EMERIL TO ADD SPICE TO SHOP AT HOME SALES FORCE
Popular Food Network Chef Invites Viewers to Watch and Shop ‘From Emeril’s Kitchen’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (For Release, Tuesday, June 14) – Shop at Home Network is kicking
it up a notch, with an agreement that serves up Chef Emeril Lagasse as a regular on the
network’s menu. Lagasse, who helped make Food Network one of the hottest properties in
cable television, has entered an exclusive agreement to work with Shop at Home over the next
year on a variety of new sales platforms within the electronic retailer’s kitchen category.
The agreement includes a series of Shop at Home specials hosted by Lagasse plus a regular,
weekly segment featuring the chef who made “Bam!” a pop-culture term.
“This was the vision from the beginning,” said Judy Girard, who headed up Food Network for
seven years before becoming president of Shop at Home in 2004, shortly after Scripps
Networks acquired the electronic retailer. Scripps owns both networks, along with the other
popular lifestyle brands HGTV, DIY Network and FINE LIVING. Most recently, Scripps
purchased the country music network Great American Country.
“Our lifestyle brands have such passionate audiences, people who strongly identify with
everything related to home and food, and no one has a more loyal following than Emeril,”
Girard added. “For years, viewers have e-mailed Food Network asking, ‘Where can I get that
cookware,’ or ‘How can I find that utensil Emeril used on his show?’ The platforms we are
creating allow Emeril to combine his desire to teach with his passion to share products that
make cooking easy.”
The first of three live specials will premiere during prime time in July, with two more slated for
September and November air dates. As the host of From Emeril’s Kitchen on Shop at Home,
Lagasse will demonstrate cooking products and detail the product’s features and benefits while
using them to prepare a variety of recipes. Lagasse, whose top-rated show Emeril Live! has
been a staple