LOS ANGELES - Discovery launched Food Network Kitchen, its biggest direct-to-consumer streaming play to date, in the U.S. with a programming lineup that includes 25 live cooking shows each week.
For the initial launch, Discovery is offering a 90-day free trial period Food Network Kitchen, along with a limited-time discounted price of $47.99 per year ($4 per month). The full service will be priced at $6.99 per month (the same as Disney Plus) or $59.99 per year.
The cabler said the live cooking-class schedules will be posted at least a week in advance, with the lineup for the first month of live cooking classes featuring some of Food Network's top on-air personalities, including: Valerie Bertinelli, Anne Burrell, Giada De Laurentiis, Ree Drummond, Bobby Flay, Amanda Freitag, Katie Lee, Michael Symon, Buddy Valastro, Molly Yeh, Zac Young and Geoffrey Zakarian.
Subscribers will be able to submit questions during the live broadcasts, shot out of Food Network's test-kitchen studio in Manhattan's Chelsea Market, with select queries answered on-air by the talent.
On Nov. 9, Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals" returns to Food Network with all new episodes. Timed to the season premiere, Food Network Kitchen subscribers will be able to access all 10 episodes of the new season, as well as take live classes with Ray on the app every day the week of Nov. 11.
Food Network Kitchen is available on Amazon Alexa and Echo Show, Fire Tablets, Fire TV streaming media devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs, as well as Apple iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android mobile devices. More platforms and devices are on tap for 2020.
Under Discovery's three-year pact with Amazon, Food Network Kitchen is integrated with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant to provide hands-free navigation while subscribers are prepping their dishes. Alexa is the exclusive voice service for Food Network Kitchen under the deal.
In addition to the live cooking shows, Food Network Kitchen offers over 800 on-demand instructional videos, 3,000 step-by-step cooking videos, 80,000 recipes, culinary-related original programming and select shows from Food Network's library. It's also equipped to provide grocery ordering and delivery straight from the app, app using Amazon Fresh in select cities as well as Peapod and Instacart.
Exclusive content on Food Network Kitchen is slated to include "Restaurant Insights" from Food Network chefs and talent; "World Kitchen," featuring chefs and cuisine from around the globe; and personalised content playlists. A selection of Food Network shows, available ad-free, will include "Barefoot Contessa," "Brunch @ Bobby's," "Girl Meets Farm," "Good Eats," "Guy's Ranch Kitchen" and "The Pioneer Woman."
During the holidays, fans will be able to use the Food Network Kitchen app to access recipe instructions from the network's primetime seasonal series such as "Christmas Cookie Challenge," "Holiday Baking Championship," "Holiday Gingerbread Tournament," "Holiday Wars," "Santa's Baking Blizzard," "Ultimate Hanukkah Challenge" and "Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge."
In 2020, Food Network Kitchen will add features including a 24-hour culinary support hotline (with live experts on the phone), culinary equipment delivery and additional exclusive content. Discovery also plans to take the service to international markets.
In another promotional tie-in, when customers purchase an annual subscription to Food Network Kitchen, Discovery said it will provide up to 100 meals to kids as part of its Turn Up: Fight Hunger initiative, a new campaign with No Kid Hungry that aims to provide 1 billion meals for kids living with hunger in the U.S. over the next five years.
