VIVA Adds Food-Focused Programming Block

TORONTO: VIVA, Corus Entertainment’s women-skewing Canadian channel targeting the baby-boomer generation, has launched a daily programming block dedicated to all things culinary.

Airing Monday to Sunday at 4 p.m., VIVA Cuisine will feature a lineup that focuses on food and cooking. The block launches on May 2 with series such as Everyday Food, offering tips and quick recipes from the pages of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine; Rachel Allen: Bake!, teaching essential skills required to bake; and Nigella Bites, featuring fuss-free principals for navigating the kitchen.

Currently in production and joining the VIVA Cuisine block later this year is Canadian chef Christine Cushing’s Fearless in the Kitchen, a series where she helps hopeless cooks become more comfortable; Healthy Gourmet, helping home cooks create nutritious meals; and Chef Worthy, a new competition series from the makers of W Network’s Love it or List It.

"Home cooking gives them pleasure and control—over their costs and what they are consuming," said Shelley Findlay, the VP of marketing for women’s specialty television at Corus Entertainment. "VIVA Cuisine not only provides our audience with the visual pleasure of watching food shows, the content also feeds women’s need for practical information about food and cooking for the home."