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Food Network was founded on April 19, 1993, as "TV Food Network"; its legal name remains Television Food Network, G. P. The network shortened its brand name within a few years and discontinued the "TV" portion of the name, thus leaving it as "Food Network". The network initially launched on Spetember 27th, 1993 with two initial shows featuring David Rosengarten, Donna Hanover, and Robin Leach. Later on in the year, on November 23, 1993, Food Network launched its live broadcasting. It was developed by Reese Schonfeld (one of the founders of CNN), under the direction of Providence Journal president Trygve Myrhen. Its original partners included the Journal itself, Adelphia, Scripps-Howard, Continental Cablevision, Cablevision, and most importantly, the Tribune Company, which provided the network's technical output.

Schonfeld, was appointed as managing director of TV Food Network and maintained a spot on its management board along with two Providence Journal employees. The original lineup for the network included Emeril Lagasse (Essence of Emeril), Debbi Fields, Donna Hanover, David Rosengarten, Curtis Aikens, Dr. Louis Arrone, Jacques Pépin, and Robin Leach. The following year, the network acquired the rights to the Julia Child library from WGBH. copied from Food Network

In 1995, Schonfeld resigned as managing director of the network, but remained on its board until 1998, when he sold his interest in the company to Scripps. In 1996, Erica Gruen was hired as the president and CEO of TV Food Network, becoming the second woman in history to be the CEO of a U.S. television network. Gruen led the network into an explosive growth until 1998, by launching the largest and number one site for food, FoodNetwork.com, more than doubling the subscriber base, tripling the viewership and multiplying the network's yearly revenue. . In 1997, it was the second fastest growing cable network. Gruen changed the brand positioning from Schonfeld's "TV for people who cook" to "TV for everyone who loves to eat," thereby greatly improving the appeal to viewers and advertisers, and saving the network from bankruptcy. Greg Willis and Cathy Rasenberger were two of the original members of the start-up team who led the affiliate sales and marketing of the company from 1995 to 1998. Greg Willis served as senior vice president of worldwide distribution until he left to join Liberty Media in 1998. copied from Food Network.

The A. H. Belo Corporation acquired Food Network when it purchased The Providence Journal Company in 1996. Myrhen left the Journal Company the following year. Belo sold the network to the E. W. Scripps Company in 1997, in a trade deal that resulted in Belo acquiring the television-radio station combination of KENS-AM/TV in San Antonio, Texas. In March 2009, the Food Network launched a repurposed Food.com as a bookmarking site that allows users to aggregate and search for recipes from different sources online.copied from Food Network.

Under History add:

In January of 2015, the Food Network collaborates with Snapchat and launches its own Food Network channel, "Discover Food Network", where social media users can watch the channel through the app. The channel features recipes, food hacks, and tips to entertain and appeal to the social media savvy millenials of today while watching from the palm of their hands .http://quantummedia.com/our-team/erica-gruen This has "Erica masterminded one of television’s biggest brands as President/CEO of The Food Network and FoodNetwork.com, the #1 site for food." which is a direct quote/rewording from what is on the wikipedia page, need to edit in order to not break plagarism rules.