New York, New York – Launching summer 2014, A+E Networks’ BIO Channel will be rebranded as FYI, a contemporary lifestyle network reflecting how people actually live their lives today, it was announced by Nancy Dubuc, President & CEO of A+E Networks. Jana Bennett, President of FYI and LMN, will oversee the new network.
For your inspiration, for your imagination or for your innovation, FYI will be a personalised experience for each viewer. FYI embraces the way we really live our lives, proudly-hyphenated and not constrained by one passion or interest. It blends the inspiring personal creativity of our viewers and the emergence of powerful digital entrants to this space with a linear reach that will create a platform for new approaches to content.
“The transition to FYI is the next phase in our strategy to bolster the A+E Networks portfolio by evolving and maturing our brands to allow for future growth in the rapidly changing media landscape,” said Dubuc. “FYI will be an upscale network with a younger and more modern sensibility than what we’ve seen on traditional lifestyle networks, in an effort to appeal to an audience that has been under served on linear but thrives online.”
“FYI is defined by the world we live in today – offering viewers a less prescriptive, more adventurous approach to their taste, space, social life and look,” said Bennett. “Gone are the days where consumers are looking for experts to instruct them how to live. Together with our partners and audiences, we are building a new brand that embraces personal creativity and the sharing of the best ideas on air and online.”
Never an instruction manual and always an inspiration engine, the new network will appeal to a younger, upscale audience by becoming the first network on television that reflects the way a new generation experience their lives.
FYI is in active development on more than 30 potential new series that will inspire, not instruct, today’s viewer. Programming announcements will be made in early 2014. FYI is approaching availability in 70 million homes. Outside the United States, announcements about the evolution of the BIO brand will be forthcoming market by market. While the BIO channel will be rebranded, the BIO brand will continue to exist on various platforms throughout the United States.