This year, Food Network continues to build on impressive successes in primetime, overall ratings growth and increases in the adult 25-54 demographic. With shows like Iron Chef America and The Next Food Network Star out-performing last year, 2006 looks to be another hot one for Food Network.
'We are focused on building our popular franchise shows like Iron Chef America, The Next Food Network Star and Food Network Challenge.' said Brooke Johnson, President, Food Network. 'Our audiences have increased significantly because of those shows and we are continuing to add new primetime shows to the lineup and seek out new talent for all dayparts.'
The Next Food Network Star is a primary driver of this ratings growth. The second season premiered on Sunday, March 19 at 9 PM ET/PT with a 1.1 household rating and a .6 rating among the adults 25-54 demographic. The two-hour premiere was extremely competitive for adult 25-54 viewers, tying as the sixth highest-rated show in the demo among all ad-supported cable networks during its 9-11 PM time period. On Sunday, March 26 at 9 PM, the second episode of the series built on the previous week with a strong 1.19 household rating, averaging 1.5 million total viewers.
In addition, 'Iron Chef America' continues to slice and dice with more than 10 million viewers tuning into the season two premiere airings in 2005. Both household and demo ratings were up over prior year levels including an almost twenty percent lift among adult 25-54 viewers (+18%). Season three is off to a sizzling start, posting both household and demo gains, including a solid twenty seven percent increase among adults 25-54 over previous time period levels.
New primetime shows this year include: 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay,' where Flay challenges the country's best cooks to a competition in their area of expertise; 'Two for the Road,' with Jamie and Bobby Deen, sons of Paula, traveling the country for the best local foods. Daytime offerings include: a realistic approach to healthy cooking with 'Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger;' and 'Nigella Feasts,' with popular UK host, Nigella Lawson. The network will also launch two limited series: 'The Next Food Network Star 2: Winner Show' (working title) and 'Feasting on Asphalt,' hosted by Alton Brown, a look at food on the American road today.
NEW SERIES:
HEALTHY APPETITE WITH ELLIE KRIEGER
Premieres April 8 at 1 PM ET/PT
Cooking healthy food can be quick and easy, but most of all, delicious. Nutritionist and author Ellie Krieger has created fast, simple and healthy recipes for the real world during this half-hour weekly series. She'll show viewers how simple it can be to stay on the healthy track no matter how busy and stressful life is. Ellie also has strategies for eating well in the most challenging situations: at the office, at restaurants, or even on vacation. Healthy Appetite has tons of easy ways to eat better, live healthier, have more energy and feel great!
TYLER 'S ULTIMATE
Premieres May 6 at 9:30 AM ET/PT
Chef Tyler Florence celebrates his tenth year on Food Network with his brand-new series Tyler's Ultimate . Florence will show viewers the ultimate version of classic recipes – and how easily they can be prepared at home. fried chicken…meat loaf…mac and cheese…recipes for these crowd-pleasing classics have to be the ultimate. Between cooking in critically-acclaimed restaurants, writing cookbooks and traveling the globe to feed his own insatiable appetite, Florence has experienced every conceivable approach to everyone's favorite foods. Now, he has rewritten the book on America's most beloved dishes by drawing from the best of the best to present an indispensable on-air cookbook.
NIGELLA FEASTS
Premieres September 2006
'The interesting thing about food is that it's both about reality and escape… Before you know it, you have made something that seduces people.' – Nigella Lawson. Seducing people with food comes easily for Nigella Lawson. Beautiful and talented, she has built an empire by demonstrating that, in the right hands, food can be sensual. On the heels of her recent best seller, Nigella Feasts brings London 's 'domestic goddess' to Food Network for the first time. This new series is about food, family, public holidays and private passions, and how to celebrate with dishes that stir the senses and delight the palate.
THROWDOWN WITH BOBBY FLAY
Premieres June 29 at 10 PM ET/PT
Chef Bobby Flay is on a secret mission to challenge the best of the best in different areas of food – award-winning BBQers, bakers, pizza makers and more. These people are the absolute masters in their area, with the room full of trophies to prove it. In each episode of this new series, Food Network arrives to shoot a 'profile' of these masters for a show. That's partly true, but with cameras rolling for the 'profile,' Bobby surprises each expert and challenges them to an unexpected cook-off of their specialty, right then and there! Bobby is out of his element but he throws down for an exciting, tension-filled competition against one of America's greatest amateur cooks.
