From Gordon Ramsay to Padma Lakshmi: 20 Power Players of Food Media

As the genre expands its reach and scope — becoming more adventurous and more sophisticated — its top drivers are more coveted and valuable than ever. Armed with viewership data and insider guidance, The Hollywood Reporter highlights the most significant creators, execs and icons.

Guy Fieri

No matter what you think of his platinum-blond tips or trips to “Flavortown,” Fieri, 51, has a golden touch. He has three Food Network shows, reaching more than 15 million adults 25-to-54 in the first quarter. Heading into its 30th season, the flagship Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives — or “triple D,” as he refers to it — has been the most impactful, in ratings and for the eateries featured (which see a post-airing visitor bump even in reruns). Though a scathing New York Times review of his shuttered Times Square restaurant generated plenty of social media attention, Fieri has 70 restaurants in the U.S. and licensing deals with cruise ships, casinos and airports.

 

BEST ADVICE HE’S GOTTEN Friend Matthew McConaughey, on hand when Fieri got his star on the Walk of Fame in May, told him, “Don’t change you — you is what got you here.”

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