NEW YORK –– February 14, 2012 – Master Pastry Chef Ron Ben-Israel returns to Food Network for the second season of the sugar-packed competition series Sweet Genius, premiering Thursday, March 15^th at 10pm ET/PT. Back with more whimsy and wonder, each episode has four of America’s premier pastry chefs competing against one another through three rounds of challenges judged by Ben-Israel, along the way testing their creativity, ingenuity and imagination.  The chefs are given surprise ingredients, an inspiration and a limited amount of time; with those three elements as a guide, they must create a delectable chocolate, candy and cake dessert.  The winners from each round will advance for a final test, with Ben-Israel crowning the remaining chef Sweet Genius and receiving a $10,000 cash prize. 

 NEW YORK – January 31, 2012 – Patriots and Giants fans can unite over one thing come Sunday’s big game — their love of great game-time food. This year, Food Network is the one-stop-shop for everything food related to ensure no game-day penalties in the kitchen. Across Food Network’s digital sites including Food.com, FoodNetwork.com and CookingChannelTV.com, Food Network has game-day favorites for hungry fans - whether it’s a new twist on those game-day wings, the perfect football watching sandwich or a hearty veggie chili, Food Network is the destination to host a blowout big game party. Fans can also join the conversations with us on Facebook at Food Network, Cooking Channel and Food.com; and on Twitter at @foodnetwork, @cookingchannel and @fooddotcom.

 NEW YORK – January 23, 2012 – Food Network Star returns to New York City as production begins on the eighth season of the long-running hit series, scheduled to premiere on May 13^th, 2012.  The revised format brings returning favorites Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis from behind the judges table to square off with new regular Alton Brown in a three-way team competition to find the next Food Network Star.  Bobby, Giada and Alton, all television producers in addition to being culinary superstars, lead the charge to find and develop the new talent with each hand-selecting a team of five finalists, who they will produce and mentor through the ‘Star’ experience to find one winner who possesses personality and culinary chops.   In another fresh twist to the series, the viewing audience will vote before the finale to determine who will receive the ultimate prize: their own Food Network show, to be produced by their ‘Star’ team leader.

Food Network delivers its most-watched year ever posting a .5 among adults 25-54 and was watched nightly by an average of 1.1 million total viewers (574k adults 25-54), making it a top 10 cable network for the 3rd year in a row.  The network’s 4^th quarter was its most-watched in its history, averaging a .6 Adults 25-54 rating and up 20% from 2010 and was a top five cable network* among upscale adults 25-54 in $100k+ households.  

Food Network harvests its best October in network history (up 20 percent from October 2010). The month was watched nightly by an average of 1.2 million total P2+ viewers, making it the highest-rated October ever posting a .6 in the core Adults 25-54 demo in prime.  The month culminated in the season four premiere of acclaimed series, The Next Iron Chef this past Sunday with a 1.4 A25-54 rating, up 40% from last season – a record season debut for the show and ranking 2^nd for the night among ad-supported cable networks. The premiere was watched by a total of 2.4 million viewers P25-54 and nearly 4.9 million P2+ viewers. The network also ranked 7th among ad-supported cable networks A25-54 for the month, up 4 spots from last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.