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by Staff -- Multichannel News, 4/27/2009 2:00:00 AM
Food Network Expands Menu
New York — Speaking at Scripps Networks Interactive’s upfront presentation last week, Food Network president Brooke Johnson told some 600 media buyers that the network’s bill of fare boils down to four key ingredients: “younger,” “richer,” “cooler” and “bigger.”
Johnson noted that over the past five years, the median age of the Food watcher has dropped from 48 to 43. As for affluence, the network appeals to one of cable’s most upscale groups. Cooler comes in the sense that the service’s daytime and primetime recipes have audiences “buzzing.”
Bigger refers to the Nielsen Media Research ratings — Food enjoyed its best year ever in 2008 among adults 25 to 54 and 18 to 49, as well as with women of those ages.
Aided by three-course competition show Chopped, the momentum continued in the first quarter of 2009, with double-digit gains to 1.02 million average viewers in primetime, 511,000 adults 25 to 54 and 483,000 adults 18 to 49. The net’s total-day audience average spiked 9% to 660,000.
The menu for the network’s daytime “In The Kitchen” lineup will include a second season of Viva Daisy (July) with Daisy Martinez; What Would Brian Boitano Make? with the Olympic figure skater (August); Sandra’s Money Saving Meals, featuring Sandra Lee; and Take On the Takeout with Danny Boome (in 2010).
In primetime, where Guy Fieri is the network’s current king with his series Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Food will add the sixth season of The Next Food Network Star (June), The Next Iron Chef (October) and a third go-round with Ultimate Recipe Showdown (second quarter).
New to the menu: Chefs vs. City (November); the miniseries Foods That Changed the World (Q3) and Extreme Cuisine With Jeff Corwin (September).
— Mike Reynolds
RLTV Series: Sex Is Fountain of Youth
Washington — Retirement Living TV will bring its 50-plus audience up to speed on holistic treatments with its new series, Whole Body Health.
Bowing April 29 at 9 p.m., Whole Body Health will provide watchers with medical commentary and first-hand accounts of buzz-worthy and sometimes unconventional holistic practices available today. The series explores several alternative treatments, including: bee sting therapy, superfoods, cancer and enzymes therapy, Native American healing and more. It also features modern analysis on ancient healing practices and reveals whether these remedies truly work.
One installment, featuring best-selling author of the “You” series Dr. Michael Roizen, concerns how an active sex life can lead to a long life.
“Whole Body Health explores holistic approaches to health care. Each week we take viewers on a journey into the world of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine,” said RLTV vice programming and production Elliot Jacobson in a statement.
— Mike Reynolds
Is Time Warner Cable Looking To Get Joost?
New York — Time Warner Cable is reportedly in talks to acquire Internet-video aggregator Joost, according to CNET.
Joost launched in early 2007, ginning up some incredible buzz in tech circles as a forerunner in the brave new world of Internet TV.
Since then, however, Joost has seen its core peer-to-peer strategy flop and it’s become an online-video also-ran, overtaken by other sites offering free premium content, most notably NBCU-News Corp. wunderkind Hulu.
Now, CNET reports, the low-flying startup is looking for the exit by shopping itself to cable and satellite operators.
For TWC, snapping up Joost would give it quick entree into the Internet TV world.
A possible wrinkle: One of Joost’s investors is Viacom, which this past New Year’s Eve locked horns with TWC over carriage fees.
Meanwhile, an anonymous source cited by the Financial Times said that, while TWC is interested in Joost, an acquisition was “unlikely.”
— Todd Spangler
SkiTAM Raises $1 Million
Denver— The 14th annual SkiTAM event raised over $1 million in team and event sponsorships and individual registrations. Organized by CTAM of the Rocky Mountains, the event helps support the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team.
According to organization officials, 14 companies have already pledged nearly $270,000 in sponsorships for next year’s event, to be held in Vail, Colo., April 8-11, 2010.
— Mike Reynolds
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