Food: TV Cooking Shows Are Dying Out – and a Cronut Holds the Clue to Why

What is the Cooking Show Decline Trend?

The decline of TV cooking shows is not just about fewer programmes – it signals a major shift in how food culture is consumed, discovered, and shared.

• From Broadcast to Social: Traditional “stand-and-stir” TV formats have been replaced by YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram creators who post in real time. This change means food discovery is no longer dictated by broadcasters’ schedules but by the immediacy of social media trends.

• Consumer-Led Programming: Social algorithms push trending recipes to viewers instantly — no commissioning process needed. This has made food culture more participatory and audience-driven than ever before.

• Decline in Commissions: UK commissions for food programming are down 44% year-on-year, with the BBC airing zero new half-hour food shows in 2025. This signals the end of an era for the “celebrity chef” model that once dominated TV.

• New Food Stars Are Digital: Food influencers like Natalia Rudin (“Bean Queen”) and Ben Ebbrell (Sorted Food) now own the conversation, not prime-time TV chefs. They have direct, loyal audiences who interact with them daily.

Why It Is the Topic Trending: The Recipe for Relevance

• YouTube Overtakes TV: Nielsen confirmed YouTube is now the most-watched service on U.S. TVs — not just phones — with the UK following closely. This shift shows that audiences now prefer creator-led content even when sitting in front of their living room screen.

• Audience Behavior Shift: Younger audiences want immediacy, authenticity, and relatability — not polished studio sets. They also want to be part of the conversation by liking, commenting, and sharing, which television cannot provide.

• Crisis in British TV: Ofcom warns “time is running out” to save this pillar of UK culture as cooking shows vanish from the airwaves. This has prompted a national debate about whether food programming still belongs on prime-time schedules or if it has permanently migrated online.

The conversation isn’t just about cooking — it’s about how television lost its role as the cultural kitchen table and how creators have become the new tastemakers.

Overview: The Rise of the Digital Kitchen

Cooking TV once shaped how Britain ate, from Delia’s classic lessons to Bake Off’s baking craze. But by 2025, food discovery has moved online and onto personal screens. Viewers no longer simply watch chefs — they follow personalities who feel like friends, engage with them in comments, and even influence the next recipe they post. Television, with its long commissioning cycles, cannot keep pace with this “scroll-to-supper” speed, leaving food discovery almost entirely in the hands of digital creators.

Detailed Findings: Stirring the Data Pot

• Declining Commissions: BBC has produced no new half-hour cooking shows this year, marking a historic low. This absence underscores just how much focus and budget have shifted away from food programming.

• Shift in Cultural Authority: Food influencers now drive supermarket trends faster than TV can react. Viral recipes like baked feta pasta have caused temporary supermarket shortages — something TV shows rarely achieve anymore.

• Platform Power: With 115 million YouTube channels, food content thrives because creators face fewer compliance hurdles and can experiment freely. The barrier to entry is low, encouraging niche voices and hyper-specific recipe trends to flourish.

Key Success Factors of the Cooking Show Shift

• Authenticity Over Perfection: Viewers prefer casual, unedited kitchen clips to glossy studio sets. They feel these moments are more “real,” more attainable, and therefore more inspiring to replicate at home.

• Speed to Trend: Social creators can react to a cronut craze in hours; TV takes months. This means social audiences are always ahead of the curve and feel culturally “in the know.”

• Direct Engagement: Influencers reply to comments and take recipe requests, creating a two-way relationship. This feedback loop makes audiences feel seen and heard, something TV cannot replicate.

• Low Production Costs: A phone camera and a personality can beat a studio kitchen with a crew of ten. Lower costs mean more frequent content, which keeps audiences consistently engaged.

Key Takeaway: From Stove to Scroll

The kitchen has gone mobile. Food media has become decentralized, democratized, and interactive — and audiences are rewarding speed, authenticity, and relatability over television polish. The platforms that adapt fastest to these consumer expectations will win the future of food storytelling.

Main Trend: The Creator Kitchen Economy

Food content has transitioned from being a passive broadcast experience to a participatory, algorithm-driven economy, with creators steering culture faster than traditional networks and studios can react.

Description of the Trend: “The Cronut Effect”

The “cronut moment” is symbolic: when a food trend appears, whoever explains it fastest wins. Social creators are now the first point of cultural interpretation — and that’s where audiences turn first to learn, replicate, and share.

Key Characteristics of the Core Trend: Bite-Sized, Big Impact

• Hyper-Responsive: Creators jump on trends before broadcasters can react, giving audiences an immediate sense of being early adopters.

• Community-Driven: Viewers feel part of the creative process and even help direct future content through comments and feedback.

