Meredith Video Studios, the production wing of Meredith, is shopping a trio of concepts related to the Allrecipes brand. There’s a primetime cook-off contest that Kieran Clarke, executive VP and president of Meredith Video Studios (MVS), describes as a combination of The Voice and Extreme Makeover, with a host and judges who mentor cooking hopefuls. There’s also a game show concept playing up the culture of food around the country, and there’s a daytime, hour-long strip featuring the Allrecipes “All-Stars”—frequent contributors to the site and social network.
“It’s a combination of talk and food—a lot of talk around food,” Clarke says of the latter, along with celebrity guests from the worlds of entertainment and sports, talking about food and their favorite recipes.
The first two concepts would be shot on location, while the daytime strip concept is shot at MVS’ Manhattan studio. MVS is sharing treatments and sizzle reels with potential partners.
Meredith acquired Allrecipes.com in 2012 for $175 million. It began publishing an Allrecipes magazine late last year and has been featuring branded segments in its syndicated Better program. Paul Karpowicz, Meredith Local Media president, told B&C earlier this year: "We took it from digital to print, and it would be pretty cool to take it to a half hour—or hour—show. We'll use [Better] to test hosts and concepts and ideas and see what it feels like, and if it can develop to a full blown show."
Allrecipes.com has over 500,000 Facebook followers.
Clarke is hopeful the daytime strip will debut in the fall of 2016 on both cable and TV stations. “That’s the goal,” he says.
