Eddie Jackson's BBQ Blitz Premieres Tonight On Food Network

Photo - Food Network

Here is just a reminder that Food Network Star winner Eddie Jackson's show BBQ Blitz will premiere tonight on Food Network at 10:30pm ET/PT.  As detailed before, the show is a traveling/competition show where "grillers, smokers, and fire-roasters will cook off for a chance to win $5,000 and the title of best barbecue chef."  This disappointed some fans of Food Network Star who wanted to see him cook rather than host as Food Network Star focuses more on cooking than hosting.


The judges on each of the episodes include a few celebrity chef judges and a former NFL player.  Looking at the first few episode descriptions, the former NFL players appearing as judges will be: Ken "The Hammer" Hamlin, Anthony Lucas, and Quinton Caver.  All of these players attended Eddie's alma mater Arkansas, so all the players on this season may have ties to Arkansas.  The show really plays on Eddie's football past with the name BBQ Blitz, cheering spectators, and former NFL players.

BBQ Blitz will also replay three hours after the premiere at 1:30am Saturday and again on Sunday at 3:30pm ET/PT if you happen to miss it or don't DVR it.  I will update this post with the ratings for BBQ Blitz once they are released.

UPDATE - The ratings for BBQ Blitz were - Total Viewership 865,000, Target Demo 18-49 - 0.3  (TV By The Numbers).  For reference, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives right before it at 10pm had 1,029,000 Total Viewers with the same amount in the target demo.  So there was a considerable drop off.

Burgers, Brew & Que was another show that premiered in the same timeslot on July 17th, and had Total Viewership of 1,310,000 and a 0.4 in the target demo. (Show Buzz Daily).  The Diners, Drive Ins and Dives right before it at 10pm had 1,275,000 total viewers, so there was a slight increase.

Judging by these numbers, I would say that the ratings for BBQ Blitz weren't that great.

The full press release about the show from September is below if you are interested:

‘Food Network Star’ Winner Eddie Jackson's Primetime Series ‘BBQ Blitz’ Premieres October 9  

New Series Hits the Road and Visits Six Cities for Outdoor Cooking Battles

NEW YORK - September 10, 2015 - Food Network Star season eleven winner and former NFL player Eddie Jackson goes primetime this fall with his new six-episode series BBQ Blitz, premiering Friday, October 9th at 10:30pm ET/PT.  Eddie hits a new city in each episode and welcomes three of the best local grillers, smokers and fire-roasters to an outdoor cook-off for a grand prize of $5,000 and BBQ bragging rights. The action happens in front of a crowd of cheering spectators, and kicks off with Eddie challenging each competitor to transform their signature grilled masterpiece into a completely different dish for two hungry judges.  After an elimination, he chooses one special ingredient that the remaining two must turn into the BBQ dish of their lives. The judges then determine who cooked the best bite, and the $5,000 grand-prize winner is named in front of fans with stadium-style hoopla. Each judging panel mixes culinary experts including Ingrid Hoffman and Kent Rathbun with Eddie's food-obsessed pals like former NFL players Anthony Lucas and Ken Hamlin.

The road battle visits locales with connections to Eddie, including Miami and Charlotte, North Carolina, where he played professional football;  Dallas, his childhood hometown; Little Rock, Arkansas from his college days; Montgomery, Alabama, where his extended family lives and BBQ mecca Kansas City. 

"Eddie is a natural on-camera and everything viewers loved about him on Food Network Star makes him the perfect host of BBQ Blitz, a new competition centered around the food grew up with in the South," said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Food Network. "With the cooking chops of these BBQ masters, the energy of a sporting event and the fun of a tailgate, this show is a perfect way to kick off the weekend."

Food Network Star season eleven winner Eddie Jackson is a former NFL player who joined the food world as a private chef, food truck owner and personal trainer.  He proved to be the ultimate culinary champion during Star, known for his charismatic personality, charm under pressure and spectacular cooking skills.  His take on food, which combines his southern background with his passion for rich bold flavors, consistently distinguished him with the viewers and judges.  Eddie grew up in Texas and owns a Caribbean grill-inspired food truck and gym in the Houston area.

BBQ Blitz is produced by Follow Productions.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and up to 35 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is now the third largest monthly magazine on the newsstand, with over 12.4 million readers.  Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24-hour networks in the United Kingdom, Asia, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com) and Great American Country (www.gactv.com), is the manager and general partner.

(Scripps)