• Visual-First: Short, satisfying videos replace 30-minute recipe episodes, aligning with shrinking attention spans.

• Always-On: Food content is available 24/7, matching the on-demand expectations of digital audiences.

Market and Cultural Signals Supporting the Trend: Food For Thought

• Streaming Dominance: YouTube overtakes linear TV in watch hours, cementing the primacy of creator-led content.

• Gen Z Habits: Younger audiences treat TikTok as a search engine for recipes, looking up “what to make with beans” rather than browsing cookbooks.

• Retail Data: Viral food trends cause measurable spikes in sales, making them powerful drivers of in-store and online purchasing.

• Media Spend Shift: Brands are moving ad dollars from TV spots to influencer partnerships to reach these audiences where they spend their time.

What is Consumer Motivation: Hungry for Realness

• Authenticity: They trust unfiltered, relatable creators over celebrity chefs. Seeing mistakes, messy kitchens, and casual language makes content feel approachable and human.

• Speed: They want to try trends before they feel stale. Being first to try and share is part of the cultural flex.

• Participation: They want to comment, remix, and share their own results. Cooking becomes an interactive activity rather than a passive viewing experience.

What is Motivation Beyond the Trend: More Than Just Recipes

• Cultural Belonging: Participating in a food trend creates a sense of being “in the loop,” part of a wider digital community.

• Skill-Building: They want to improve cooking confidence casually, without the pressure of mastering restaurant-level dishes.

• Social Currency: Sharing a viral recipe video or result is a way to signal cultural literacy and creativity.

Descriptions of Consumers: The Always-Online Foodies

• Consumer Summary:

  • Digital natives who treat food content as entertainment and social currency.

  • Value authenticity and immediacy over celebrity polish, often following micro-creators with fewer than 500K followers for niche ideas.

  • Follow trends not just for meals but for participation in the cultural moment.

• Detailed Profile:

  • Age: Primarily 16–35

  • Gender: Mixed, with strong female and Gen Z representation

  • Income: Varied, but leaning toward middle-income, value-driven

  • Lifestyle: Mobile-first, social media savvy, trend-sensitive, comfortable shopping online and offline based on viral cues

How the Trend Is Changing Consumer Behavior: The Scroll-to-Supper Pipeline

• Consumers are shifting from watching scheduled shows to discovering recipes on TikTok or Instagram.

• They shop based on trending ingredients rather than planned weekly menus.

• They share their cooking results online, completing the cycle of content creation and inspiration.

Implications Across the Ecosystem: From TV to TikTok

• For Consumers: More diversity of voices, faster inspiration, and less dependence on linear TV formats.

• For Brands and CPGs: Need for agile marketing that activates influencer campaigns in sync with trending ingredients.

• For Retailers: Necessity to monitor viral demand and stock trending ingredients dynamically to avoid shortages.

Strategic Forecast: Serving the Future

• Hybrid Content: Expect television to integrate influencer-driven programming to bridge audiences.

• AI Personalization: Recipes will become hyper-personalized through algorithmic suggestions.

• Retail Collabs: Supermarkets may launch “TikTok Recipe Aisles” or curated shelves for viral dishes.

• Interactive Shows: Live-streamed cooking events will become appointment viewing for fans.

• Global Recipe Discovery: International recipes will spread faster, expanding culinary diversity.

Areas of Innovation: Where the Heat Is Rising

• Social Commerce: Seamless recipe-to-cart experiences directly within social apps.

• Instant Retail Response: Automated restocking systems for viral ingredients to meet demand.

• Creator–Brand Collabs: Limited-edition kits, sauces, and pantry bundles tied to influencers.

• Immersive Experiences: AR/VR cooking classes where users cook “with” their favorite creators.

• AI Recipe Remixing: Generative AI tools that turn viral recipes into variations tailored to dietary needs.

Summary of Trends

• Core Consumer Trend: The rise of micro-creators as the new celebrity chefs, turning kitchens into entertainment spaces.

• Core Social Trend: Real-time virality driving food purchases and shaping social behavior around cooking.

• Core Strategy: Platforms and brands must invest in agile, creator-first partnerships and rapid-response marketing.

• Core Industry Trend: Collapse of traditional food TV as a primary discovery channel and the rise of decentralized content ecosystems.

• Core Consumer Motivation: Desire for speed, authenticity, and participation that television cannot match.

Final Thought: The Last Bite

Television didn’t just lose cooking — it lost cultural timing. The future of food storytelling belongs to creators who can move fast, speak directly to their audiences, and react to trends as they happen. For brands and broadcasters, the play is no longer about bringing audiences back to the kitchen table — it’s about joining them in the feed.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jq1d63l7lo