NEW SEASON OF CNBC'S "RESTAURANT STARTUP" IS BACK WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6 WITH BIGGER DEALS THAN EVER BEFORE

Joe Bastianich, Tim Love and Antonia Lofaso Return for Season Three New Investor Elizabeth Blau Joins the Deal Table

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. - November 18, 2015 - CNBC today announced its popular series, "Restaurant Startup," is back on the hunt for the next wave of food visionaries: would-be restaurateurs with big ideas but little capital. With bigger deals than ever before, including the series' first-seven figure investment, "Restaurant Startup" turns up the heat with nine all-new episodes beginning Wednesday, January 6 at 10PM ET/PT.

Produced by Endemol Shine North America, the series features restaurateur and TV personality Joe Bastianich and chef and restaurateur Tim Love, who vie to invest their own money in restaurant concepts they believe could make them millions. Joining the team this season is restaurateur and hospitality consultant Elizabeth Blau, who will appear in three episodes - one alongside Bastianich and two alongside Love. Widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into a world-class culinary destination, Blau continues to develop top restaurants across the globe.

Each week on "Restaurant Startup," two teams, selected from hundreds of applicants, are invited to pitch their food ideas to the investors. But, only one will receive the opportunity of a lifetime. The chosen team is given the keys to a working restaurant in Los Angeles. They get 36 hours and $7,500 to put their concept to the test and create a business plan; come up with a branding campaign; and finally, launch their dream restaurant.

Under the watchful eye of culinary consultant Antonia Lofaso, the aspiring food moguls open their doors, serve their food and test their concept on the public.

Based on the reaction from the diners, the quality of the branding, and the viability of the business plan, Bastianich, Love, and Blau decide whether or not they will put their own money on the line to make someone's dreams come true - and, hopefully, make big money for themselves.

To learn more about "Restaurant Startup," visit: http://restaurantstartup.cnbcprime.com. Like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/restaurantstartuptv and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RestStartup |@RestStartup

"Restaurant Startup" is produced for CNBC by Endemol Shine North America and JB Crushed, LLC with David Tibballs, Eden Gaha, Robin Feinberg and Joe Bastianich as executive producers. Jim Ackerman and Luke Bauer are the executive producers for CNBC.

About CNBC:

With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 386 million homes worldwide, including more than 97 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps.

CNBC is a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. For more corporate information, visit www.nbcuniversal.com.

About Endemol Shine North America:

Endemol Shine North America delivers world-class content and compelling storytelling to multiple platforms in the U.S. and across the globe. Endemol Shine North America is part of Endemol Shine Group, the newly launched global content creator, producer and distributor with a diverse portfolio of companies in the U.S. that are behind some of the most prominent hit television formats and series in the world. Its Endemol Shine Studios division develops and produces original scripted television programming in the U.S. for global exploitation and Endemol Shine Latino oversees all Spanish-language sales and development in both the U.S. and Mexico. And subsidiary production companies include Authentic Entertainment, Original Media, True Entertainment and 51 Minds Entertainment. In addition, Endemol Shine North America has a strategic partnership with Ryan Seacrest Productions.

Endemol Shine Group's companies in North America are behind hit series including Below Deck (Bravo), Bullseye (FOX), Big Brother (CBS), The Biggest Loser (NBC), Fake Off (TruTV) Hell on Wheels (AMC), Ink Master (Spike), It Takes a Church (GSN), Kingdom (DirecTV), Knife Fight (Esquire), MasterChef (FOX), MasterChef Junior (FOX), Restaurant Startup (CNBC), Swamp People (History), The Island (NBC), The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo), Steve Harvey (NBCU), T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle (VH1), Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge (CMT), Wipeout (ABC) and many more.