FOOD NETWORK DECKS THE HALLS ACROSS PLATFORMS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH MORE THAN 35 NEW AND RETURNING HOLIDAY SERIES, SPECIALS, THEMED EPISODES

On Food Network Digital It's the #BiggestHolidayEver as Holiday Desserts Get Supersized Live Plus New Holiday Content Every Day in December

NEW YORK - October 4, 2018 - There's no place like Food Network for the holidays, and with a planned 30 plus hours of premiere holiday programming this year it is the ultimate holiday destination. The seasonal primetime lineup kicks off with the return of Holiday Baking Championship, with host Jesse Palmer and tough love judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Lorraine Pascale, premiering on Monday, November 5th at 9pm ET/PT, followed at 10pm by Christmas Cookie Challenge, with host Eddie Jackson and lead judge Ree Drummond. On Sunday, November 25th at 8pm ET/PT, Jonathan Bennett presides over the all-new special Holiday Wars, followed at 10pm by new series, Holiday Gingerbread Showdown hosted by Marcela Valladolid. Then, don't miss the return of the special Gingerbread Giants premiering Sunday, December 23rd at 9pm ET/PT. In daytime, Giada's Holiday Handbook returns on Sunday, November 11th at 11:30am ET/PT with timely entertaining tips and recipes. FoodNetwork.com supersizes the holiday season with larger-than-life dessert creations for the #BiggestHolidayEver, plus 31 days of brand-new holiday content across platforms in December.

"Food and holidays go hand-in-hand and every year viewers look forward to Food Network's holiday entertainment all season long," said Courtney White, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Programming, Food Network and HGTV. "With more than 35 holiday-themed episodes planned, we are on target this year to finish the quarter with the most holiday hours we have ever premiered. Combined with this year's #BiggestHolidayEver on Food Network's digital platforms, fans can count on fun, festive holiday entertainment to help make their holiday season merry and bright."

Holiday Baking Championship returns on Monday, November 5th at 9pm ET/PT with a new batch of holiday bakers and even more decadent holiday desserts. Host Jesse Palmer,along with judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Lorraine Pascale, test the skills of nine talented bakers as they whisk, fold and frost their way through difficult challenges throughout the seven episodes. From yule log mashups to eggnog cakes, only one will 'sleigh' the competition for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize and be featured in an original video on FoodNetwork.com and in a feature in Food Network Magazine. For more baking fun, six previous baking champions are back at 'home' in the baking championship kitchen to prove their skills can rise to the top on Monday, December 24th at 9pm ET/PT in the new one-hour special Holiday Baking Championship: Homecoming. Head to FoodNetwork.com/HolidayBakingChampionship to meet the newest batch of contestants and find everything you need to bake all season long, and on Food Network's Instagram and Facebook pages see our collection of decadent holiday creations. Tell us your favorite holiday dessert using #HolidayBakingChampionship. After the Holiday Baking Championship finale, watch out for an exclusive baking video with the winner!

Host Eddie Jackson returns with lead judge Ree Drummond this holiday season to challenge festive and talented cookie makers over a new seven-episode season of Christmas Cookie Challenge, premiering Monday, November 5th at 10pm ET/PT. Each episode features five daring cookie makers proving their holiday skills through two rounds, as Eddie and Ree are joined by a rotating panel of guest judges, including Stephanie Boswell, Vivian Chan, Dan Langan, Jordan Pilarski, Gesine Prado, Aarti Sequeira and Molly Yeh to help determine which bakers will have the best Christmas ever, walking away with a $10,000 prize. Visit FoodNetwork.com/ChristmasCookieChallenge to see the most creative holiday cookies ever, and watch culinary challenges in the kitchen with Eddie, Ree and the other judges. Viewers can share their best cookie creations on social using #ChristmasCookieChallenge.

Giada De Laurentiis wrote the book on holiday entertaining and on Sunday, November 11th at 11:30am ET/PT she is sharing her tips and tricks to pulling off a holiday season's worth of parties on the return of Giada's Holiday Handbook. Learn fun and elegant ways to make your parties exciting and stress-free with step-by-step details for building the perfect celebration. From planning a delicious menu and signature cocktails, to coming up with fun decorations, music, and take-away gifts for guests, Giada will help you kick off the holidays in style! For bonus videos showcasing Giada's traditional family party bites, tried-and-true holiday dinners and authentic Italian desserts that will steal the show at your festive celebration go to FoodNetwork.com/HolidayHandbook and follow along on social with #HolidayHandbook.

The competition is fierce this holiday season when three teams each featuring three cake masters and a sugar artist will face off to create mind-blowing fantasy holiday displays that are as festive as they are delicious, in the one-hour primetime special Holiday Wars, premiering Sunday, November 25th at 8pm ET/PT. Hosted by Jonathan Bennett, and featuring award-winning cake decorator Shinmin Li and Food Network's Jason Smith as judges, the three teams must compete in two jolly rounds including a Snowball Fight challenge, where the artists must use cake and sugar to create an edible holiday design in just 45 minutes. One winning team gets a vital advantage going into the Winter Blizzard challenge, where the teams are tasked with developing an eye-popping, masterful Christmas display made up entirely of cake and sugar. At the end of this battle, one team will jingle all the way home with a $10,000 grand prize! Join the conversation using #HolidayWars to share your favorite holiday creations and check out the competitors' amazing wintry confections at FoodNetwork.com/HolidayWars.

The best gingerbread artists in the country must create the most incredible, edible gingerbread masterpieces on new series Holiday Gingerbread Showdown, premiering Sunday, November 25th at 10pm ET/PT. Over four episodes, host Marcela Valladolid tests the skills of nine gingerbread artists in holiday-themed challenges. Judges Kerry Vincent, Molly Yeh and Adam Young determine the winner of each episode that advances to the grand finale where they will square off in the ultimate showdown. But it's not all gumdrops and candy canes as the clock is ticking on dreams of the $25,000 prize. Only one will be crowned Best Gingerbread Artistand be featured in Food Network Magazine. Follow #GingerbreadShowdown for the latest baking hacks for a holiday spread that's both creative and classic, and go to FoodNetwork.com/HolidayGingerbreadShowdown for a complete guide on all things gingerbread, including unforgettable cookies, houses, loaves and more.

Holiday special Gingerbread Giants, premieres onSunday, December 23rd at 9pm ET/PT and takes edible architecture to new heights on this returning hour-long special. Follow five skilled gingerbread artists, as they go head-to head at the Annual National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, North Carolina as they bake, build and decorate the most magnificent and detailed gingerbread houses. Share your own gingerbread house creations using #GingerbreadGiants and go behind the scenes of the competition at FoodNetwork.com/GingerbreadGiants.

Don't miss additional holiday-themed episodes of fan-favorite series in November and December, including Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro, Guy's Ranch Kitchen, The Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman, Trisha's Southern Kitchen and more.

Across digital and social, FoodNetwork.com is supersizing the holidays, creating ginormous versions of fans' favorite holiday desserts to celebrate the season. From a Gigantic Standing Snowman to Giant Peanut Butter Cup to a Peanut Butter Blossom, Food Network is going live building incredible and enormous confections for our hungry fans for the #BiggestHolidayEver! Also, count down our all-time top 10 holiday videos on Facebook, and don't miss new videos, digital originals, seasonal galleries, dining guides and more at FoodNetwork.com/Holiday. Fans can enjoy 31 Days of Holiday featuring new content every day in December. Plus, stream the holidays any day, any time with Food Network's TVE, including hundreds of seasonally-themed episodes and new digital series Holiday Mode with host James Briscione.

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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 nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment whose portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.