Boisterous celebrity foodie Anthony Bourdain is leaving his long-time post at Travel Channel for a new show on CNN, where he will essentially be doing the exact same thing — weighing in on dining and culture from around the world.
CNN broke the news today that Bourdain will join the network for a weekend program that focuses on food and travel. This also means that his popular Travel Channel show “No Reservations” will reportedly come to an end when he makes the shift to CNN. The new show’s content model looks strangely familiar:
Launching in early 2013, the show will be shot on location and examine cultures from around the world through their food and dining and travel rituals.
The say-it-like-it-is chef has been increasingly on the radar in recent months, especially after his public lash-out at Paula Deen over her partnership with a pharmaceutical company after announcing her Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis.
So why jump ship from the Travel Channel now? CNN may have made Bourdain an offer he couldn’t refuse on the heels of the depressing news that the network’s ratings dropped 21 percent over the last year. Bourdain’s new show is likely an attempt by CNN to turn things around and reclaim viewers by beefing up its lifestyle content with a big celebrity name.
Bourdain will also occasionally appear on other CNN programs, doing what he does best — offering his opinion on “food and health and other cultural conversations.”
“I’m really looking forward to coming over to CNN. I think the world is going to get a whole lot bigger for me,” Bourdain said in a statement posted by CNN. “I hope that old fans and new ones will be excited about what’s coming down the road.”
His new show will be produced by Zero Point Zero Production, the same company that worked with him on shows like “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” “The Layover,” “A Cook’s Tour,” and “Decoding Ferran Adria.”
