• by Melynda Fuller , June 28, 2019

Following the success of two of its popular shows, “Iconic Eats” and “Julia Tries Everything,” Hearst Magazine’s Delish is expanding its video offerings to include longer-form video.

With the expansion, Delish will also increase its footprint in the company’s recently launched West Coast production studio.

“Date My Plate” and “Fake It ‘Til You Bake It” are Delish’s first attempt at reality television, with casting calls taking place in L.A. with a dedicated production team. The shows launch this summer. 

“Our series are about entertainment and personality — and there’s no better place in the world to dream up and find both than LA. Everyone is a character; everyone has magical ideas,” Joanna Saltz, editorial director of Delish and House Beautiful, told Publishers Daily. “We have such a strong team in NYC, but it’s been really inspiring to tap into an entirely new universe.”

“Date My Plate” takes the traditional blind-date game show trope and throws in some culinary flare. In each of the series's three episodes, two amateur chefs cook dinner for a blind date, competing against each other for a chance at love.

The second series, “Fake It ‘Til You Bake It,” which will also run for three episodes, takes foodie-comedians who are hopeless when it comes to baking and challenges them to concoct complicated pastries. A panel of judges will decide if the comedians can add baker to their list of talents. Pastry chef Kriss Harvey assists the contestants.

Delish has recorded exponential growth on YouTube this past year, marking a 100% year over year increase in subscribers and 200% year over years increase in watch time. “Iconic Eats” has 20 million minutes watched total from three episodes, while “Julia Tries Everything” has 20.4 million minutes watched total from 6 episodes.

“It was great to see us succeed in a space outside of the kitchen,” said Saltz. “When that started to happen, we wondered what we could do if we went further.”

Three more pilot test shows are planned for this year as Hearst continues to transform itself both digitally and editorially.

“We always like to push ourselves beyond what makes us comfortable. I feel that when something starts to feel like autopilot, it’s time to switch it up,” explained Saltz.

“So I think it’s been great for us all to get exposure to production outside of the kitchen — to learn what actually goes into making a great video series that’s more complicated. All of our editors are getting exposure to that level of expertise; they’ll be better content producers for it.”