The proliferation of niche cable programming in the U.S. post-network era includes a meteoric rise in food television. Indicative of this move toward an increase in food-related programming is the recent unveiling of the cable offering Cooking Channel. Creators behind Cooking Channel have worked to establish a distinct brand, describing the channel as a place for “food people” who are authentically and passionately “interested in upping their food IQ” (Scripps). The discourse surrounding the Cooking Channel launch is further complicated by the fact that men have an ostensibly larger presence on the channel. Men are featured in promotional spots, press releases, and on programs that take viewers on quests to increase their cultural food capital. This project works to unravel the gendered discourses surrounding the U.S. launch of Cooking Channel, asserting that the discursive site of the foodie is leveraged in an attempt to construct a foodie identity via gendered social distinction processes. The project initially analyzes the paratextual dialogue produced by mainstream press in order to highlight the negotiation among voices charged with creating the channel’s brand. The press – spearheaded by Cooking Channel parent Scripps Networks Interactive – provides an introduction to the channel that invokes consumption of new foodie content and a streamlined branding process that is divided along historically gendered binaries. The project then considers the ideological structures that underpin Cooking Channel’s programming and reinforce its identity as steeped in the pervasiveness of perpetual normative gender ideology. In turn, the final portion of the project uproots normative and hegemonic ideals with its focus on gender liminality, considering Cooking Channel as a conflicted site of negotiation that reflects shifting discourses of masculinity and femininity. These analyses merge to form a compelling look at how gender is situated in Cooking Channel’s construction of a niche cable brand. / text

This Master's thesis focuses on the current luxury print media, which are published in the Czech Republic and are intended for the general public. At first, a theoretical part introduces the entire contemporary print media market, with an emphasis on periodically published titles. The thesis also deals with factors, that affect the form of these titles and media in general, using knowledge of a political economy of communication. Subsequently, the thesis shifts attention to its main topic - a luxury in general and luxury magazines. These magazines are described and set in the context of niche media. The thesis also summarizes knowledge about advertising. The research uses a qualitative research method with a partial application of a quantitative method: categorization, description, and comparison. It brings a summary of all currently published luxury periodicals, which are categorized based on thematic focus, periodicity, price, and publisher. The main part of the research is an analysis of ten titles (53x11, Můj dům, Motorbike, Dolce Vita, Bylinky Revue, SCORE, Kreativ, Vesmír, FC and dTest), in which a self- presentation, a target reader, a content, and a graphic design are described and evaluated. Part of the analysis also deals with advertising content and its relationship to editorial content....