Bon Appétit Expands to TV With Launch of Free Streaming Network

Featuring exclusive new shows from Bon Appétit’s viral Test Kitchen talent

NEW YORK(22 Feb 2019)

Bon Appétit today launched a free over-the-top (OTT) channel and announced a slate of original programming available to stream on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. The viral success of the brand’s videos underscores the demand to make more content available on every screen possible. The initial programming lineup includes a library of Bon Appétit’s most popular videos and new OTT-exclusive shows featuring Brad Leone, Claire Saffitz and more fan-obsessed personalities from the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen.

This is Condé Nast’s latest endeavor in video expansion to bring lifestyle content to TV screens. Bon Appétit’s Brad Leone and Claire Saffitz are just two of the brand's online sensations with avid fans and large social followings. Viewers can expect to see authentic food stories from relatable, expert personalities across the channel's full slate of programming. Condé Nast also acquired all three seasons of the nostalgic “The Naked Chef” with host Jamie Oliver that will live on the network in celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary. The series is distributed by BBC Studios.

"As a brand, we put talent first,” said Adam Rapoport, editor in chief of Bon Appétit. “What originated as a social strategy to capture the personalities inside our test kitchen fueled the rapid growth of our digital fanbase and YouTube channel.”

In 2018, Bon Appétit’s videos garnered 1.3 billion total views across platforms, a 49% increase from 2017.* One of the fastest growing food channels on YouTube, Bon Appétit garnered 340 million views on the platform, a 255% increase from 2017. These results drove subscriber growth bringing the brand up to more than 3 million followers to date.** Bon Appétit was recently named to Ad Age’s publishers A-List for having a blockbuster year in video.

"Bon Appétit has an increasingly successful presence across video platforms with its popular hosts and loyal fans, so launching a streaming channel is a natural evolution," said Oren Katzeff, president, Condé Nast Entertainment. “Our viewers can experience the authenticity of Bon Appétit on all screens with content specifically produced for each platform, which now includes an at-home, lean-back video experience on OTT.”

“Whether we’re demonstrating how to poach an egg or make sauerkraut, or recreating Skittles candy using gourmet ingredients, we keep it fun and informative. We're excited to bring the content our fans love to a bigger screen,” Rapoport added.

The brand’s OTT-exclusive programming is specifically handcrafted for food lovers and explorers who seek an authentic approach to the world of food: 

“It’s Alive: Goin’ Places” builds on what fans love about Brad’s series “It’s Alive” and showcases Brad’s hilarious sense of adventure and food exploration as he travels to a new culinary scene and does a deep dive into the culture, specialties and tastes of each region. In season one, Brad travels to central Texas. All four exclusive episodes are available now.
In “Bon Appétit’s Baking School,” pastry chef Claire Saffitz brings her relatable and fun style to the new series in which she tackles everything from indispensable ingredients to tricky techniques for making the world’s most popular baked goods. Up first: cakes! The series will launch in March.
“Making Perfect” features the test kitchen chefs working together in this new ensemble-led show to figure out how to make the perfect version of iconic dishes, exploring what it takes to make each ingredient through a mix of in-kitchen testing, expert wrangling, and out-in-the-world exploring. The first  season will focus on pizza in five episodes hosted by different Bon Appétit personalities. The series will launch in April.

In addition to the original programming, the free network will feature the most popular content from Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel and BonAppétit.com, including episodes from “From the Test Kitchen” (222 million lifetime views), “It’s Alive” (120 million lifetime views), “Gourmet Makes” (77 million lifetime views) and “Handcrafted” (30 million lifetime views)***.  The channel will also feature videos from Epicurious, including the popular series “Price Points” (66 million lifetime views)***. 

The project was initially announced at Condé Nast’s NewFronts and follows the launch of WIRED’s OTT channel. In an era of cord cutting, the network aims to fill the void of food lifestyle content and offers advertisers a unique opportunity to reach new audiences through ad placements or series integrations. The Bon Appétit streaming channel sponsors include Café Appliances and Milk. View the trailer here and read more on BonAppétit.com/TV.

