Chris Hyndman, left, and Steven Sabados, hosts of Steven and Chris, return to the CBC for a half-season starting Jan. 4. Chris Hyndman, left, and Steven Sabados, hosts of Steven and Chris, return to the CBC for a half-season starting Jan. 4. (CBC)

Steven and Chris, the CBC daytime lifestyles show put on indefinite hiatus earlier this year, will return to the airwaves in January.

A new season of the show, hosted by partners Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman, begins Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.

A holiday special, which CBC had been planning since last spring, is scheduled for Dec. 10.

The show focuses on decor, food and fashion tips from Sabados and Hyndman, who have a background in design.

CBC has committed to half a season of the show, a total of 65 episodes running from January to April, said Julie Bristow, CBC executive director of factual entertainment.

"We're optimistic that we can keep it going after that," she told CBC News.

The series is still working on a constrained budget, but has been able to attract show sponsors and loyal audience that makes it worthwhile creating such a show in-house, Bristow said.

CBC announced in March that it could no longer afford the five-day-a-week show and was putting it on hiatus. The show wrapped up production April 15.

At the time, Kirstine Stewart, CBC-TV executive director of network programming, said a decline in ad revenue had forced the public broadcaster to cut back on programming costs. The show was launched in January 2008 and had run two seasons.

Sabados and Hyndman have a design business, The Sabados Group Inc., and have taken holidays and travelled in the period since the show was put on hiatus, Bristow said.

Contract staff of the show were laid off last April, but many of them are being reassembled now in anticipation of the show resuming, she added.