Food Network
Launched	November 23, 1993
Owned by	Scripps Networks Interactive (70%) Tribune Company (30%)
Picture format	480i (SD) 1080i (HD)
Slogan	Way More Than Cooking
Headquarters	New York City, New York
Sister channel(s)	Cooking Channel DIY Network Great American Country HGTV Travel Channel
Website	http://www.foodnetwork.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (UK)	Channel 49 (18:00-22:00 only)
Satellite
DirecTV	231 (SD/HD) 1231 (VOD)
Dish Network	110 (SD/HD) 9462 (HD)
Sky (UK & Ireland)	Channel 262 Channel 263 (+1)
Freesat (UK)	Channel 405 Channel 406 (+1)
DStv	Channel 185
Cable
Available on most cable systems	Check local listings
Smallworld Cable (UK)	Channel 222 Channel 223 (+1)
UPC Ireland (Ireland)	Channel 508
Internet television
Meo Online	Watch live (Portugal only)

Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring (episodic) programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent.

The network is seen in more than ninety million households. In addition to New York City, it has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Jersey City, Cincinnati and Knoxville, Tennessee.

History[link]

Food Network was founded on April 19, 1993 as TV Food Network, and launched on November 23 of that year; its legal name is still Television Food Network, G.P. Within a few years, the network had shortened its on-air brand name. It was created by Reese Schonfeld (one of the founders of CNN), under the direction of Trygve Myrhen, President of The Providence Journal. Its original partners included the Journal itself, Adelphia, Scripps-Howard, Continental Cablevision, Cablevision, and most importantly, Chicago's Tribune Company, which provided the network's technical output.

Schonfeld, who was also a partner in the company, was appointed its Managing Director and sat on its management board along with two Providence Journal employees. The original lineup for the network included Emeril Lagasse (Essence of Emeril), Debbi Fields, Donna Hanover, David Rosengarten, Curtis Aikens, Dr. Louis Arrone, Jacques Pépin and Robin Leach. The next year the network acquired the rights to the Julia Child library from WGBH. In 1995, Schonfeld resigned as managing director of the network, but remained on its board until 1998, when he sold his interest in the company to Scripps.

The Food Network had been acquired from the A. H. Belo Corp. Corporation by the E. W. Scripps Company in 1997, trading KENS-AM/TV in San Antonio, Texas, for it. Belo had acquired the network when it purchased The Providence Journal Company in 1996. Myrhen left the Journal company the following year. In March 2009, the Food Network launched a re-purposed Food.com as a bookmarking site that lets users aggregate and search for recipes from different sources online.

Food Network was first launched internationally in the UK on November 9, 2009, and in Asia on July 5, 2010 (on StarHub TV's Channel 433 and Channel 468 for the HD version of Food Network Asia).^[1] Since the UK launch on November 9, 2009 on Sky,^[2] the channel has been added to the Freesat^[3] and Freeview^[4] platforms.

Programming[link]

Food Network programming is divided into daytime coverage known as "Food Network in the Kitchen" and primetime coverage the network calls "Food Network Nighttime". Generally, "In the Kitchen" is dedicated to instructional cooking programs while "Nighttime" features food-related entertainment programs, such as cooking competitions, food-related travel shows, and reality shows. Promos identify "Food Network Nighttime" programming but not daytime programming. Many of the channel's personalities routinely pull double-duty (or more) — hosting both daytime and nighttime programming — and the channel regularly offers specials which typically either follow its personalities on working vacations, or bring together a number of personalities for a themed cooking event.

Mario Batali and Bobby Flay joined the network in 1995. In 1996 Joe Langhan, an executive producer at The Food Network, created Emeril Live!, which became the channel's signature series. Among other duties, Flay and Batali now appear regularly on Iron Chef America, the channel's well-received remake of the original Japanese series. America's host, Alton Brown, gained a cult following for his Good Eats, which mixes science, cooking and offbeat humor. Currently the channel's biggest cross-over star is Rachael Ray, who has parlayed her cable following (primarily through the series 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day into a syndicated talk show.

Beginning in 2005, an annual reality contest, The Next Food Network Star, has brought viewers to New York to compete for their own show. Previous winners include Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh (Party Line with The Hearty Boys), Guy Fieri (Guy's Big Bite, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, "Guy Off the Hook," "Ultimate Recipe Showdown," "Guy's Big Night," "Guy's Family Feast"), Amy Finley (The Gourmet Next Door), Aaron McCargo, Jr. (Big Daddy's House),^[5] Melissa d'Arabian (Ten Dollar Dinners) and Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Party).^[6] For the 2010 season, the Next Food Network Star has relocated to Los Angeles.

