{"id":35303,"date":"2017-03-02T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&p=35303"},"modified":"2024-06-25T16:20:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T20:20:38","slug":"americas-test-kitchen-david-nussbaum","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/americas-test-kitchen-david-nussbaum\/","title":{"rendered":"The cooking empire\u2019s new CEO on diversifying a household name\u2014and handling the exit of star host Christopher Kimball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Watching the new CEO of America\u2019s Test Kitchen<\/a> carefully peel a ginger root, one thing is clear: David Nussbaum is no professional chef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A media veteran who founded his own trade magazine before he turned 30, Nussbaum (\u201979) stands in the bustling main test kitchen at the Brookline-based company, watching intently as a professional chef\u2014one of more than 50 who develop America\u2019s Test Kitchen recipes\u2014shows him how to quickly strip root after root of its light-brown exterior. (The secret? Use the round edge of a small spoon, not a knife.) Since becoming the company\u2019s first CEO in 2015, Nussbaum has made a concerted effort to get into the kitchen. Like millions of tentative home cooks, he\u2019s been relying on America\u2019s Test Kitchen\u2019s thoroughly vetted recipes to help him avoid culinary catastrophes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nussbaum is especially proud of his American Chop Suey, a dish he made using an America\u2019s Test Kitchen recipe. \u201cLet me show you a picture of it,\u201d he says. He\u2019s determined to find it. For the next five minutes or so, Nussbaum hunts through his computer for a photo. He gets halfway through a question about filming new shows for PBS without longtime host Christopher Kimball before, bingo! \u201cHere it is, I found it,\u201d he says with excitement. \u201cHere\u2019s what it looks like in the book, and here\u2019s mine; doesn\u2019t it look good? I love this dish, it\u2019s so good. Glad I found that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consistently allowing home cooks to replicate that feeling of triumph\u2014without resorting to complicated techniques or hard-to-find ingredients\u2014has been at the heart of America\u2019s Test Kitchen\u2019s success. For more than two decades, the company has honed a distinctively methodical approach to creating recipes and assessing kitchen tools. It produces two popular PBS shows, America\u2019s Test Kitchen<\/em><\/a> and Cook\u2019s Country<\/em><\/a>; two magazines with more than a million paid subscribers and no ads; scores of cookbooks<\/a>; an online cooking school<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this prosperous operation seemed under threat in late 2015. Just two months into Nussbaum\u2019s tenure, it was announced that Kimball\u2014a creative force whose persnickety persona seemed to embody the company\u2019s exacting formula\u2014was leaving. The Boston Globe<\/em> said<\/a> Kimball\u2019s departure raised \u201cquestions about the future of a venture so closely tied to its star\u201d; NPR noted<\/a> that the move was \u201csure to send ripples through a media empire built on a thoughtful and rigorous approach to food.\u201d The ripples intensified to storm surge in October 2016, when America\u2019s Test Kitchen said it was suing Kimball<\/a> over his new rival cooking venture, Christopher Kimball\u2019s Milk Street. The company claimed Kimball stole proprietary information and plotted the new business on his former employer\u2019s dime. A month or so later, Kimball, who has his own take on events, issued a counterclaim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nussbaum had been hired to manage the company\u2019s growth\u2014it had gone from 100 to 180 employees in three years\u2014particularly in the digital sector. \u201cWe need somebody who does this job and is focused on business strategy and organization,\u201d Chief Creative Officer Jack Bishop told the Boston Globe<\/em><\/a> at the time. Now, Nussbaum has to do all of that and convince millions of fans that their beloved source of foolproof recipes is in safe hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CEO, not a Test Cook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nussbaum is not a Kimball replacement. Although he started his career as a newspaper reporter on Long Island, New York, he\u2019s not going to edit magazines or cookbooks and he\u2019s not appearing on TV\u2014though his team has joked he can stand in the background and stir something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI certainly have had to work hard at convincing my colleagues that I can bring value and that I can be around cooking and our chefs and not be too out of place, but I think people are cool with that,\u201d he says. \u201cI think they realize we have 50 or 60 test cooks here, so they don\u2019t really need their CEO to be a test cook; they need their CEO to be someone who understands how to grow and build a thriving business so that everybody out there can get raises and make more money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Nussbaum\u2019s third CEO role. Between 2004 and 2006, he took trade publisher Penton Media<\/a> from near bankruptcy to a $530 million sale by launching new digital businesses and strengthening its events arm. After a year in private equity, he joined F+W Media<\/a>, transforming it from a publisher of enthusiast magazines into a major media e-commerce player. During his eight-year tenure, he helped launch 30 specialist e-commerce stores, which brought in around $50 million in his last year at the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nussbaum says his interest in digital media started before most people had even heard about the internet. \u201cI grew passionate about how media can be transformed by digital, so really my success at the two previous companies was due to fully digitizing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his first initiatives at America\u2019s Test Kitchen was the relaunch of the company\u2019s online cooking school. Changes to the platform included an improved orientation to better match students with lessons that fit their skill level. For a $180 annual membership, wannabee chefs can choose from expert-led courses like Advanced Knife Skills and Authentic Pizza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At the company\u2019s headquarters, more than 50 cooks work on perfecting recipes and testing kitchen equipment. Photos by Adam Detour.
