Why food is big biz on TV
With changing consumer tastes and exposure to global cuisines, channels are looking at food-based programming as a strong bet to lure viewers

There is a huge influx of cookery shows on television today comprising both, national and international content. Channels such as Star Plus and Star World have ‘Master Chef India’ and ‘Master Chef Australia’ respectively.
Fox Traveller launched two new shows on the food genre namely, ‘French Food Safari’ and David Rocco's ‘Dolce Vita Season 4’ early March this year in addition to its already existing shows such as ‘Delinquent Gourmet’, ‘Eat Street’, etc.
AXN has ‘Top Chef’ as a part of its food based programming.
TLC also introduced a dedicated time-band for food programming, ‘Chew’ early this year. In addition to these, three more shows namely. ‘Ramsay’s Best Restaurant’, ‘The Good Cook’, and ‘Everyday Exotic’ would be premiering from July 25, August 6 and August 20 respectively.
According to Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President and General Manager – South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, consumers today are aware, well-travelled and at par with their global counter parts. They are on a quest for finer things in life – from travel to cuisine to everything that encompasses high-life. Globalisation, rising affluence, aspirations and educational levels has also fueled the demand for specialised content. “Food programming is in the DNA of TLC and has been interwoven in the content with lifestyle, travel, jewellery, etc. Our dedicated food programme band ‘Chew’ has been a runaway success,” stated Johri.
NDTV Good Times recently launched ‘Love bites with Joey’ adding to its already existing food shows such as ‘Chakh Le India’, ‘Foodistan’, ‘French Connection’, ‘Highway on a plate’, ‘Travelling Diva’, etc. to name a few.
Food programming in India started as instructional cooking formats, where the idea was restricted to just being able to cook a dish or taking down a recipe and was largely targeted at housewives, said Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle. She elaborated, “It’s only in the last five years that food as a genre has come in to its own and seen a huge boom. NDTV Good Times introduced ‘Food+ Programming’, that wasn’t just about a chef standing behind a table. Indians are now willing to experiment and treat food as a ‘lifestyle’ choice, and not just a ‘life’ choice.”
Apart from the countless culinary shows telecasted on different channels, channels such as ‘Zee Khana Khazana’ and ‘FoodFirst’ are solely dedicated to food-based programming.
‘FoodFood’ was also launched by Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor in cooperation with the Malaysia-based company Astro in January 2011.
Explaining this venture, Sanjeev Kapoor, Promoter of the channel FoodFood stated, “The food business today is climbing up the success graph as the market today is ready for big things. There would be challenges ahead but the presence of food in the market is indispensable and will continue to remain so.”
Elaborating on the same Chakrabarti said that food shows in general enjoy a loyal and consistent viewer base. According to the numbers shared by NDTV Good Times, shows such as ‘Highway on my plate’ has a reach of 8.5 million, ‘Foodistan’ has a reach of 8.17 million, ‘Vicky Goes Veg’ and ‘Chakhle India’ have reach of 5.5 million upwards.
Apart from the loyal viewer base which helps the respective channels garner considerable TRPs, there are also associations that these shows have with brands that aid channels to generate revenues from the advertisers.
Johri believes that advertisers want high quality and heavy viewership platform and that makes cuisine a natural fit. This has worked for the channel as TLC experienced year-on-year repeat purchase by big advertisers validating the strength of the channel.
Commenting on the same Kapoor stated, “Food channels have the captive audience for food products so it attracts food product related advertisers. Personally I think food shows are an excellent platform for advertisers. If it is not ‘in-your-face’ kind of placement and is more relative to the recipe, then it is a win-win situation for all.”
NDTV Good Times has relationships across various genres, starting from food and related ancillary industries such as modular kitchen brands and processed food brands, to larger, more broad-based advertisers such as consumer electronics. The recently launched show ‘Love Bites with Joey’ has a wide range of associations such as Leonardo Olive Oil, Aliva, Samsung, etc. ‘Foodistan’ has associated with brands such as Idea, Tissot, Gujarat Tourism and Vedanta.
Advertisers today recognise the fact that food content is coming into its own in terms of reaching out to the consumer, and this holds true not just for television but across other media platforms as well.
