be distinctive in a crowded market?”

Tasked by Wade with finding the next Hell’s Kitchen or MasterChef, Studio Ramsay Global produced reality culinary competition Next Level Chef, which has just been renewed for a fourth season by Fox. The format has also been adapted by ITV in the UK and M6 in France.

Studio Ramsay Global’s slate of productions not fronted by Ramsay, meanwhile, includes Kitchen Commando for AVoD platform Tubi, starring former US army master sergeant Andre Rush, and docuseries No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski for Nat Geo.

“Getting our first non-Gordon shows away in the last three years has been huge for us,” says Edwards. “Our ambition is to be the biggest culinary producer on the planet, but making shows with just one man is obviously not a sustainable business model – we can’t clone him.”

Independent Canadian culinary broadcaster Gusto TV is a good example of a company stirring things up in the gastronomic space. The Ottawa-headquartered outfit made headlines in February when it claimed to be producing the world’s first cooking show featuring AI-created characters.

Set to screen on Gusto later this year, The Wizard of Whatever will be presented by Toronto-based chef Kyle Crawford. As well as sharing culinary tips, Crawford performs as three different characters who will then be digitised in post-production and rendered as AI co-stars.

It’s one of a handful of in-house Gusto shows that utilise AI. Gusto Studios Presents is an anthology series about food, wellness and beauty presented by an AI-generated carrot, while Some Assembly Required features a chef who speaks with ‘Mother Nature.’

“We’re excited by where this will take us,” says Chris Knight, CEO of Gusto TV. “We have a variety of AIs that allow us to open up new narratives and storylines for us to experiment with. We’re constantly looking at ways to reinvent the food genre.”

Gusto TV targets a young demographic, with around 65% of its audience under the age of 34. The company, which produces 100% of its own content, doubles down on themes that chime with more youthful audiences.

“We have a saying at Gusto: ‘First we entertain, then we inspire but we never teach,’” says Knight. “We want to connect with millennials and Gen Z viewers who have a renewed interest in hosting dinner parties, sourcing sustainable ingredients and cooking farm-to-table dishes.”

While an original new show concept can be seen as a tasty, snack-sized amuse-bouche, it’s the heritage cooking formats that remain the main course of choice for buyers.

In the 12-month period to the end of Q1 2024, Ampere Analysis tracked over 20 new or returning seasons of MasterChef ordered globally – with new, first-run versions and spin-offs in Serbia, Poland, Quebec and Portugal, plus returning seasons in 11 countries.

That’s music to the ears of distributor Banijay Rights, which has now sold MasterChef – broadcast by the BBC since 1990 – into 70 countries. The format has inspired several spin-offs, such as Junior MasterChef, Young MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.

“MasterChef is the daddy of all cooking shows and a premium title for us,” says Claire Jago, exec VP of EMEA sales and acquisitions at Banijay Rights. “With all the different iterations of the show, there really is something for everyone. And the format is so adaptable, whether that’s supersized for 70 episodes in Australia or for a smaller territory such as Malta.

“Audiences like cosy, comforting shows that they’re already invested in, while buyers see those brands as being less risky than new shows during these tricky times.”

Banijay Rights also represents two celebrity-led culinary travel titles: Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico and Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, both produced by Raw TV for CNN. “Viewers are always excited to see a celebrity exploring their heritage, so food and travel blend very well together,” Jago says.

You might be forgiven for thinking that making cooking shows in France – a country famed worldwide for its refined culinary traditions – would be straightforward. However, Paris-based Kitchen Factory Productions was forced to take on the Gallic gourmet establishment when it launched in 2008. Founders Matthieu Jean-Toscani and chef Cyril Lignac had previously worked together in 2005 on Oui Chef! Fremantle’s French-language version of Jamie’s Kitchen, for network M6.

The success of that series inspired them to launch Kitchen Factory together and produce more Lignac-fronted M6 shows, such as The Great British Bake Off adaptation Le Meilleur Patissier, Touse en Cuisine avec Cyril Lignac and the forthcoming Ma Recette est la Meilleure de France.