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in the content business, the magazine business, selling online education is not as huge of a leap as selling subscriptions on digital,\u201d says Nussbaum, who\u2019s also leading the launch of an online food and cooking equipment store and a revamp of the company\u2019s mobile sites. \u201cPeople are accustomed to paying for their education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other changes are coming fast, too: new offices in 2017, a branded food truck and two new TV shows. In September 2016, cruise company Holland America Line, which has 800,000 passengers every year, announced it was bringing America\u2019s Test Kitchen to the high seas. Vacationers on its ships can enjoy cooking demos, join hands-on workshops and watch America\u2019s Test Kitchen and Cook\u2019s Country around the clock in their cabins. The America\u2019s Test Kitchen experience<\/a> debuted on Holland America\u2019s Mexico route. Meticulous chefs entertaining alongside lounge singers and pop acts? Will some loyal fans think that\u2019s too much of a stretch for the brand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a very natural link, because the demographics for cruise lines is fairly similar to ours,\u201d says Nussbaum. \u201cWhat our brand represents to people is great research, great development, terrific recipes, a very thoughtful way of approaching cooking that\u2019s not polluted by an advertiser\u2019s message. That is still fully in lockstep with what we\u2019re doing with some of the brand extension\u2014that\u2019s not changing. It\u2019s just that we want to reach more people in more places.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s Test Kitchen won\u2019t be ditching public television, but it will be pitching new shows to on-demand providers. The magazines will stay in print, too. Nussbaum is a fan\u2014he subscribes to Vanity Fair<\/em> and ran a commercial real estate publication for about eight years\u2014and thinks print will stick around, eventually targeting a smaller audience that\u2019s prepared to pay a premium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he says, it\u2019s essential for all media companies to think of themselves as fully integrated\u2014print, digital, live events, online education. He sees the type of deal the New York Times Company made in October 2016 to buy product review sites the Wirecutter and the Sweethome as \u201cthe future of our business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn media today, you need very strong brands to be financially successful,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can never rely on what yesterday was for the strength of your brand\u2014you have to continue to nurture it and build it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the Paywall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
America\u2019s Test Kitchen tackles recipes with scientific vigor, scrutinizing the impact of small changes such as temperature and size to land on surefire approaches.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The America\u2019s Test Kitchen offices are filled with comforting aromas, warming stews jostling for olfactory attention with fresh-baked cookies. On one winter afternoon, chefs crowd around two tables, scrutinizing a fried chicken dish and a Korean black bean sauce for noodles. The pleasant waft of sizzling spices isn\u2019t the only thing that distinguishes the company\u2019s headquarters from other editorial offices around the country. America\u2019s Test Kitchen is run using a relatively unusual operating model. There are no ads in its magazines; it buys all its ingredients and equipment at retail. And yet, Nussbaum says, the company is debt-free and growing. In 2016, it added 15 new chefs and content creators and 20 new digital staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In part, it\u2019s been able to hang on to its ad-free model because nothing is given away. Aside from the occasional product review, almost all of the privately owned company\u2019s content is behind a paywall. You can watch the programs on PBS, but everything else is subscription-based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really believe we have phenomenal content that we invest a lot in, so why give it away for free?\u201d says Nussbaum. \u201cI think if the media world were able to go back 20 years, they wouldn\u2019t have allowed Google to sweep their content and include it in Search for free. The early models in media were that web was free. The problem is that it destroyed all revenue generation models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t go back in time, but if those media businesses did what we do here and said, \u2018You have to pay for the content,\u2019 then I think the media business would be a lot healthier than it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Nussbaum, America\u2019s Test Kitchen\u2019s magazines have a combined circulation of around 1.3 million and renewal rates in the 60 percent range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That revenue is essential, because the company\u2019s recipes are not cheap to develop. Every dish is created by chefs cooking up to 60 versions of a single recipe, tweaking it at each stage to produce a surefire step-by-step guide. For perfect oven fries, for example, it\u2019s best to trade Yukon Golds (too wimpy-tasting, according to the testers) for russets (which brought a \u201chearty flavor\u201d) and to soak the raw fries (steaming makes the outsides too tough). Nussbaum says it costs about $10,000 to develop every recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Air with New Faces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For many America\u2019s Test Kitchen fans, the most visible change of Nussbaum\u2019s tenure came in January 2017, when PBS aired the first season of America\u2019s Test Kitchen<\/em> produced under his watch\u2014and the first without Kimball. After lots of consumer panels and testing, they landed on two of the company\u2019s longtime chefs and television presenters, Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster, as the new cohosts. According to Nussbaum, the show has a little more humor and, he adds, both hosts have received better Q Scores\u2014familiarity ratings\u2014than Kimball. With more stations carrying the show this year, he hopes that ratings will tick higher (he notes that the company\u2019s shows are already the number one and two practical cooking programs on TV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have one group that gives it a chance,\u201d says Nussbaum, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have one group that will watch it because they love Bridget and Julia, one group that won\u2019t watch it because Chris is gone, and\u2014hopefully\u2014you\u2019re going to have a brand-new group of people who watch it because they are excited by the change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being thrown into the public eye with America\u2019s Test Kitchen has mostly been fun\u2014Nussbaum has been asked to pose for photos and autograph cookbooks\u2014but Kimball\u2019s departure and the subsequent lawsuits upset many, and \u201cthere are some people who are not kind to other people on social media.\u201d Still, Nussbaum is confident that tried and tested management methods will help him navigate the post-Kimball future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to manage your internal audiences and your external audiences when you have such a significant shift like that. What I would say is that very good management is still very good management no matter what\u2019s going on.\u201d He checks off treating people with respect, being a visible presence in the office and encouraging risk-taking as examples. \u201cIf you come at a CEO\u2019s job with goodwill, with the intent of making everybody very successful, it\u2019s going to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since he started, the company has added profit-sharing, an extra week of vacation and a new giving-back program, and is preparing a move to bigger offices in Boston\u2019s trendy Seaport District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nussbaum is also trying a few more new recipes himself: blue cheese dip, hummus, thin-crust pizza. He\u2019d be happy to show you the photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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