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FreeDish e-auction ends, Prasar Bharati earns Rs 1073 crore from 65 slots
On the last day on Monday, seven slots were auctioned. The highest bid came from Bflix
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 20, 2023 6:43 PM | 1 min read
Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has mopped up Rs 1073 crore from the e-auction of 65 MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish.
On the last day of the auction on Monday, seven slots were sold, with the highest bid of Rs 18.7 crore coming from Bflix. Other channels that secured the slots on the last day were Enterr10 (Rs 17 crore), GNT (Rs 17.9 crore), India TV (Rs 18.65 crore), Bharat 24 (Rs 17.15 crore), ABZY Cool (Rs 16 crore) and Sun Marathi (Rs 18.5 crore).
This is the first time in the history of DD Free Dish auction that the process went on for eight days. In fact, the auction was conducted over the weekend as well.
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enba: Prasanth Kumar joins jury panel
Kumar is the CEO of GroupM-South Asia
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 20, 2023 8:19 AM | 1 min read
Prasanth Kumar, CEO - GroupM South Asia, has joined the exchange4media News Broadcasting Awards (ENBA) jury panel. Kumar, popularly known as PK, has over 25 years of industry experience.
Before joining GroupM, Kumar was associated with companies like Pepsi, The Hindu, The Media Edge & McCann Erickson.
Kumar is currently President of AAAI for the 2022-23 term.
The exchange4media Group formulated enba in 2008 with the sole objective of recognizing the best in television news. The awards recognise and acknowledge industry leaders who are responsible for shaping the future of television broadcasting in India. This year, ENBA is in its 15th edition. The grand jury this year will be led by Sunil Arora, a senior bureaucrat and former Election Commissioner of India.
In the previous editions, the enba jury was led by Harivansh Narayan Singh – Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Dr Kiran Karnik – Former President – Nasscom, Dr Nasim Zaidi - Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, SY Quraishi – Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, N Ram – Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., Former Editor–in-Chief The Hindu and Group Newspapers, Sanjay Gupta – Managing Director – Star India.
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Free Dish e-auction: 25 channels pick up slots in rounds 2 & 3
According to sources, the pubcaster has mopped up approximately Rs 409 crore in these two rounds; bidding for remaining rounds to continue on March 20
By Sonam Saini | Mar 20, 2023 8:01 AM | 2 min read
Prasar Bharati continued the e-auction for vacant MPEG-2 slots on DD Free Dish on the weekend with 25 channels picking up slots in rounds 2 and 3.
The starting receive prices for each round were Rs 16 crore and Rs 13 crore, respectively.
While the buckets eligible for bidding in round 2 were A+, A, B, C, D and R1, round 3 saw bidding for buckets A, B, C, D and R1.
According to industry sources, the pubcaster has mopped up approximately Rs 409 crore in these two rounds.
The channels that secured slots in round 2 were Sony Wah (Rs 20.25 crore), Star Gold Thrill (Rs 17.85 crore), Colors Cineplex Bollywood (Rs 17.5 crore), Shemaroo Ashirwad (Rs 17 crore), Dangal 2 (Rs 16.8 crore), Shemaroo Umang (Rs 16.65 crore), Nazara (Rs 16.6 crore), Manoranjan Prime (Rs 16.7 crore), Goldmine Bollywood (Rs 16.7 crore), Ishara (Rs 16.75 crore), Goldmines (Rs 16.9 crore) and B4U Music (Rs 17.05 crore).
The channels that picked up slots in round 3 were Showbox (Rs 17.05 crore), Dil Se (Rs 17.05 crore), Filmachi (Rs 16.7 crore), Goldmines (Rs 15 crore), Aastha Channel (Rs 15.05 crore), Times Navbharat (Rs 15.15 crore), another slot by Goldmines (Rs 15.35 crore), B4U Bhojpuri (Rs 15.05 crore), Bhojpuri Cinema (Rs 15.1 crore), News Nation (Rs 15.05 crore), Aaj Tak (Rs 15.1 crore), 9XM (Rs 15.2 crore) and Movie Plus (Rs 15.2 crore).
In round 1, 33 channels bought slots for over Rs 538 crore.
