NewsLine Column: Has TV Cookery Gone Off The Boil?

TV cookery programmes have enjoyed a period of spectacular growth over the last few years, with celebrity chefs becoming almost ten a penny. However, following news that the BBC is axing its long-running Food And Drink programme after twenty years on air, Media Planning Group’s Denise Turner looks at whether the genre has gone off the boil…

The BBC announced this week that its long-running food programme, Food And Drink, is to be axed after 20 years on air. Apparently the programme has just come to an end. It has been part of the fabric of the BBC for over two decades and in many ways was the forerunner to the many cookery shows that fill our TV screens today. And even Delia Smith, the first real celebrity chef, recently announced that she was giving up cooking.

So what does this mean for TV cookery shows? This has been an area of spectacular growth over the last number of years with new celebrity chefs appearing with almost predictable regularity. We have, it seems, become a nation of foodies – as well as the success of the many programmes, there has also been a comparable growth in food and cookery-based magazines. BBC Good Food‘s last circulation figures were over 340,000, up 6% year-on-year. And the Observer launched its highly successful Food Monthly in April 2001, which has reached a circulation of almost half a million people each week.

Yet, while the magazines are doing well, it seems there has been a bit of a backlash to the over-exposure of the celebrity chefs on television. In typical British fashion a trend appears and becomes popular. Then it seems the media jump on the bandwagon and we get a little bit too much of a good thing. We’ve seen quite a lot of this in recent years with areas such as the rash of home improvement programmes and reality-TV shows.

Or is it that the format is tired rather than the concept? The recent programme, Jamie’s Kitchen, was hugely successful for Channel 4 gaining not only a 22% share of viewing on Tuesday nights but also a lot of coverage in the press about the progress or otherwise of Jamie’s students and comments on whether the venture would ever be a success.

This change in emphasis may be that we want entertainment around the area of food rather than someone showing us how to cook. It may also be the result of the growth of premium convenience foods. We may have become a nation of armchair foodies – we want to enjoy good food but don’t want the hassle of cooking and preparing it. Hence we are seeing the growth of foods such as premium pasta sauces, more people buying fresh soups, the launch of Tesco Finest and Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference, supermarkets selling takeaway food in a bag. Even the Office Of National Statistics has changed the 650 items it monitors for price and inflation purposes to include more convenience products to reflect the eating and cooking habits of the population.

Whatever happens, I think we can all agree with Aldo Zilli, who says in today’s Metro that people will always want to see food on television – they probably won’t be rushing to their kitchens to cook it!

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