Food Network Canceled?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
04/01/12
POPULAR FOOD NETWORK TO CEASE PROGRAMMING AT MONTH’S END
New York City – The E.W. Scripps Company announced today that after 19 years in production their popular Food Network will cease programming at the end of April. The move took many in assembly by surprise. The press conference was held at Chelsea Market on 75 9th Avenue, home of the Food Network Studios.
Milton Funderburk, Acting Assistant Vice-Chairman of Cable Programming for Scripps was asked why the media conglomerate was closing the doors on its most popular cable franchise, “The time is right. After all when we purchased TFN back in ’97 we thought it would fail miserably. That was the plan.
“We acquired the Network as a tax right off. We never dreamed anyone would actually watch it. Our thought was why would anyone want to watch someone else cooking on TV? I mean if they wanted to see someone cook, they could just go cook something. Apparently we under estimated the American public’s desire to live vicariously.”
Comments from Guy Fieri on Food Network’s pending demise. Article continues below.
Since the Food Network began programming in 1993 viewership has continued to grow though it was shaky in the beginning. Those first shows featured chefs who were virtual unknowns like Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Emeril Legasse. Now it is one of the most successful cable channels in television history which fueled more questions about why Scripps was giving TFN the axe.
Funderburk explained, “It wasn’t long after we took the Network over that we realized, we may have stumbled onto something here. Viewership was growing exponentially and other vicariousity networks were springing up. Not only were viewers watching people cooking instead of cooking themselves but they were watching the Travel Channel instead of going on vacation, eschewing exercise for the Fitness Channel and watching HGTV in living rooms that were literally falling apart around them. I’ve heard that Time Warner is actually planning on unveiling the Sleeping Channel for people who are too lazy to fall asleep for themselves.
“The trend even crossed over into mainstream media. Instead of keeping up with politics America was watching The West Wing. There was no reason to invite the annoying neighbor over when you could tune into Jay Leno. Why watch fact-based news programming when there was MSNBC?”
When asked about the future of Food Network Canada Funderburk replied, “That’s toast, too. Not that anyone will notice, it’s Canada. I know it’s the largest state in the US but hardly anyone lives there. Let’s be honest if it wasn’t for the band Rush America would have never bought Canada from the Alaskans.”
The ultimate reason Funderburk offered for 86’ing their most popular holding was it’s very popularity. The demand for food programming is so high that not only have other cable channels like Bravo and TLC entered the market but so have mainstream networks NBC and FOX.
Funderburk, noticeably angry, proclaimed, “If there is one thing I can’t stand it is being copied. If everyone is going to dabble with food programming then we’ll just wash our hands of the whole thing. It doesn’t matter to us. We’ve always got our newspaper division. That’s not going anywhere.”
Countdown to the TASTYs
Six or seven years ago I decided that all of my life’s experiences had been preparing me for one thing – to be a TV chef. The problem was I wasn’t a professional chef and I didn’t live in a large media market. So I started changing my stars. I began to write about food, I got out of my cubical and back into commercial kitchens, I started a web site and I bought a video camera.
Since then I have written two cookbooks (one has been nominated for a Gourmand World Cookbook Award), worked as a chef for a multitude of restaurants, appeared on several different TV shows, been the subject of a handful of interviews, I’ve talked shop with Bobby Flay, Ted Allen, Michael Symon, the list goes on and this site is currently ranked by Chef2Chef as one of the top 10 food sites on “the Online.”
My journey isn’t yet complete but at least I can see my destination on the horizon. Next week I take another step, possibly the most important one so far. A few months ago I was chosen to be a judge for the TASTY Awards which celebrate the best in food, fashion and lifestyle programming. Next 
week I leave the casual pace of the Deep South and dive head first into the big leagues, Hollywood.
I am attending the TASTYs in person. I get to meet up with some of my foodie pals IRL like Sara O’Donnel (Average Betty), Manouschka Guerrier (Private Chefs of Beverly Hills) and Susan Irby (The Bikini Chef). Susan has been chosen as the TASTY Awards Red Carpet Ambassador. She is giving me the bumpkin-friendly tour of LA. Irby is originally from Georgia and will keep me from looking like a stereotype – I hope. It won’t be easy though as I have quite the “todo” list:
1. Ask a Mariachi band to play Freebird.
2. Make snarky comment about Malibu being the poor man’s Biloxi.
3. Go to a Vegan restaurant and yell, “Salad is murder, too!”
4. Check flirtatious girls for Adam’s Apples.
5. Visit a medical marijuana dispensary to see if bunions qualify.
6. Spray paint “SEC Football Rules” on the Hollywood sign.
7. Go to Beverly Hills and ask directions to Walmart.
The TASTYs will be presented January 13th at a Red Carpet Awards Show at Hollywood’s legendary Egyptian Theater with live streaming at Hulu.com. A few of the scheduled nominees and presenters include Gordon Ramsay (BBC, Fox), Candice Kumai (Lifetime Television, TLC), Luciene Salomone (WE tv), Ryan Seacrest (E!, Fox), Jeannie Mai (Style Network), Aida Mollenkamp (Food Network, The Cooking Channel), Manouschka Guerrier (Food Network), Guy Fieri (Food Network, NBC), Mario Batali (Food Network), Melissa and Joan Rivers (E!), Alton Brown (Food Network), Martha Stewart and the event will be hosted by Travel Channel’s resident funny man Zane Lamphrey.
THE RETURN OF TLC’s “FABULOUS CAKES”
New Episodes Premiere Monday Nights at 10 PM ET/PT Beginning on November 22
Get ready for more bakeries, more cities and most importantly…more fabulous cakes! On Monday, November 22 at 10 PM ET/PT, TLC serves up a second season of FABULOUS CAKES with ten all-new one-hour episodes each showcasing the country’s top bakeries specializing in extravagant custom cakes. This season, in addition to an array of stunning designs ranging from eatable dinosaurs to a princess tea party theme, each new episode will also feature a wedding cake design.
In each episode of FABULOUS CAKES, viewers visit a new area of the country to witness the creation of three extraordinary custom cakes. Some of the best pastry chefs in the world share their tips and techniques as they conceive, construct, and deliver cakes that take the art of pastry above and beyond your everyday dessert. The second season of FABULOUS CAKES continues to tour the United States in search of culinary creations and features bakeries in Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and The Carolinas.
In the season premiere, three bakeries in Las Vegas create over-the-top cakes for special occasions. At the Luxor Hotel and Casino, chef Derek Franceschini and his team create a gigantic lunar cake for astronaut Buzz Aldrin by recreating his historic landing with a 600-pound moon replica and lunar landing module. Chefs Megan Hirdman and Alexa Alberto, of Queensridge Bakery, make a fairy tale fantasy wedding cake, complete with a towering castle and a mote with swans. At Freed’s Bakery of Las Vegas, Max Jacobsen-Fried constructs a colossal replica of the Las Vegas strip for a mother and son joint birthday celebration.
FABULOUS CAKES is produced by LMNO Cable Group, Inc. for TLC.
About TLC
TLC’s innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites Kate Plus 8, Little People, Big World, What Not to Wear, 19 Kids and Counting, Say Yes to the Dress, and LA Ink. TLC added to its menu of programming with Cake Boss and continues to expand into the food genre. TLC’s daytime lineup includes the Emmy Award-winning A Baby Story. The channel is available in more than 99 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at www.tlc.com. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world’s number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.