In accordance with an agreement between Scripps and Chellomedia, Food Network programs started to air abroad in the fourth quarter of 2009 in the United Kingdom and then in other markets in early 2010.^[7]

Food Network HD[link]

Food Network HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Food Network. It originally aired a different lineup than the SD version, with only HD programs. On March 31, 2008 Food Network (along with HGTV) relaunched an HD simulcast of its standard definition feed. As a result, the programming is now identical on both channels, with upconverted and stretched versions of standard definition programs being shown when no high definition version is available.

Some cable companies broadcast the HD versions of programming on the east coast time slot (similar to satellite practices) with the SD version being broadcast in its normal timeslot. This only impacts cable networks and does not change local programming.

Food Network video game[link]

Food Network has released Cook or Be Cooked, a video game for the Wii console. The game, which was developed by Namco, simulates real cooking experiences and was released on November 3, 2009.^[8][9] Players can also try out the recipes featured on the game.

Carriage disputes[link]

Dispute with Cablevision[link]

On January 1, 2010 HGTV and Food Network were removed from Cablevision, a major cable company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. Scripps removed HGTV and Food Network from Cablevision's programming following the expiration of their contract on December 31, 2009; Cablevision and Scripps had been in negotiations for several months to agree on a new contract, but no progress had been made. The discontinuance of Food Network from Cablevision led the channel to make arrangements with Tribune-owned WPIX in New York and WTXX in Hartford, Connecticut to broadcast a special episode of Iron Chef America with First Lady Michelle Obama on Sunday, January 10, 2010, after that episode enjoyed high ratings on its January 3 cable premiere. ^[10] On January 21, 2010 Cablevision and Scripps came to an agreement and Food Network and HGTV were restored to the cable systems that day.^[11]

Dispute with AT&T[link]

AT&T U-verse dropped Food Network, Cooking Channel, HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country on November 5, 2010;^[12] two days later, on November 7, 2010, the dispute was resolved.^[13][14]

Media comment[link]

In December 2007 The New York Times business section published an article on the end of Emeril Lagasse's show Emeril Live and quoted Brooke Johnson, the president as saying that Lagasse "remains a valued member of the Food Network family".^[15]

Derek Baine, senior analyst at the media research firm SNL Kagan, is reported to have commented, "It's not surprising that people move on". "They pay almost nothing for the people as they are building their careers". "That's been their strategy all along".^[15]

The article also commented on the declining popularity of the Food Network whose day ratings it reported had fallen "to an average of 544,000 people from 580,000 a year ago". It noted, "More significant, its signature weekend block of instructional programs, known collectively as 'In the Kitchen,' has lost 15 percent of its audience in the last year, to 830,000 viewers on average. This had left the network owing refunds, known as 'make goods,' to advertisers."^[15]

Erica Gruen, former president and CEO of the Food Network (1995–1998) who created Emeril Live during her tenure, was reported to have blamed the decline on increased competition, "There's all sorts of instructional cooking video on the Web".^[15]

But it reported that, "Bob Tuschman, Food Network's senior vice president for programming and production, said the weekend ratings drop was 'nothing we haven't anticipated'. He said the network's ratings in that time period grew by double digits in each of the last four years, growth that could not be sustained."^[15]

It also wrote, "About a year ago, the Food Network began aggressively trying to change that with new deals that were 'way more onerous' from the stars' point of view, said a person who has been affected by the changing strategy, by insisting on a stake in book deals and licensing ventures, and control over outside activities.^[15]

Similar to the departure of Emeril Lagasse was that of David Rosengarten. In the foreword to his book Taste, Erica Gruen noted that the show had been the very first in-house production at Food Network and had become its most popular show. Yet after her departure at the end of 1998, the show was relegated to a 1:00 am broadcast time resulting in its inevitable drop in ratings and final demise. This strange and, on the surface, contrary to interest conduct by the network has never been explained.^[16]

See also[link]

• List of programs broadcast by the Food Network
• Food Network (Canada)
• List of Dish Network channels
• List of DirecTV channels
• The Food Network Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

	United States portal
	Television portal
	Food portal

• Official website
• Food Network HD
• Food Network Canada
• Food Network UK