HBO Max has renewed its comedy series Julia for a second season on the eve of the show’s May 5 freshman season finale.

The series, which stars Sarah Lanchashire as Julia Child, follows origins of the renowned chef’s PBS television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the modern cooking show, according to network officials. The finale for the series’ first season premieres May 5. 

"Through her masterful performance, Sarah Lancashire welcomed us into the life of Julia Child, a trailblazer who, among her many accomplishments, redefined the possibilities of public television and, in turn, brought French cuisine and culture into American living rooms,” said HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey in a statement. “We are grateful to our creative team, led by Chris Keyser and Daniel Goldfarb, and the talented cast who entranced us all with an endless helping of warmth and charm. Julia is the perfect show for this moment and we look forward to serving more in season two.”

Julia is executive produced by Keyser, Goldfarb, Erwin Stoff, Kimberly Carver, Charles McDougall and Erica Lipez. ■ 

Scripps Networks Interactive reported higher fourth-quarter earnings, despite nearly flat advertising revenues.

Net income rose 21% to $132 million, or 96 cents a share, including a 6 cent charge for restructuring, from $109 million, or 73 cents a share, a year ago. The year-ago results included a 17 cents per share writedown of goodwill.

Revenues rose 2.3% to $669 million. Advertising revenue edged up 0.7% to $454 million.

“The strength of our lifestyle media brands and the connections they make with consumers and advertisers enabled the company to maintain its record of growth and creating shareholder value for the quarter and the full year,” CEO Ken Lowe said in a statement.  “The company is in a great position to capitalize on the many opportunities in an ever changing media environment.”

For 2015, the company said it expected revenue to rise about 4%, cost of services to rise 8% to 10% and selling, general and administrative expenses to be down 2% to flat.

In the fourth quarter, Scripps Networks’ Lifestyle media segment profits rose 1% to $298 million, pressured by restructuring expenses and higher program amortization costs.

Lifestyle media revenues rose 1.7% to $642 million. Affiliate fees grew 6.1% to $191 million, but ad revenues were up only 0.3% to $444 million, reflecting “softness in the advertising market and audience delivery at some of our networks,” the company said.

Operating revenues were down 2.9% at Travel Channel, off 1.1% at Food Network and dropped 2.6% at Great American Country. Operating revenues were up 4.4% at HGTV, 7% at DIY Network, and 9.8% at Cooking Channel.