FYI (American TV channel)

FYI
CountryUnited States
Broadcast area
HeadquartersNewark, New Jersey
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Downgraded to letterboxed 480i for SDTV feed
Ownership
OwnerA&E Networks
Sister channelsLMN[1]
History
LaunchedNovember 16, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-11-16)
Former namesThe Biography Channel
(1998–2014)
Links
Websitewww.fyi.tv
Availability
Streaming media
Service(s)Philo, Sling TV, Frndly TV, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV

FYI (stylized as fyi,) is an American basic cable channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (each owns 50%). The network features lifestyle programming, with a mix of reality, culinary, home renovation and makeover series.

The network originally launched in 1998 as The Biography Channel, as an offshoot of A&E and named after its television series Biography. As such, it originally featured factual programs, such as reruns of its namesake. As A&E shifted its focus towards reality television and drama series, the Biography Channel became the home for several series that had been displaced by the flagship network (including Biography itself), but shifted towards reality-oriented series itself in 2007 and was rebranded as simply Bio. In 2014, the channel was rebranded as FYI, an initialism for "for your information".

As of November 2023, FYI is available to approximately 35,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2015 peak of 73,000,000 households.[2]

In recent years, FYI has lost carriage with the growth of streaming alternatives and has generally been depreciated by A&E Networks in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference dl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "U.S. cable network households (universe), 1990 – 2023". wrestlenomics.com. May 14, 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2019.