TWO FOR THE ROAD
Premieres June 27 at 10 PM ET/PT
Paula Deen's fun-loving sons, Jamie and Bobby, hit the road in this new series, criss-crossing the country in search of the best local hand-crafted foods. Armed with wit, ingenuity and a passion for food, the Deen boys offer a fresh, fun look at the specialty stores and family run businesses that make one-of-a-kind creations. They'll even show viewers how to get it all delivered to their front door. Hop in the back of their convertible – local treats await, but half the fun is getting there!
PAULA'S COOKING PARTY (working title)
Premieres September 2006
Paula Deen brings all the fun and laughter of her popular daytime show Paula's Home Cooking to a raucous cooking party shot in her hometown of Savannah , Georgia . Paula's Cooking Party (WT) is a non-stop ride of food, fun, stories and surprises, where Paula connects with her fans both in the studio and in field segments taped on the road. It's an inclusive experience where Paula encourages audience participation and answers any questions that come up from the crowd. Fans will cook, laugh and bond with Paula and her whole family.
LIMITED SERIES:
THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR 2: WINNER SHOW (working title)
Premieres June 2006
Food Network embarked on the second season of its successful reality series, The Next Food Network Star, with a new crop of contestants. America will vote and the winner will receive their own six episode series in the network's popular In the Kitchen programming block. Who will it be? What will the show look like? Find out in June when the winner makes their Food Network debut!
FEASTING ON ASPHALT
Premieres July 19 at 9 PM ET/PT
Alton Brown (Good Eats) believes roads exist because before people needed to conquer, build, shop, vocate, vacate, and pick up a latte, they needed to eat. Feasting on Asphalt is Alton 's story of driving across America by motorcycle on the fabled Route 50 to find out what's left to eat. Alton and crew will meander in a zigzag leading from Savannah Georgia, through the western edge of the Great Smokey Mountains, down the Natchez Trace, across the bayous of Louisiana, over the hill country of Texas , across the high dusty dessert to the Rocky Mountains , then west to Las Vegas and the California coast. Along the way they will contemplate every aspect of eating on the go from foraging in the forest, to camp cooking, to the evolution of 'road food' icons. They also intend to eat (and cook) in churches, community centers, VFW halls, RV parks, and the homes of folks nice enough to offer a weary traveler a meal.
NEW EPISODES:
IRON CHEF AMERICA: ALL STAR BATTLE (working title)
Premieres November 2006
Food Network takes Kitchen Stadium to a new level with a battle to end all battles this November. Iron Chef Bobby Flay teams up with Giada De Laurentiis, while Mario Batali chooses partner Rachael Ray in a Food Network food fight for the ages. The secret ingredient is revealed, the chefs are in battle mode and the heat is definitely on in Kitchen Stadium!
NEW SPECIALS:
FOOD NETWORK CATERS YOUR LAS VEGAS WEDDING
Premieres June 11 at 9PM ET/PT
Food Network Caters Your Vegas Wedding follows the adventures of Roxanne Luna and Phillip Patranella, the lucky couple that won the opportunity to have their wedding thrown by Food Network in Las Vegas! Giada De Laurentiis (Behind the Bash) and Bobby Flay ( Iron Chef America) host this two-hour original special, part of Food Network's Wedding Weekend. With special recipes designed by Food Network chefs, including Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, and Michael Chiarello, as well as an astounding wedding cake by Food Network Challenge: Ultimate Wedding Cakes winner Marina Sousa, this is a wedding no one will forget. Roxanne and Phillip arrive in Las Vegas , are whisked away to the fabulous Lake Las Vegas Resort, and do everything from flying to the Las Vegas Strip in a helicopter, eating a glamorous brunch at Flay's Mesa Grill Las Vegas restaurant, to dancing the night away in one of Las Vegas' top clubs.
