Travel Channel celeb Anthony Bourdain has jumped ship after negotiating a deal with CNN, a network move to add lifestyle programming to their weekend format.
After eight seasons of No Reservations, the chef and media guy will host his own show on the cable news network on Sunday evenings to be repeated on Saturdays.
The unnamed show will follow a similar format to Bourdain’s current culinary and cultural adventure program and will be produced by Zero Point Zero Products, the same group that produces No Reservations.
He’ll begin filming the first eight segments this fall to be aired in 2013. The goal will be to film two seasons each year for a total of sixteen episodes.
CNN Worldwide executive vice president Mark Whitaker acknowledged, “He’s not a conventional journalist. But what he does is highly journalistic. I think he’s been a little bit frustrated. He’s gone to a lot of places at the Travel Channel but there are some places that he hasn’t been able to go.”
Whitaker indicates he plans to utilize Bourdain as a contributor on other network programs and his popular blog will appear on the CNN website.
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