NBC Local Media Launches Foodie Franchise

NBC Local Media has launched the food-oriented lifestyle franchise "Feast" in New York and Miami. Described by the group as "a clearinghouse of restaurant and dining coverage for locals in their city," Feast will roll out in additional markets this year, starting with Chicago and Los Angeles later this month.

Consumers can visit NBCNewYork.com/Feast and NBCMiami.com/Feast for a taste.

Edited by NBC Local Media Managing Editor of Lifestyle Ben Leventhal, "Feast" is "part blog, part listings search engine and part mega-ranking system," NBC said in a statement. "Feast will spotlight the local culinary world and the characters that drive the restaurant scene through behind-the-scenes video, photos, news and commentary."

Leventhal founded the popular multi-market foodie blog Eater.

Feast features a scoring system that brings together a wide range of reviews, ratings and opinions and produces what it calls a definitive score known as the Feast Rank.

The NBC station group saw a significant traffic jump after re-launching its websites in 2008 to better connect with urban hipsters under the "locals only" brand.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.