TV cooking shows spice up with food influencers in the mix: 'It's got to hook you'
Gordon Ramsay is on set in Ireland as we speak. It's a warm, sunny day, but he's surrounded by Christmas trees and elves as he films the holiday special "Next Level Baker" for Fox. It's pretty festive, which seems fitting since she recently opened the 25th season of Hell's Kitchen, and earlier this year […]
It's quite a celebration, which seems fitting since he recently opened the 25th season of Hell's Kitchen, and earlier this year he opened the 10th season of Kitchen Nightmares, while the 16th season also brings the American version of MasterChef. Related stories "The Boss Simpsons" season one guest stars Emma Thompson and Colin Jost. 'Treehouse of Horror' spoilers; Jack in the Box Easter egg and video update
But despite the continued popularity of his shows, boosted by Netflix series about him, some in the industry are starting to ask: Have TV audiences lost their appetite for food shows? Popular in Variety
"Globally, real food program commissions have shown a steady downward trend since 2022, with a peak of 16% decline in global launch volume between 2024 and 2025, from 663 to 555 across 21 titles, this trend will slow down to 3%," said Ampere Analysis analyst Natalie Cruz. The second half of last year and the first half of this year went from 282 to 245 titles.
According to TV sales executives, cooking shows need to add some spice to whet the audience's appetite. Consider "The Heat," part of international production and broadcasting giant ITV Studios' offering, which combines the ingredients of a high-end cooking format with dating shows. It's very ambitious, very shiny," says Tom Clarke, executive vice president of commercial strategy and global sales at ITV Studios.
"The Heat" takes place in a real restaurant in sun-drenched Barcelona, where a group of young chefs battle it out under the tutelage of a world-class Michelin chef. The chefs work and compete with each other during the day, but they also live together at night. Clarke explains that they work hard and party hard.
“And what that means is that the stress and ambition of winning a cooking competition is met with the relationships and nightlife that go along with it. "What you see next is the romance, the competition, the flirting, the fallout — it all comes back to the kitchen throughout the day."
Ramsay has watched the show and is not impressed. I think "The Heat" is a bit of a charmer... sort of "Big Brother" meets "Top Chef". "I was angry watching some of the early episodes and it had no narrative."
UK broadcaster ITV seems to agree. After the first season, the series ended.
Ramsay attributes the popularity of his shows to their "live aspect" and emphasizes the need to "keep things incredibly fresh." "There's a format, but every season we tear up the rulebook and rewrite the challenges," he says, referring to "Hell's Kitchen."
The secret to its success, Ramzimi says, is that he runs it like a live restaurant. "There's something magical about going into the unknown when that first ticket arrives," he says. "We train them and train them and train them, put them through this incredible boot camp before they go live, and every night is a live performance, like what you'd see in a theater."
Lucas Green, chief operating content officer at Banijay Entertainment, another global TV distribution and production giant, acknowledges that with the rise of food content on social media, there has been a shift in audience tastes. "People love watching recipes and food porn on Instagram and TikTok, and I think it's probably replaced cooking tutorials," she says.
That said, Baniji's "MasterChef" was the world's most adapted format last year, with versions airing in 38 territories (the total is now 41), and similar formats, such as "Top Chef," are also strong, which Green attributes to their narrative structure.
"['MasterChef'] has a real real story and people come back week after week, and they're very, very determined to win," he says. "[The show] changes people's lives. Many winners have earned Michelin stars. It's very aspirational."
Mike Beale, managing director of creative networks at ITV, said the integration of a story arc would heighten the audience's desire for more and encourage binge-watching. The studio, which broadcasts "Hell's Kitchen" in 26 territories and "Come Dine With Me" in 50 territories. “You have to take the viewer from one episode to another. "Just seeing five people cooking, and there's a winner at the end of the show, and then the next week, you're doing the same show again with five new people, it doesn't work anymore." Beale says. "It has to engage you and take you there, and streaming has driven that behavior."
Levet adds: YouTube has proven to be a good platform for new cooking show concepts. "Content creators are experimenting with new formulas," he says, "like the battle over iconic cartoon foods, seen in Joshua Wiseman's 'I Tried Every Famous Cartoon Food', or the world championship between casual breakfasts, with Ibai Llanos' 'El mundial de los desayunos.'
Meanwhile, Levet notes that streamers have developed a taste for cooking shows like "Dinner Time Live With David Chang," "Culinary Class Wars," "Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend" and "The Final Table" on Netflix and "The World Cook" on Prime Video.
Green argues that online and offline can feed off each other. "MasterChef" has a spin-off in Brazil called "MasterChef Creators" that airs on YouTube and features digital-only influencers that cater to a younger audience.
The latest whimsical recipes of a generation of celebrity chefs are coming together. Secretly, her approach is simple, "I think I just work to keep it fresh, and I accept criticism, but I don't sit and absorb myself and obsess about how good we are. I treat every season like it's the first season."
He observes that sometimes the biggest drama stirred up by secret shows happens after they air, and that's because of a wrong view of the realities of running a restaurant.
"The biggest problem I have is that the show goes on and they get all this hype and attention, especially in the media," he says, referring to some misguided people on "Kitchen Nightmares." Then they get a bit overwhelmed by the fame. And there is nothing famous about running a restaurant. It's hard, brutal work to focus on with discipline in a restaurant, and success can begin with discipline in a restaurant. And sit with customers and have a glass of champagne or a martini before starting work in the dining room."