Flavour Network

Flavour Network

Country	Canada
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	Food Network Canada Inc. (80.15%, via Corus Entertainment – managing partner) Television Food Network G.P. (19.85%; Warner Bros. Discovery/Nexstar Media Group [1] )
Sister channels	DTour Home Network W Network
History
Launched	October 9, 2000;24 years ago (October 9, 2000)
Former names	Food Network Canada (2000–2005) Food Network (2005–2024)
Links
Website	flavournetwork.ca
Availability
Streaming media
StackTV	Internet Protocol television
RiverTV	Channel 12 (HD)
Rogers Xfinity	Channel 95 (HD)

Flavour Network (formerly Food Network) is a Canadian English language specialty channel majority-owned by Corus Entertainment, with minority interests owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Nexstar Media Group (via Television Food Network G.P.) via licensee Food Network Canada, Inc. ^[2] It broadcasts programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry, including competition, reality, and travelogue-style programs.

The channel was originally established on October 9, 2000 as a Canadian version of the American cable channel Food Network, in a joint venture between Corus, Alliance Atlantis, and Food Network U.S. majority owner E. W. Scripps Company. It replaced the U.S. version of Food Network (which had been distributed in Canada since 1997) on television providers. Through various ownership changes, Corus Entertainment later became the majority owner of the channel.

In June 2024, Rogers Sports & Media announced that it had acquired Canadian rights to Warner Bros. Discovery factual and lifestyle television brands beginning in 2025, including Food Network. Rogers announced its intent to relaunch Food Network as a new discretionary specialty channel on January 1, 2025. Corus announced that it would continue to operate its existing Food Network channel under a new brand, replacing Food Network U.S. programming with other acquisitions to accompany its existing Canadian productions. The new brand was later announced as Flavour Network, which launched on December 30, 2024.

History

The U.S. Food Network was available in Canada since 1997 and became one of the more popular foreign cable channels available in Canada. This prompted the creation of a Canadian version which would then be able to access ad revenue through commercials under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations. Corus Entertainment and Alliance Atlantis launched the channel on October 9, 2000 at 6:00 a.m. EST.

Food Network's logo used from 2000 to 2005. After that it was changed to match the 2003 Food Network USA logo.

The licence for Food Network Canada was approved by the CRTC in early 2000. The channel was launched in October of that year; on the day of the launch, the U.S. service was removed from the list of foreign channels eligible to be broadcast in Canada.

On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media bought Alliance Atlantis and gained AAC's interest in Food Network.

Food Network logo from 2014 to 2024

On October 27, 2010, ownership changed again as Shaw Communications gained control of Food Network as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media. ^{[3] [4]} A high definition simulcast launched on October 5, 2011. ^[5] On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment (also controlled by the Shaw family) announced the sale of its 22.58% ownership interest in Food Network to Shaw Media, in exchange for Shaw's 49% stake in ABC Spark. ^[6] The sale closed in April 2013. ^[7]

On April 1, 2016, Shaw Media was subsumed into Corus as part of a corporate reorganization, which reunited Food Network with the active Corus channels. ^{[8] [9]} On December 12, 2016, sister brand Cooking Channel was launched by Corus, using the W Movies license. ^[10]

Relaunch as Flavour Network

See also: 2024 Canadian specialty television realignment

On June 7, 2024, Corus announced it had been informed by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that the latter would be ending its trademark licensing and program output agreements for some WBD-branded channels at the end of 2024. ^[11] Three days later, Rogers Sports & Media announced it had reached an agreement with WBD for Canadian rights to lifestyle brands including Food Network beginning in January 2025. ^[12] Rogers subsequently announced that it would launch its own Food Network linear channel on January 1, 2025. ^[13]

Corus stated that it intended to continue operating most of the affected networks under new brands, maintaining their existing original programming while making new content acquisitions to supplant WBD-owned programs. ^[11] In September, Corus announced that the current Food Network would rebrand as "Flavour Network" on December 30, 2024, with the channel's slate for the 2024–25 season featuring new and renewed original series (including new series featuring Andrew Phung and Pamela Anderson, and Top Chef Canada being renewed for a twelfth season), and new acquisitions (including Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars and Kitchen Nightmares among others). Some repeats of Food Network U.S. programming will continue airing into 2025, while the network's launch lineup also includes a program licensed from WBD-owned Max (Chasing Flavor with Carla Hall ). ^{[14] [15]}

The CRTC lists Television Food Network, G.P. as holding a 19.85% stake in the Corus subsidiary that holds Flavour Network's license; ^[2] it is not yet known if Television Food Network, G.P. will divest its stake in the channel due to its change of Canadian partner.

