News

WCNY’s ‘Cooking with Julie Taboulie’ earns strong ratings, eyed by other PBS markets

by Rouhollah Goudarzi

June 16, 2012

First-of-its-kind Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking show, “Cooking with Julie Taboulie,” has earned strong ratings as part of WCNY’s Saturday afternoon cooking line-up, and it’s being considered for pick up by other New York public broadcasters and national distribution.

According to the latest Nielsen ratings report, “Cooking with Julie Taboulie,” starring Utica native Julie Ann Sageer, earned a 1 rating 5 share and more than 5,000 viewers in its 1:30 p.m. Saturday slot following “America’s Test Kitchen.” WCNY’s cooking line-up also includes “Ciao Italia,” “Lidia’s Italy in America” and “The Sweet Life with Chris Xaver.”

As a result of the show’s success, four New York PBS stations are considering picking up Season 1 of the 13-week series for broadcast this fall. Season 1 will encore on WCNY-TV channel 24.1 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 30. The show, a co-production between WCNY and Julie Taboulie Enterprises LLC, will begin shooting Season 2 in July with new broadcasts set to air in September.

“We knew when we launched ‘Cooking with Julie Taboulie’ that the show would appeal to fans of quality cooking shows, but even we were pleasantly surprised by its strength right out of the gate,” said WCNY President and CEO Robert J. Daino. “We’re proud this unique show is building an audience in Central New York and we’re confident it will attract audiences around the state and the country.”

“Cooking with Julie Taboulie,” a half-hour program that explores the world of Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking, is produced on location in and around the Finger Lakes. The region sets the theme for the program and provides the fresh food and heart-healthy ingredients that Julie Taboulie gathers in visits to her favorite farms, farmers markets, vineyards and her “Mama’s Glorious Garden.”

“My cooking show is a lifelong legacy of my love of Lebanon, my cuisine, my culture and my country,” Taboulie said. “Nothing makes me more thrilled than to see all the positive ways in which the viewers are responding to my vision finally coming to full fruition.”

WCNY will produce “Julie Taboulie” segments from the New York State Fair in August, featuring interviews with growers, Fair chefs and more. She also will present live cooking demonstrations at the Watkins Glen Finger Lakes Wine Festival at 1 p.m. July 14, the St. Elias Middle Eastern Cultural Festival at 3 p.m. July 21, at the St. Louis Gonzaga Taste of Lebanon at 3 p.m. Aug. 4, and the Central New York Regional Market Authority “I Love N.Y. Nights” at 7 p.m. Aug. 10.

“Cooking with Julie Taboulie” is sponsored by the Central New York Regional Market Authority, Hobbit Hollow Farm and Packwood House.

In addition to its regularly scheduled show time on WCNY channel 24.1, “Cooking with Julie Taboulie” airs at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays on WCNY channel 24.2 (Create) and at 6 p.m. Wednesdays on WCNY channel 24.4 (HD) and at 10 a.m., 6 p.m., and 2 a.m. on WCNY How To Channel (TWC 854,  “Taste of Tuesdays”).