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Future of TV Food NBC

Behind the scenes of TODAY's partnership with YouTube channel SORTEDfood

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By Natan Edelsburg, SVP

July 9, 2015 | 5 min read

TODAY, the NBC News brand that includes their flagship morning show and massive digital properties recently teamed up with the British YouTube channel, SORTEDfood as part of the expansion of Today.com/Food. SORTED has over 1.2 million subscribers and over 130 million total views on their videos.

SORTEDfood at TODAY by Anthony Quintano

Their community and videos are focused on simple and easy recipes. The TODAY team sent the group across America to explore different foods and have been featuring them on their morning show every so often since April 23rd. Jamie Spafford, one of the cofounders of SORTED told Found Remote that "I'd have to say that the Korean BBQ we experienced in LA had an incredible combination of flavours and added theatre to the eating experience," when asking about his favorite choice.

Found Remote interviewed TODAY.com Food Editor Vidya Rao to learn more about why TODAY decided to work with these YouTube influencers.

Found Remote: Why are you working with these YouTube influencers and how is it unique?

Vidya Rao: It was great working with SORTEDFood because Ben has a culinary background, so he gets food on that professional level. But the other guys are just everyday people who are really curious about food and culture. It makes for a great combination. And the fact that they hadn't spent much time in the U.S. made it fun to watch them discover various parts of our country, which many Americans haven't even had the opportunity to explore. You go along with them and it ignites your own excitement about what diverse food America has to offer. On top of that, the SORTEDFood crew is passionate, professional, talented and has really figured out how to make their fans the center of what they do.

FR: Why does food make for great television?

VR: Food is something that touches everybody's lives, not only what they eat for sustenance day to day, but their memories, their sense of place, their hunger for adventure. You might not be able to travel to Los Angeles, but you can follow along SORTEDFood's journey to enjoy tacos all over the city and learn why it's such an important part of the city's culinary scene. For TODAY, being a national program based in New York, it was a great opportunity for us to bring our viewers a taste of some of the regional fare around the country, and give it all context.

FR: As a producer - what are the top three ways you use social media?

VR: I use Twitter to see what's popping or causing controversy in the food world. I use Instagram to see what creative dishes niche food bloggers are putting together, and seeing what might bubble up into a trend. And I use Pinterest to feel bad about myself. Just kidding. I use Pinterest to see what types of food-related projects users are excited about, so we can run stories on tips and techniques that will help them achieve good results.

FR: What did the influencers decide were the best ultimate food party items?

VR: They were really excited and inspired by their time in New Orleans, particularly the experience of being at a crawfish boil. If you've ever been to one, you know that it's all about bringing together friends and family and enjoying the drawn out process of peeling and eating the crawfish and washing them down with lots of alcohol. Since crawfish isn't available in many parts of the country outside of the Gulf states, they did a shrimp boil and made some fried pickles for good measure.

You can access the Found Remote hub here. Sign up to receive The Drum's Daily US newsletter.

Future of TV Food NBC

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