Food Network debuts Web-only shows

Television producers have a growing appetite for the Web.

Next month, people can feast on the Food Network's first-ever series made exclusively for the Web. The 13-part original series, called "Eat This With Dave Lieberman," will debut Nov. 21 on FoodNetwork.com, the online counterpart to the 24-hour cable station devoted to cuisine.

The project is a pioneering move for the Scripps Network, which owns the Food Network and several other stations and sites, including Fine Living and Home and Garden Television. The original Web series is a first for Scripps and part of a plan to introduce ongoing on-demand shows for many of its properties.

"We want to take advantage of the immediacy of the Internet--combined with the culinary authority of Food Network--to quickly inform the general public about what's going on in the food world," Brooke Johnson, president of Food Network, said in a prepared statement.

Young chef Dave Lieberman will bounce around restaurants in New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Miami, talking about the last trends in food, from the science-influenced to spicy sweets.

Each week, FoodNetwork.com will post three new episodes, which will be from three to five minutes long. Additional clips will be added to each show so viewers can delve deeper on specific topics. Shorter 60-second versions of these episodes will also air on Food Network.