Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Skydance Corporation, who manages and operates it as a division of Skydance Television. The channel airs both special and regular episodic programs about food and cooking. Cooking Channel, a network launched in 2010, is a spin-off of Food Network. In addition to its headquarters in New York City, Food Network has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Jersey City, Cincinnati, and Knoxville.
Food Network was launched on November 23, 1993, 6:00 am as TV Food Network before the name was shortened to Food Network on April 1, 1996. It was acquired by Scripps Networks Interactive who later merged with Discovery, Inc. in 2018, and WarnerMedia was merged with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery. , Food Network is available to approximately 70,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households.
History
In 1990, Providence Journal company president Trygve Myhren was attempting to grow the company and decided that basic cable programming at the time was a high growth area with cable companies beginning to expand their overall channel capacities. With many basic cable channels at the time, Myhren was looking for something different. With food selected as the channel's genre, the working title for the channel was The Cooking Channel until the channel's launch, although the Cooking Channel name would later be used for a spin-off channel that launched in May 2010. Myhren hired Stephen Cunningham and Reese Schonfeld, co-founder of CNN, to help Joe Langhan and Jack Clifford to found the channel. Both The Cooking Channel and the Food Network trademarks were taken by other entities, with the Food Network being a newsletter. Myrhen originally wanted the network to be operated from Providence, Rhode Island, as he argued that a cable network's costs were much more scalable from a lower-profile location, while Schonfeld preferred it be originated from New York, considered the American nucleus of culinary arts; Schonfeld's preference became settled, although at the peril of the network's launch budget, which was lower than it would have been from Providence. Cunningham also separated from the venture at that time and went on to launch other networks from his Denver base.
Food Network was formed on April 19, 1993, as "TV Food Network"; its legal name remains Television Food Network, G. P. After acquiring the Food Network trademark after several years, it shortened the name to that. The network initially launched on November 22, 1993, with two initial shows featuring David Rosengarten, Donna Hanover, and Robin Leach. On November 23, 1993, Food Network began live broadcasting. Its original partners included the Journal itself, Adelphia, Scripps-Howard, Continental Cablevision, Cablevision, and the Tribune Company, which provided the network's technical output.
Since the channel could only afford to run programming that was produced themselves, the channel started taping five shows with a potential host. This became the Chef Du Jour series.
Schonfeld was appointed as managing director of TV Food Network and maintained a spot 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, Louis Aronne, Jacques Pépin, and Robin Leach. The following 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 and Cunningham sold their interest in the company to Scripps. In 1996, Erica Gruen was hired as the president and CEO of TV Food Network, becoming the second woman in history to be the CEO of a U.S. television network. That same year, the "TV" portion of the name was removed, shorting the network's name to simply Food Network. Gruen led the network into an explosive growth until 1998, by launching the largest website for food, FoodNetwork.com, more than doubling the subscriber base, tripling the viewership and multiplying the network's yearly revenue. In 1997, it was the second fastest growing cable network. Gruen changed the brand positioning from Schonfeld's "TV for people who cook" to "TV for everyone who loves to eat," thereby greatly improving the appeal to viewers and advertisers, and saving the network from bankruptcy. Greg Willis and Cathy Rasenberger were two of the original members of the launch team who led the affiliate sales and marketing of the company from 1995 to 1998. Greg Willis served as senior vice president of worldwide distribution until he left to join Liberty Media in 1998.
The A. H. Belo Corporation acquired Food Network when it purchased The Providence Journal Company in February 1997. Belo sold its 56% stake in the channel to the E. W. Scripps Company in October 1997, in a trade deal that resulted in Belo acquiring the television-radio station combination of KENS-AM/TV in San Antonio, Texas.
The 1080i high definition simulcast feed of Food Network launched on March 31, 2008.
Food Network was first launched outside of North America in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2009, and in Asia on July 5, 2010 (on StarHub TV channel 433 and in HD on channel 468).Food Business News: Schroeder, Eric "Food Network to launch in international markets" November 4, 2009. (Registration required to view entire article.) Since the November 2009 UK launch on Sky, the channel has been added to the Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media platforms.
In January 2015, the Food Network collaborated with Snapchat and launched its own Food Network channel, "Discover Food Network", where social media users could watch the channel through the app. The channel featured recipes and food tips to entertain and appeal to the millennial market.
In 2019, Tribune was acquired by Nexstar Media Group.
Programming
Food Network programming is divided into a daytime block known as "Food Network in the Kitchen" and a primetime lineup branded as "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 "In the Kitchen" daytime programming. Many of the channel's personalities routinely host 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. Food Network broadcasts on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and weekends from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET, with infomercials airing on the remaining hours. The UK channel broadcasts from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. (UK time GMT/BST as applicable) daily.
Mario Batali and Bobby Flay joined the network in 1995. In 1996, Erica Gruen, the network's CEO created Emeril Live!, which became the channel's signature series. Although Batali left the network, Flay continues to regularly appear on many programs, including Iron Chef America, the channel's well-received remake of the original Japanese series. Iron Chef America's host, Alton Brown, gained a cult following for his Good Eats, which mixed science, cooking and off-beat humor. The network alos had a series titled Ruggerio to Go hosted by David Ruggerio.
In 2002, Food Network made an appeal to home cooking with the premiere of Paula's Home Cooking, hosted by Paula Deen. Home Cooking focused mostly on Southern cuisine and comfort food. The show took overly complicated recipes and classic dishes and broke them down for the home cook. The show did increasingly well, and Deen revamped the show in a series called Paula's Best Dishes. In this series, friends and family members would join her in the kitchen and put a twist on classics and introduce new recipes. In June 2013, Food Network announced that they had terminated Deen's contract due to publicity about her racial remarks revealed in a lawsuit brought on by a former worker.
Also in 2002, Ina Garten's show Barefoot Contessa aired. Garten is well known for cookbooks, including The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, and Barefoot Contessa in Paris. Garten was also mentored by Martha Stewart. Garten's show features her cooking for her husband or hosting friends at their home in The Hamptons, New York. Barefoot Contessa was reported to have about one million viewers per episode, and received some of the highest ratings for Food Network.
The channel's biggest cross-over stars include Rachael Ray and Paula Deen, who have both taken their cable following (primarily through the series 30 Minute Meals, $40 a Day, and Paula's Best Dishes) into a syndicated talk show and Positively Paula. Both Paula Deen and Rachael Ray also have merchandise lines of cookware, food products and pet lines.
Beginning in 2005, an annual reality contest, The Next Food Network Star, featured viewers competing in New York City for their own show on the channel. 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, Guy's Grocery Games), Amy Finley (The Gourmet Next Door), Aaron McCargo Jr. (Big Daddy's House), Melissa d'Arabian (Ten Dollar Dinners), and Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Party). For the 2010 season, production of The Next Food Network Star was relocated to Los Angeles. It became the network's flagship show. For most of its 13-year run, season finales of the show was followed by lead-out shows the network promoted for high ratings and popularity. These consisted of either premieres of new shows, season premieres of continuing shows, or episodes of continuing shows that were significant to the schedule. For instance, a 2018 season finale of Food Network Star was followed by the season premiere of Beat Bobby Flay.