Brad Leone from “It’s Alive: Goin’ Places”
Brad Leone is the host of Bon Appétit’s popular digital series, “It's Alive,” which focuses on food projects, from learning how to ferment different products to traveling to the origins of certain ingredients. Fermentation and different ways of cooking have become a passion of his both at work and home. Leone is also the host of the OTT-exclusive show “It’s Alive: Goin’ Places,” where he explores central Texas’ culinary offerings in the series’ first season. Leone grew up hunting and fishing with his dad and spent a lot of time in the woods. There, he learned the respect for ingredients and nature in general. Cooking has always been a major part of Leone’s life and his passion ultimately led him to join the Bon Appétit team in 2011. 

Claire Saffitz from “Bon Appétit’s Baking School”
At Bon Appétit, Claire Saffitz developed recipes for the print magazine and online verticals, including bonappetit.com and EatBasically.com, and dabbled in food styling. Saffitz is frequently featured on Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel, including fan-favorite series, “Gourmet Makes,” an innovative culinary twist where Saffitz recreates childhood junk food. She’s also the host of “Bon Appétit’s Baking School,” where she breaks down the essentials of baked goods. In the show’s first season, which can be exclusively streamed on the brand’s OTT channel, Saffitz explores the diverse techniques to bake a cake. Saffitz earned a Bachelor of Arts in American History and Literature from Harvard University. She also completed the International Program in Classic French Cuisine at École Grégoire Ferrandi, a culinary and trade school in France, and a 4-month externship at Spring Restaurant in Paris. After Paris, Saffitz moved to Montreal to pursue a Masters degree in History at McGill University, where she studied the intellectual history of food in Early Modern France. 

*Source: Adobe, YouTube Analytics, DFP, Partner Data, Twitter Analytics, Snap Studio, Dash Hudson, Facebook Insights (Dates: Jan 1, 2018—Dec 31, 2018)
**Source: YouTube Analytics (Dates: Jan 1, 2018—Dec 31, 2018)
***Source: Sparrow, YouTube Analytics, DFP, Partner Data, Facebook Insights (Date: Dec 31, 2018)

About Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit is where food and culture meet. The award-winning No. 1 food lifestyle brand covers food through the lens of cooking, fashion, travel, technology, design, and home. As the leading arbiter of taste, its home-grown talent and tireless dedication to recipe testing separates it from the competition by miles. Bon Appétit has been named to Advertising Age’s A-List for eight consecutive years, including Magazine of the Year 2013 and 2017, Brand of the Year 2015, and Digital and Video recognition in 2019, and has been named to Adweek’s Hot List every year since 2012, including Hottest Food Magazine in 2013, 2017 and 2018. Bon Appétit has also been nominated for 32 National Magazine Awards in the past six years, including wins in 2014 for General Excellence and Photography, and in 2017 for General Excellence. For more, visit www.bonappetit.com. 

About Condé Nast Entertainment
Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE) is an award-winning next generation studio and distribution network with entertainment content across film, television, premium digital video, social, and virtual reality. In just six years since inception, CNE has reached TV-like scale for many of its digital videos, and has won Emmy and Critics’ Choice Awards, as well as garnered Academy Award and Peabody nominations. Culling from IP across Condé Nast’s iconic publishing brands, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ and Wired, CNE has produced series for Netflix, Investigation Discovery, Amazon, and more; and has critically acclaimed feature films distributed by Sony and Fox Searchlight. In addition, the Next Gen Studio produces and distributes over 5,000 pieces of original digital video content a year averaging over 1 billion views a month. CNE has an extensive digital distribution network of nearly 60 partners across about 2,300 websites and ranks 18th in unique viewers in comScore’s Top 100 Properties, ahead of publishers including Complex, Awesomeness, Viacom, Vox, Scripps, Sony Crackle, Vice, Defy, Meredith, Hearst, and Refinery29. For more, visit www.condenast.com/cne.