Programming

Main articles: List of programs broadcast by Flavour Network and List of Flavour Network personalities

Original series that have been broadcast by Flavour Network include competition series such as Top Chef Canada (an adaptation of the U.S. Top Chef franchise), The Big Bake, ^[16] Great Chocolate Showdown , ^[17] and Junior Chef Showdown , ^[18] as well as other series such as Carnival Eats and Project Bakeover. ^{[19] [20] [15]} In the past, it also produced Canadian adaptations of Food Network competition franchises, such as Chopped ^[21] and Iron Chef . ^[22]

See also

• Canadian cuisine

References

1. Channick, Robert (September 19, 2019). "Nexstar completes purchase of WGN owner Tribune Media". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
2. "Ownership Chart 32i: Corus Media Holdings - Discretionary Services" (PDF). CRTC. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
3. "Shaw Communications closes purchase of Canwest TV assets, rebrands as Shaw Media". Therecord.com. October 27, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
4. "CRTC approves Shaw's purchase of the Canwest Global television properties". Crtc.gc.ca. October 22, 2010. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
5. Food Network Canada looking better than ever Shaw Media press release 2011-10-05
6. BCE to sell assets to Corus as part of Astral deal, The Globe and Mail (via Reuters and The Canadian Press), March 4, 2013.
7. "Press Release - Corus Entertainment Receives CRTC Approval on TELETOON Canada Inc., Historia and Séries+ Acquisitions". Corusent.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
8. "Corus Entertainment acquires Shaw Media for $2.65-billion". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
9. "Corus Entertainment Completes Acquisition of Shaw Media". Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
10. "Corus feeds the food genre with new channel". Realscreen. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
11. Corus Entertainment (June 7, 2024). "CORUS PROVIDES UPDATE ON PROGRAMMING AND TRADEMARK OUTPUT ARRANGEMENTS" (Press release). Retrieved June 10, 2024.
12. Thiessen, Connie (June 10, 2024). "Rogers scoops Warner Bros. Discovery rights from Corus and Bell". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
13. "Rogers deal to shift Discovery Science, OWN, Animal Planet channels to streaming, on demand". Cochrane Eagle. August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
14. Nino Gheciu, Alex (September 18, 2024). "Corus announces two new lifestyle networks after Rogers scoops up Food Network and HGTV". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved September 18, 2024.
15. Thiessen, Connie (September 18, 2024). "Corus unveils Flavour Network and Home Network". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
16. "Edmonton-area bakers featured on Food Network Canada Halloween show". Global News. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
17. "Food Network Canada sets premiere for "Great Chocolate Showdown"". December 6, 2019. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
18. Greg David, "Young chefs showcase their culinary skills in Food Network Canada's Junior Chef Showdown". TV, eh?, March 13, 2020.
19. Rick Stiebel, "Langford bakery finds recipe for appearance on the Food Network". Saanich News , June 23, 2021.
20. Pinto, Jordan. "Corus slates eOne's Project Bakeover for winter 2021". Playback Online. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
21. David, Greg (May 18, 2017). "Chopped Canada cancelled by Food Network Canada". TV, eh?. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
22. "Gail Simmons and Chris Nuttall-Smith, from 'Iron Chef Canada,' talk making show uniquely Canadian". Global News. Retrieved January 6, 2025.

External links

• Official website
• Adams, Liz; Food Network cooks up Canadian menu; Strategy Magazine; 07/17/2000.
• Decision CRTC 2000-217; CRTC; 07/04/2000.