Post by Man Alive! on Jul 20, 2010 23:06:20 GMT -5
From GameShowNewsNet:
Allez Cuisine, Mate!
Australia's Seven Picks Up "Iron Chef"
From Herald Sun
Posted 7/20/10
An Australian version of Iron Chef will soon be served up by Channel 7.
Industry sources confirmed Seven had bought the Japanese format for the culinary game show as part of an aggressive bid to throw a spanner in Channel 10's MasterChef ratings juggernaut.
In each episode, a new challenger chef "battles" one of the resident "Iron Chefs" - each of whom specializes in a different cuisine - in a one-hour cooking competition based on a theme ingredient. Versions currently air in the US and UK.
There is speculation the network may poach some of MasterChef's celebrity chefs and series one contestants as the show's resident kitchen whizzes.
Sources said while the deal had been done for the show, planning was still in the early stages, with an Aussie title still to be decided. Seven declined to comment yesterday.
It is believed the network has also bought a second foreign cooking show format.
The heavy investment in cooking shows comes as Seven attempts to break into the ratings and advertising market dominated by Ten's MasterChef. My Kitchen Rules and My Restaurant Rules are both likely to return to Seven next year as the networks aims to become king of the TV kitchen.
Seven's Iron Chef swoop comes off the back of Sunday night's Iron Chef episode on MasterChef, which drew 2.188 million viewers.
Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, one of the chefs from the much-loved Japanese TV show, will grill contestants before they battle it out in Sunday night's grand final.