Food Personality For Sale
That should be CK's next book title.
His departure won't hurt ATK, but his replacements might. They could've hired any number of low-grade comedian hosts, and that might've been better. After all, he became the guy who presumably didn't know anything. I don't think he was happy with that role, even though he was smart enough to recognize that he must play it.
But from his other productions like ATK Radio, I sense a bigger ego. If he doesn't specialize in home grown-salt-of-the-earth-food-programming, he's going to die a serious media death.
I just bought my Anova sous vide cooker from Target. (Target!). As far as I know, ATK has never addressed sous vide on TV and only a letter to their radio program got them to address it. They conceded that it worked but brought up the same tired old arguments about taking intuition and the associated smells out of the equation.
Well, Chris, WTF do you do? You're all about the science of cooking and removing variables... until Nathan Myrvold comes along....
Stick your folksy Vermontness. It's all you've got.