Food Network

The Television Food Network (TVFN), launched in 1993, is a cable network that airs programs about food and cooking. The idea of a television channel devoted to food and cooking had been bouncing around for almost two years before TVFN made its debut. During the 1980s, “narrowcasting”—airing programs aimed at specific, definable audiences—was the buzzword in the cable TV world. The idea was not to reach everyone, as traditional “broadcasters” tried to do, but to appeal to a small but significant group of viewers that would attract advertisers interested in niche marketing.