Scripps Pays Higher Bill for Fare

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 2/13/2012 12:01:00 AM

Scripps Networks Interactive is putting its money where its mouth is.

The move is part of an announced effort to launch new shows on all its networks, but the bulk of those funds will probably be steered toward the Travel Channel, which it purchased in 2009 for about $1 billion.

The added spending comes at a critical time for Travel. Its top show, Man v. Food, is nearing the end of its expected run and most of the carriage deals for the network come due in 2012 and 2013. Scripps has said in the past that it anticipates it will significantly increase carriage fees for Travel — which currently gets about 11 cents per subscriber per month, according to SNL Kagan — once its deals come up for renewal.

At its peak, Man v. Food, in which host Adam Richman travels the world in search of competitive-eating challenges, had accounted for more than 40% of Travel Channel’s primetime impressions, SNI CEO Ken Lowe said on a conference call with analysts. The program has since dropped in the ratings — it now accounts for less than 30% of primetime impressions.

“Unfortunately, Man v. Food as a format just was not sustainable beyond the three-year arc,” Lowe said, adding that the network continues to work with Richman to develop new series.

Travel Channel has also seen a decline in ratings — viewership in the 25-54 demo was down 12% in the fourth quarter. Adding new series could help boost that performance, especially as carriage-renewal time nears.

“We really had a network that was fairly reliant on a small number of hit series,” Lowe said. “What we’re doing today is building out some new formats that help us create the brand around Travel.” Lowe added the goal is to launch two to four new shows on the channel and increase the number of programs driving the Travel Channel brand, from two to three today to as many as six to eight shows in the future.