However, their modern and mainstream formats ruffled feathers in France. Jean-Toscani explains: “Before 2005, culinary shows here aired in daytime slots and were aimed mostly at women – you were not allowed to mess with that formula. But with Cyril, we destroyed that model by creating commercial, accessible formats that showed viewers that cooking good food can be easy. We received rocks from the institution and Grand Chef culture for doing that, but 20 years later all the big chefs come knocking on our door wanting to be in Kitchen Factory shows.”

Streaming platforms are now eager to take a slice of the pie in the cooking space, with Netflix ordering formats such as Is It Cake?, produced by Alfred Street Industries, and Nailed It!, from Magical Elves.

Interestingly, Jean-Toscani claims that the world’s biggest SVoD service has been scared out of the culinary content market in France. “Netflix is one of the main platforms producing and buying cooking shows all over the world, but in France they had bad audiences whenever they tried,” he says. “M6 is so strong in this market that Netflix quit trying to make original food formats here.”

London- and Sydney-based factual producer and distributor Parade Media, meanwhile, has spotted a gap in the market for healthy living and wellness programming incorporating foodie themes. CEO Matthew Ashcroft says: “There is a growing trend of fusion culinary shows that blend different traditions to create innovative dishes. Vegan and vegetarian cuisine have gained popularity, reflecting the growing interest in plant-based diets. “Wellness programmes that focus on healthy eating and nutrition are also on the rise, catering to audiences looking for ways to improve their diets.”

Parade represents titles such as Luke Nguyen’s India (Red Creative Media for SBS), Guillaume’s French Atlantic (Blink TV for SBS) and The Streets with Dan Hong (Hsquared for SBS Food). The company has plans to bring younger audiences to its content through YouTube content.

“Younger demographics love creator-led content found on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat,” says Ashcroft. “Parade is investing in its own in-house channel team, talent and original IP that will meet the needs and demands of younger viewers globally.”

Millennial and Gen-Z audiences are a major part of the strategy at US producer Brent Montgomery’s unscripted production group, Wheelhouse. The group’s talent management arm, Additive Creative Partners, has signed up 12 culinary content creators who boast a combined 20 million followers on social media platforms. The new recruits include social media chef Alina Prokuda and viral food reviewer Dave Schratz.

In 2022, Wheelhouse also launched Connecticut-based food and lifestyle prodco Butternut, a joint venture with former Food Network president Courtney White. The company’s current slate includes Next Baking Master: Paris (for Food Network and Max) and Celebrity Family Food Battle (Roku), with eight other shows in various stages of development.

“There’s been an explosion of food content on social media platforms,” says White, who is now Butternut’s president. “We can have conversations with digital creators from the Additive talent roster who may be ready to launch the next chapter of their careers in longform TV.

“We’re always on the hunt for people who have a unique lens on the food space. On the TV side at Wheelhouse, we have so many brilliant brains coming up with formats, then we can pair that concept with a voice from social media to develop the idea further. It’s critical to find new young creators who can become the next household names with their own food franchises.”

Whether those break-out stars come from traditional linear TV or from social media platforms, White is convinced cookery content will remain very much on the menu for the foreseeable future. “It’s an evergreen subgenre that has real steadfast popularity, relevance and won’t ever go out of style,” she says. “It’s an advertising-friendly type of programming that appeals to all demographics. The whole family can watch together, which is a rarity.”

Commissions for cookery-related content may be down, but innovative culinary creatives and next-gen social media tastemakers claim food formats aren’t past their sell-by date.

Since the 1990s, TV viewers around the world have had a seemingly insatiable appetite for food- and cookery-related shows, with producers and networks happy to cater to this hunger for culinary content.

The rise of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay, plus the emergence of hit formats like MasterChef and the Bake Off franchise, have seen audiences gorge on a banquet of small-screen delicacies.
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