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Country | United States |
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Broadcast area |
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Headquarters | Newark, New Jersey |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) Downgraded to letterboxed 480i for SDTV feed |
Ownership | |
Owner | A&E Networks |
Sister channels | LMN [1] |
History | |
Launched | November 16, 1998 |
Former names | The Biography Channel (1998–2014) |
Links | |
Website | www |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Service(s) | Philo, Sling TV, Frndly TV, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV |
FYI (stylized as fyi,) is an American basic cable channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (each owns 50%). The network features lifestyle programming, with a mix of reality, culinary, home renovation and makeover series.
The network originally launched in 1998 as The Biography Channel, as an offshoot of A&E and named after its television series Biography . As such, it originally featured factual programs, such as reruns of its namesake. As A&E shifted its focus towards reality television and drama series, the Biography Channel became the home for several series that had been displaced by the flagship network (including Biography itself), but shifted towards reality-oriented series itself in 2007 and was rebranded as simply Bio. In 2014, the channel was rebranded as FYI.
As of November 2023 [update] , FYI is available to approximately 35,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2015 peak of 73,000,000 households. [2]
In recent years, FYI has lost carriage with the growth of streaming alternatives and has generally been depreciated by A&E Networks in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers.
The channel was launched on November 16, 1998, as The Biography Channel by A&E Television Networks, which conceived the channel as an offshoot of the long-running A&E profile series Biography . [3] [4] On October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded its British partnership with British Sky Broadcasting with the launch of a UK market Biography Channel. [5]
In August 2006, The Biography Channel became the exclusive home for the Biography series, as it was dropped by A&E. Another 64 hours of the show was ordered for its first year on the channel. [6] In 2007, Biography Channel unveiled a new on-air brand—identifying the network simply as "Bio". [4] The changes came as the network shifted its scope to de-emphasize traditional biographical programs in favor of "true stories about fascinating people", such as the series Shatner's Raw Nerve , hosted by William Shatner. [7]
Bio had been stagnating since A+E's 2013 upfront presentation as little focus was placed upon it. Bio was generating 12 cents per subscriber from the video provider, about half the industry average.[ citation needed ] After tweaking the three main A+E channels, Bio averaged viewers of 91,000 adults 25–54 in prime compared to what A&E (716,000) and History (703,000) managed over the same period. [8] Jana Bennett was hired as president of LMN and Bio in June 2013 and, having transformed TLC from an educational channel to a lifestyle network, was considered an indication that adding a lifestyle channel to the A+E portfolio was a possibility. An opening in the genre occurred as the Style Network became the men-focused Esquire Network. While preparing to launch FYI, Bio began re-airing A&E's house-flipping shows and 30 potential shows were placed in development. [1]
In December 2013, A+E Networks announced that The Biography Channel would be rebranded as FYI, a contemporary lifestyle network, starting in mid 2014. [9] By February, FYI had a slate of six new series including three food series, two home design series, and one style series, with other shows also in development, [10] including pilot orders of Red Hot Design and Jennifer's Way. [11] In April, Midnight Feast was greenlit for the new channel while two others—Say it to my face and Reverse Course—were ordered to pilot. [12]
With the June 2014 announcement of the 2015 end of the ABC Owned Television Stations-run subscription network Live Well Network, some of its programming was being offered to FYI, which shared partial ABC ownership. [13] The network launched on July 7, 2014, with a preview special, FYI: First Look, featuring previews of the network's new programming. Its first new original series, Married at First Sight , premiered the next day. [14]
In January 2015, following the success of its Six Months Later special, FYI ordered Married at First Sight: The First Year. [15] [16]
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(June 2019) |
Despite the relaunch, international versions of The Biography Channel exist in some regions. An international version of The Biography Channel previously operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Israel, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, but has since been replaced by other channels. The Australian channel was closed in 2015. The Canadian version, operated under license by Rogers Media, was relaunched as Viceland in February 2016, but was then shut down on March 31, 2018.
Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, design, and urban lifestyle-themed programming. In 2008, Style shifted its programming towards personality-centric reality shows. The network was relaunched as Esquire Network on September 23, 2013; said rebrand was supposed to be on G4, but that was given to Style due to G4's low ratings. As Esquire Network, the channel focused on travel, cooking, sports and fashion, and also aired reruns of popular sitcoms and dramas.
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and Nexstar Media Group. Despite this ownership structure, Warner Bros. Discovery has operating control of the channel, and manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both special and regular episodic programs about food and cooking.
FYI was a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Discovery Health Canada, ULC, a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Based on the American cable network of the same name, the channel featured lifestyle programming, with a mix of reality, culinary, home renovation and makeover series.
BET Her is an American basic cable television network currently owned by the BET Networks subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group.
Bio was an Australian general entertainment channel available on Australia's Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television pay television services.
A&E Television Networks, LLC, stylized as A+E NETWORKS, is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its Entertainment division. The company owns several non-fiction and entertainment-based television brands, including its namesake A&E network, History Channel, Lifetime, FYI, and their associated sister channels. The company also holds stakes in, or licenses, their international branches.
Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, and travel. The network first launched in 1996 as Discovery Travel & Living Network, as part of a suite of four digital cable networks the company launched that year. From its launch until 2008, the network primarily focused upon home improvement, cooking, and leisure-themed programs.
Virgin Media Two, also called Virgin Two, is an Irish free-to-air television channel operated by Virgin Media Television.
Biography is an American documentary television series and media franchise created in the 1960s by David L. Wolper and owned by A&E Networks since 1987. Each episode depicts the life of a notable person with narration, on-camera interviews, photographs, and stock footage. The show originally ran in syndication in 1962–1964, and in 1979, on A&E from 1987 to 2006, and on The Biography Channel from 2006 to 2012. After a five-year hiatus, the franchise was relaunched in 2017. Over the years, the Biography media franchise has expanded domestically and internationally, spinning off several cable television channels, a website, a children's program, a line of books and records, and a series of made-for-TV movies, specials, and miniseries, among other media properties. Biography has won a Peabody Award (1962) and three Emmy Awards.
Viceland was a Canadian pay television channel. It was owned by Vice Network Canada, Inc., which was owned by Rogers Media with minority ownership by Vice Media. It was a Canadian version of Viceland, broadcasting lifestyle-oriented documentary and reality series aimed towards a young adult demographic.
History TV18 is a television channel in India. It broadcasts infotainment and documentary shows. It is owned by a joint venture between A+E Networks, owner of the American History channel, and TV18, an Indian media group owned by Mukesh Ambani. It is available in four languages in full HD across the Indian subcontinent.
Knight Enterprises is an independent television production and broadcasting company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Since it began in May 1996, Knight Enterprises has produced more than 400 half hours of television. Knight Enterprises is best known for food television series including "The Great Canadian Food Show," "Cook Like a Chef," "Licence to Grill," "Junk Brothers," as well as, "This Food That Wine". In December 2013, Knight Enterprises entered the broadcasting landscape with the launch of its first-ever television channel - Gusto.
FYI was a Southeast Asian television channel dedicating to lifestyle. The channel was launched on May 27, 2008 as Bio. by A+E Networks Asia, a joint-venture between A+E Networks and Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. On October 6, 2014, Bio. became FYI.
Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting programming related to food and cooking. Cooking Channel is available via traditional Cable Television as well as Discovery+ since January 2021.
HGTV is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate.
CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home improvement and real estate, along with scripted drama series.
Lifetime is an Asian television channel owned by A+E Networks Asia.
9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. for the distribution of many formats.
Tastemade, Inc. is a media company that offers food, travel, and home & design-related programming for online and streaming audiences.
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