The Combination of Food and Family: A Format Which Resonates with Audiences

Nine is bringing back audience favourite Family Food Fight for season two in late 2018, with tweaks to the format to better highlight the dishes and the relationships between contestants.

Nine’s Head of Content Production and Development, Adrian Swift, says the power of this TV format, which has been picked up in multiple overseas TV markets, lies in how it combines food with family.

“What we like about Family Food Fight, where we think the power of the format lies, is that it’s everyday people cooking dishes that you could cook at the weekend,” says Swift.

“Being crowned Australia’s favourite family cooks is quite an accolade. Family Food Fight is about easy-to-cook dishes, cooked by genuinely good chefs who care passionately  about that great Australian-style bistro cooking dish.”

Swift says the timing of the program, coming in the last quarter of 2018, will also make it appeal to marketers in the run-up to Christmas. 

“We think Family Food Fight is a great vehicle for integration for a couple of reasons. It’s not just format. The time of year is also important. People stop thinking about the day-to-day grind and start thinking about Christmas, celebration, being around their family, and great food. 

“So Family Food Fight is not just a great brand to be part of because the integration is logical, but also because it’s on at a time of year when customers are spending up.” 

Nine has confirmed it will make important changes to the format this season to highlight the relationships between family members, eg. sisters or mother and son, and showcase the food being cooked by simplifying the number of dishes. 

“We are going to make this season less complicated,” says Swift. “If season one suffered from anything it was having too many people cooking too many dishes. 

“This year contestants will be cooking in pairs and cooking three dishes: entree, main and dessert.” 

The power of this lifestyle-reality program has registered with audiences not just in Australia but overseas, with several other TV markets picking up the Family Food Fight format. 

“Food is a gift, cooking is a gift, and one of the greatest gifts you can give your family is the gift of a great meal. This show is all about celebrating just that,” Swift said.  

“Family Food Fight has been incredibly successful overseas. It has now been sold to one of the big networks in America, the UK, Germany and Argentina. What makes the format attractive in these countries is that, like here, it celebrates both food and family.”

The Power Of Nine News is that it’s a Trusted Brand

Amid a fragmenting world of media, the power of Nine News lies in remaining a long-trusted brand, says its chief Sydney newsreader, Peter Overton.

“The Nine News audience looks to people they can trust who have longevity with the company and with the news more broadly,” says Overton. “They are looking for informative, unbiased, simple news reporting.

“Right down from (long-time Nine newsreader) Brian Henderson, Nine News has been part of so many people’s lives over decades. Trust, leadership, authority and good journalism are the bedrock of Nine News.”

Sydney weekend newsreader Deb Knight agrees, arguing that viewers can see the brand’s commitment to quality journalism across all of Nine’s platforms.   

“We are a brand that people trust and that’s quite important,” says Knight. “It is a prestigious brand and one I’m proud to be a part of, and I think that comes across in the news we produce.

“We really care about the news we are producing, and inherently we are drawing on  decades of the Nine News experience, trying hard to make it the very best product every day. We know that will resonate with audiences.”

Overton also noted that the cross-platform world we live in means the Nine News brand is now available on any platform a consumer wants.

“In terms of digital, we have Nine’s news websites and app both going so well because as journalists we can write and also supply video,” he says.  “On their desktops, on their mobiles, wherever they are, people can access Nine News and trust what they are getting.

“Digital television and social media are two amazing platforms that we can now expand our news reporting on. Through social media the information gets to us very fast. We still have to use our journalistic skills to verify it, but it’s an important tool for gathering and also helping to distribute our news.”

While the methods of distribution have evolved, the fundamentals of journalism and quality news have stayed the same.

“I believe that trust is inherent in the Nine News brand – it’s been around for 50 years-plus,” says Overton.

“I think brands can trust Nine News because Nine News is itself a trusted brand.”