The pubcaster has so far earned around Rs 947 crore from the e-auction. The remaining rounds (i.e. rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7) will go up for bidding on March 20.
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Madan Bahal joins enba jury panel
Bahal is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adfactors PR
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 18, 2023 8:30 AM | 1 min read
Madan Bahal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of public relations firm - Adfactors PR, has joined the exchange4media News Broadcasting Awards (ENBA) jury panel. Over the past 25 years, Bahal has served as a lead communication counsel in many of the milestone events of Corporate India, including fundraises, M&As, disputes, litigations, issues, and crises.
Bahal is known for providing leadership to the Indian PR industry during major events such as the global financial meltdown in 2008, and the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. He is also a member of the governing council of The Yoga Institute, Mumbai – the world's oldest body of organised yoga teaching.
In September 2022, the Arthur W. Page Society inducted Bahal into its Hall of Fame. In October 2020, PRovoke recognised his firm Adfactors PR as one of the seven global agencies of the decade.
enba was formulated by the exchange4media Group in 2008 with the objective of recognizing the best in television news, and for rewarding industry leaders who have shaped the future of television broadcasting in India. This year, enba is in its 15th edition, and the jury will be led by Sunil Arora, a senior bureaucrat and former Election Commissioner of India.
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Free Dish e-auction: 7 slots of Bucket D sold out for over Rs 79 cr
Zee Chitramandir, Zee Punjabi, Fakt Marathi, Shemaroo MarathiBana, Manoranjan Movies, Sanskar TV and Sun Marathi picked up the slots
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 18, 2023 7:50 AM | 1 min read
Prasar Bharati has mopped up over Rs 79 crore from the sale of seven slots under Bucket D of the DD Free Dish e-auction.
This bucket comprises all other remaining genres of Hindi, Devotional/ Spiritual/Ayush, all genres of Marathi, Punjabi and Urdu channels and news and current affairs (English) channels. The base price was Rs 6 crore.
Sources close to the development confirmed six channels that picked up the slots were Zee Chitramandir (Rs 13.40 crore), Zee Punjabi (Rs 12.45 crore), Fakt Marathi (Rs 12.65 crore), Shemaroo MarathiBana (Rs 13 crore), Manoranjan Movies for Rs (13.4 crore), Sanskar TV (Rs 14.6 crore) and Sun Marathi.
Bucket D has eight slots, out of which seven have been sold out. Bidding for the eighth slot will continue today.
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Free Dish e-auction: ABP News picks up 6th slot for Rs 17 cr
The six slots under Bucket C category have been secured by News18, Republic Bharat, TV9, Zee News, NDTV and ABP News
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 17, 2023 12:23 PM | 1 min read
ABP Network has picked the last slot on DD Free Dish. According to sources, ABP News secured the last slot on DD FreeDish for Rs 17.10 crore.
Under Bucket C, which comprises news and current affairs (Hindi) channels, News18, Republic Bharat, TV9, Zee News, NDTV and ABP News bagged the slots. The base price for the bucket was Rs 7 crore.
Prasar Bharati has now made Rs103.15 crore from the six slots under Bucket C.
The highest price paid in this category was Rs 19.85 crore.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, News18 bought the first slot for Rs 19.85 crore, Republic Bharat secured the second one for Rs 16.55 crore, TV9 took the third slot for Rs 14.55 crore, Zee News bought the fourth slot for Rs 15.5 crore and NDTV bought the slot for Rs 16.55 crore.
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ZEEL likely to settle IndusInd Bank's dues: Reports
News agencies say the media company could pay Rs 83.7 crore to the bank on Friday
By exchange4media Staff | Mar 17, 2023 8:56 AM | 1 min read
ZEEL is likely to repay IndusInd Bank's dues, according to media reports.
The media network is looking to resolve the insolvency proceedings for completing the merger with Sony.
As per media reports, dues amounting to Rs 83.7 crore may be settled on Friday, prompting the bank to withdraw the insolvency proceedings thereafter.
It may be noted that in February the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal stayed the insolvency order against ZEE.
ZEEL CEO Punit Goenka had said that the focus was now on the timely completion of the proposed merger.
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