Food Network Ratings Down

The Food Network's ratings took a steep hit in the latter part of 2010, the New York Post reports:

In the fourth quarter, Food Network, which helped launch the careers of celebrity chefs Sandra Lee and Rachael Ray, posted a 10.3 percent drop among viewers ages 25 to 54, considered a key category for advertisers.

What's more, the network's quarterly declines worsened throughout the year, falling 3.3 percent in the second quarter and 4.5 percent in the third quarter, according to Nielsen figures

Even worse for the Food Network, their primetime ratings for women 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 -- their key demographic -- fell 9% last month, mainly on their cherished lineup of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Unwrapped.

While the Post points out that several other networks run a great deal of popular food programming, including Bravo's wildly successful Top Chef series and TLC's Cake Boss, Eater notes that they neglect to mention Scripps' popular food lineup at the Travel Channel with Bourdain's No Reservations, Andrew Zimmern's Bizzarre Foods, and Adam Richman's Man v. Food. Throw in their fantastic new hunter/gatherer show The Wild Within, featuring outdoorsman/hunter Steven Rinella, and it's not a stretch to argue that (even with Richman) they -- not the Food Network -- might have the best food programming on cable.

Comments

[senseandnonsense]

09:47 AM on 01/28/2011

I used to watch Food Network when they had more shows about how to cook food that most people like to eat. The weirder the shows got, the less interested I became. Alton Brown's show explaining why things work the way they do in the kitchen while actually showing us how to cook the items was a show I liked. But kitchen competitions just seem stupid. Who does that at home? I would like to see some shows about melding cuisines, but not in some high-end fussy and expensive restaurant. I'm not interested in a hundred dollar a plate baloney tartar (?). Julia Child was a phenomenon for a reason.

[redbud9]

06:15 PM on 01/27/2011

Where are the shows that teach you the basics? The tips, the flavors that work together. Michael Symon's Cook like an Iron Chef usually throws in a neat tip or two, but who wants to watch an entire show just to hear one or two tips? Other than that his recipes aren't for me.....too many things I'll never make, but then maybe I'm not the target audience for it.

[dsw70]

05:06 PM on 01/27/2011

I see that I am not the only one that has not turned to FN like I used to. I find myself watching reruns of The Office.
I have a passion about food. I love looking at food. Menus, magazines, etc. I've been watching cooking shows since I was a child. Countless Saturdays watching PBS' block of shows. Yan Can Cook immediately comes to mind.

[Lachicavegana Comefrutas]

10:57 AM on 01/26/2011

Maybe they need to have more programs that actually teach people stuff they need or that they don't know. If they taught how to not get diabetes, or a cancer prevention, or cleansing diets-they would be more current in today's world. The last thing we need are more French cooking shows to encourage our disease rates and climate change to soar. How about some Raw Food chefs? How about some Grow Your Own Chefs? Some Vegan Chefs? Vegan Diner Food? The network is kind of like an old magazine. Everything is so outdated by publication.

www.getskinnygovegan.blogspot.com

[TwoCooksBooks]

10:18 AM on 01/26/2011

The Food Network has gone the way of MTV. Just as MTV no longer played music videos, they had to create a separate network, MTV2, to air the content that made them popular to begin with. Now The Food Network has done the same thing; if you want to watch a show about cooking, you will be hard-pressed to find one on TFN, so you must now tune into their daughter station, The Cooking Channel...

[PKDeMers]

07:05 AM on 01/26/2011

The Food Network is no longer about cooking and that is why I don't watch. It seems the powers that be think competition is the name of the game, make each show about winning and losing, forget about cooking. The old shows became popular and cherished because of the strength and personalities of their hosts and their ability to teach us how to cook. Bring back the cooking shows and they will bring back their audience.

[IMSickOfAllOfEm]

10:28 PM on 01/25/2011

I used to watch all the time but the decent shows are all repeats and the cake shows, Best Thing...., Chopped, Worst Cooks, reality-type shows etc. bore me to tears... just can't stand any of them. They need to fire everyone at the top and start over.

[PalaceOfWisdom]

05:03 PM on 01/25/2011

"fell 9% last month, mainly on their cherished lineup of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Unwrapped"

What do all these shows have in common? None of them show you how to cook. The network is becoming a restaurant guide rather than a place to learn to prepare your own meals. Also, I never ever want to see another show where contestants have to carry something to a judging table without it falling over.

Most important of all, stop hiding Nigella Lawson in a single Sunday morning time slot. There's no reason her living and filming in England should keep her from being a featured star of the network. It would certainly boost male viewership, a market that is being relatively ignored due to outdated beliefs about who does or should spend time in the kitchen.

[hayness]

12:54 PM on 01/25/2011

I liked the older programs that really taught cooking, before everything seemed to get so slick and commercial. You can see the hand of those marketing people at work. Too much garbage and not enough content on Food TV anymore. Plus the cooks/chefs seemed to get more and more plastic as time went on....I would still watch Ina if I watched anything but we gave up cable altogether last year and I don't watch anything now.

-in the demographic

[DanoX]

12:34 PM on 01/25/2011

Serves them right. They sold out their long term fanbase to get higher ratings quick from reality garbage. To bad the long term fans left, and the new reality fans, true to their small brains and lack of attention span, quickly lost interest. Just another fad network now constantly chasing the next ratings exsplosion instead of making quality tv that will insure a steady fan base for many years.

[Trapster]

03:15 AM on 01/25/2011

I like to learn; education about food is my goal. Alton Brown has disappeared from most prime time viewing and he is by far my favorite. I don't care much for all the diners drive ins etc. and competitions. I do watch iron chef occasionally. I flip to food network but almost always move on anymore.

[SarNobz]

12:14 AM on 01/25/2011

I couldn't get through 2 minutes of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"...boring.

[Brian Hudson]

05:17 PM on 01/25/2011

^ This. "Oh, here's a show where people who can cook better than you, tell you about awesome restaurants in places you'll never visit, where we film them eating food you'll never taste!" Ugh, ugh, ugh!

[SarNobz]

12:13 AM on 01/25/2011

Who cares about these people? Not me. Cater to the freaking viewer.

[SarNobz]

12:12 AM on 01/25/2011

I couldn't get through 2 minutes of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"...wha­t a dumb concept for a show.

[SarNobz]

12:11 AM on 01/25/2011

I couldn't get through 2 minutes of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"...what a dumb concept for a show. Who cares about these people? Not me. Cater to the freaking viewer.