JASON SMITH CROWNED NEWEST FOOD NETWORK STAR WINNER IN SEASON FINALE

NEW YORK - August 14, 2017 - Jason Smith has been named the newest winner of Food Network Star, beating out 12 other finalists as the season came to an exciting conclusion on Sunday, August 13th. Through 11 episodes of arduous challenges testing both culinary and on-camera skills, Jason impressed mentors Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay, along with special guest judges over the course of the season, with his cooking prowess, his bold outfits and his off-the-cuff sayings. Jason's culinary chops combined with his ability to translate his culinary point of view to the camera eventually earned him the ultimate prize, the title of Food Network Star! Jason will make his Food Network debut this September as a featured judge on new series Best Baker in America, as well as be part of the tenth annual Food Network and Cooking Channel NYC Wine & Food Festival in October.

"Off the bat Jason wowed Bobby and Giada, and viewers at home with his star quality in front of the camera, his cooking skills, affable personality and of course, his signature outfits," said Courtney White, SVP Programming, Scripps Networks Interactive. "Jason's determination and hard work are a shining example of how dreams do come true, and we know he will make an excellent addition to the Food Network family."

Leading into the finale, this season's Food Network Star had been seen by over 25 million viewers, while landing in the top 5 among cable during its airings in the Sunday 9pm time slot, averaging a .7 rating among P25-54. Food Network Star has also engaged across all platforms, including FoodNetwork.com, where show content generated more than 10M page views. Food Network Star season 13 finalists resonated with the audience on and off screen, as the finalist content pages totaled 1.6M. Associated content also performed with 50M video views overall on Facebook.

Jason Smith, a school cafeteria cooking manager and caterer, is known for his modern, elevated recipes that not only taste delicious, but are also budget friendly. Currently residing in Grayson, Kentucky, Jason is a self-taught chef and baker who previously competed on and won Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is the #2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.9 million readers. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24-hour networks in the United Kingdom, Asia, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Scripps Networks Interactive (NASDAQ: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www,cookingchanneltv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com) and Great American Country (www.gactv.com), is the manager and general partner.