Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain will begin hosting a new show next year on CNN. The weekend show on food and travel represents a departure for CNN in both content and procedure. CNN usually does its programming in-house, but in this case an outside production company tied to Bourdain will make the series. The show will air on Sunday nights in prime time and be repeated on Saturday nights. Bourdain has done programs onthe Travel Channel and the Food Network, and appeared in the Bravo competition Top Chef. His CNN show will feature cultures around the world through the prism of dining traditions. “We have license to love a wide variety of news, not just war and politics, but other things that reflect all aspects of our lives,” said Mark Whitaker, CNN executive vice president and managing editor. CNN also wants to do more to distinguish its weekend programming from its weekday offerings, Whitaker said. The network is looking at other things, he said, but he would not discuss them Tuesday. Bourdain’s program will be made by Zero Point Zero Productions.

Country music singer Randy Travis is accusing his ex-wife of divulging confidential information about him to damage his reputation and career. The accusations were made in a countersuit he filed this month against his ex-wife in a federal court in Nashville. The court documents don’t say what information Elizabeth Travis is accused of betraying. The filings include a copy of an August 2011 letter sent to the ex-wife by one ofthe singer’s lawyers demanding that she “cease and desist from discussing Mr. Travis’ personal and/or business affairs with third parties.” He is also accusing his ex-wife, who had been his longtime business manager, of overbilling for reimbursement for travel and other expenses. An attorney for Elizabeth Travis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The countersuit is the latest salvo in the ongoing feud between the Travises. The couple divorced in 2010 after 19 years of marriage. Elizabeth Travis had been the singer’s manager for more than three decades and continued to work with him after they divorced. She sued him last month claiming that Randy Travis made it impossible for her to do her job and terminated her management contract without proper written notice.