The Cooking Channel: More food TV headed our way

The prevailing theory is that we’re a nation that likes to watch others cook, even if we’re not that excited to get in the kitchen ourselves. That theory will be tested on May 31 when Scripps Networks, the company that owns the Food Network, launches a second 24-hour channel devoted to food programming: The Cooking Channel.

The two channels will share food personalities like Bobby Flay and Rachel Ray, and the focus of The Cooking Channel (which replaces the Fine Living Network) will be on those celebrity chefs, food categories (brunch, low-calorie eating) and food history.

But at a time when food personalities are being packaged as the next rock n’ roll stars and game show hosts, The Cooking Channel will test how much appetite we still have for food-based television programming.