New food and lifestyle specialty channel Gusto TV is set to launch on Bell on Dec. 11 with a free three-month preview on Bell Fibe and Satellite TV.

Chris Knight, president and CEO of GustoTV, tells MiC the tagline of the channel is “Food all Night, Fun all Day,” with programming like British reality home series A Place in the Sun and wedding planning show My Fair Wedding during the daytime hours and food-centric programming like Julia Child – The French Chef and Nigel Slater Simple Suppers in the evening. He adds he is in talks with the other carriers to add the channel to their slates in the coming months as well.

Knight says the channel, which targets women aged 25 to 54 with a bull’s-eye target on 36-year-olds aims to be the number two food channel in Canada, behind Shaw Media’s Food Network Canada.

“What makes Gusto different is that 85% of the broadcast schedule is first run in Canada, so that is a pretty significant value proposition for viewers and advertisers,” he says. “Where we are filling the gap in terms of programming is [ours] is more along the lines of food and cooking shows and not contests and game shows.”

The channel’s online home at Gustotv.com will feature recipes, food tips and web-only videos to accompany the broadcast TV programming.

GustoTV is selling its ads through Consumer Media Solutions, with Knight adding that details on a launch campaign, which was created in-house, will be coming next week.