A+E Networks is shuttering Bio in the U.S. and replacing it with a new lifestyle network called FYI in summer 2014, the cabler announced Wednesday.
A+E calls the new FYI a contemporary lifestyle network that is “proudly-hyphenated” and “not constrained by one passion or interest. In a release announcing the change, A+E said that FYI could stand for “For your inspiration,” “for your imagination,” and “for your innovation.”
“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 Nancy Dubuc, President and CEO of A+E Networks. “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 underserved on linear but thrives online.”
In giving Bio the axe Stateside, Dubuc is lightening up a cable portfolio that is heavy on history, documentary and real crime programming. FYI joins History, H2, Military History, Crime & Investigation Network, along with Lifetime, LMN, A&E, and Lifetime Real Women.
Bio, originally The Biography Channel, was born in 1999, after the success of the A+E documentary series “Biography.” The channel rebranded to Bio in 2007. And while it is disappearing from American televisions, A+E said that the Bio brand will continue on various platforms outside the U.S.
A+E says that the new FYi will appeal to a new younger, upscale audience by serving as an “inspiration engine” rather than an instruction manual.
More than 30 potential new series are in development already for FYI, with the network planning to unveil programming in early 2014. A+E says that it will be available in 70 million homes.
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