All I will say is that I rarely watch Food Network these days the way I used to, & truly miss the network it used to be.
When the network first started, it not only showcased new cooking "stars" like Emeril, Molto Mario, etc., but also brought us delights from "across the pond" like "Two Fat Ladies", not to mention showing lots of golden oldie reruns of programs like Julia Child's "The French Chef", & Graham Kerr's "The Galloping Gourmet" (even if they were on in the middle of the night). I really enjoyed watching those shows - they're timeless. (I'm so glad my mom made me tapes of all the the Two Fat Lady shows, especially since Jennifer passed away.)
As far as the new shows, I used to enjoy Emeril, Mario, & Bobby Flay, etc., when they were REAL cooking shows - with the chef speaking to the camera - aka US, the audience - while he cooked. Now every single show is set up with the chef making his dishes in front of anywhere from 3-4 to 75 people (all introduced as "good friends", of course - lol). I HATE that format, & now it seems that more than half the shows use it.
But Food Network will never go back, & I realize that. I can only hope that they continue to lose viewers due to all the new dramatic hoopla & perhaps rethink a few programming strategies.