A diary-tic taste of the Food Network.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be seated among a shocked crowd at one of the Food Network's cooking shows when one of its superchefs flamboyantly pours zabaglione on a pot au feu? Well, VideoAge embarked on that quest. The good news: the visited set of Emeril Live was free of vile concoctions and the surf-themed menu turned out just fine.

Housed inside New York's funky Chelsea Market, a location that served as the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) headquarters from 1898 to 1958, the Food Network H.Q. consists of office spaces, studios and a kitted-out test kitchen. Two studios (one surprisingly small, the other just a bit larger) serve as settings for shows such as Emeril Live, Iron Chef America, 30 Minute Meals, Quick Fix Meals, Guy's Big Bite and Tyler's Ultimate. Upon entering the building it immediately becomes clear that the locale, a food mecca where gourmet shops abound, is the perfect spot for a network devoted to culinary arts.

Before taking the elevator up to the Food Network floors, one's eyes (and ears) are immediately drawn to a seemingly out-of-place urban waterfall, where water pours from a large pipe to a below-ground pit. This, in addition to the entire first floor's brick walls, wood floors and exposed pipes serve to glorify the building's industrial past.

The same building houses nonScripps-owned women's TV network Oxygen, and before you get offended by the assumption that women and cooking go hand-in-hand, take note that many of the Food Networks stars and viewers are men (and many of the macho variety).

The only show open to the public (and journalists) is Emeril Live, and even though it's lost a bit of its luster in recent years (the Food Network in the U.S. recently shifted the series from its primetime slot to the 7 p.m. spot), many still refer to the Food Network as the network that New Orleans-based chef Emeril Lagasse built.

Emeril's show airs in Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines and the Middle East, and on U.S. military bases, embassies and onboard Navy ships via American Forces Network (AFN).

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Since Emeril proclaimed his first "Bam!" the Food Network has turned a number of celebrity chefs--previously unknown outside a cluster of hip New York City restaurants--into household names and established brands. The biggest include Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and even daytime TV superstar Rachael Ray. Scripps has also seen the popularity of glamorous Italian-American Food Network host Giada de Laurentiis (granddaughter of Italian film producer Dino de Laurentiis) grow both inside and outside the U.S.

Food Network programming can be seen in 149 territories across seven continents. This past summer, Scripps Networks teamed with Dubai, UAE-based Takhayal Entertainment for the roll-out of Fatafeat, the first 24-7, free-to-air food channel in the region. Fatafeat TV serves up Food Network programming in 21 Arabic-speaking territories, including Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

When Tennessee-based Scripps Networks acquired controlling interest in the Food Network in 1997 from A.H. Belo it became its only channel that was not homegrown. Today, Scripps' portfolio also includes HGTV, DIY Network, and Fine Living, all of which are headquartered at the parent company's main branch in Knoxville, Tennessee; as well as Great American Country, based in Nashville, Tennessee. Food Network is the only one of Scripps' babies calling New York home--logical given the fact that most of the celebrity chefs on whom Food has built its success are based in the Big Apple.

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But the Food Network's reach extends way beyond New York. As of July 2007, the cable net was being beamed into 93.2 million Coverage Area Homes (up 3.6 million homes over the previous year). It is now the 22nd largest cable net in the U.S., with a median viewer age of 49 during the day and 48 at night, and a 65-35 percent split in favor of female viewers.

According to Anna Alvord, director of International Development at Scripps, overseas lifestyle or food-related channels license shows from one or more of the Scripps Networks at once. Alvord happily recognized the fact that lifestyle shows have taken off internationally. When asked which of the Food Network series specifically are most popular, Alvord singled out barbecue shows. Additionally, Rachael Ray's culinary shows have been celebrated overseas, and since Ray's daily talkfest airs on different, non-lifestyle channels, there seems to be plenty of room for Ray on international TV sets.

Program sales are not the only way Scripps makes money. The company is expanding its licensing initiatives domestically and internationally. Phiderika Foust, senior vice president, Business Development for Scripps Networks, explained that while some Nigella Lawson product is available abroad (thanks to her U.K. fame), most licensing campaigns are national in scope. But in the coming months, Food Network plans to bring its brands to a shop near you. "Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray and Paula Deen have developed efforts, and others have licensing efforts made up of one or two items," said Foust. "We are working with talent to create extensive licensing campaigns. The Food Network brand brings a multi-platform approach," she said. Until now the companies' licensing campaigns have been focused largely on online applications (such as VoD programs) and cookbooks.

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The net's biggest licensing deal to date rolled out in September, and involved the introduction of 400 skews of product--spanning all categories of housewares--into 932 Kohl's stores across the U.S. "Our first objective is to create a Food Network licensing program that is robust," said Foust. "And the second is to pair Food Network product with talent." Foust expects Ingrid Hoffmann--a Latin American celebrity who recently joined the Food Network team--to have what it takes to carry a licensing campaign. "We like to believe we started the trend of celebrity-'chefdom' and we want to be a part of that going forward," she said.

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But if there's one thing that a tour of the Food Network shows, it's that it takes a lot of behind-the-scenes cooks to create one celebrity cook. Thanks to a team of sous-chefs and a crew whose main purpose is to rev up the audience, Emeril puts on quite a show, allowing the audience occasional nibbles of his food. Guests are seated and an hour and half (and a whole lot of commercial break pauses) later a meal is cooked and a show is in the bag. Unfortunately for this journalist, the food was scarce, and snacks were limited to gourmet potato chips. But at the very least the food smelled delicious, and the recipe for fish tacos has since been put into practice ... with some very tasty results.

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