Food Network Executive to Run YouTube Food Channel Bruce Seidel, who oversaw shows for the Food Network and the Cooking Channel on cable, is moving online to a forthcoming food channel for YouTube. Electus, the multimedia studio formed by Ben Silverman, the former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, will announce on Monday that it has recruited Mr. Seidel as chief executive of the channel, which has not been named. It is scheduled to start in July. The hiring of Mr. Seidel from a television channel is a coup because of what it says about the seriousness of YouTube's effort to create an alternative to cable television on the Internet. YouTube has attracted scores of media companies like Electus by offering cash advances. The resulting channels are gradually rolling out this year. The channels will make shows for the Web and offer them on demand. Online, companies can "tap into genres not currently serviced within the television world," Mr. Seidel said in an e-mail. At the Food Network, he developed hit shows like "Food Network Star" and "Iron Chef America." He was most recently the senior vice president for programming at the Cooking Channel, a spinoff of Food. Mr. Silverman said that when he was recruiting Mr. Seidel for the online job, they discussed how the new channel could "discover new stars and galvanize the niches that are driving the Internet food conversation." The channel will coordinate with Urbanspoon, the food review Web site. The on-demand nature of YouTube has advantages, Mr. Silverman added, because it will allow "consumers to access recipes and video whenever and wherever they need it." Asked what YouTube's distribution platform can offer that a cable channel cannot, Robert Kyncl, the global head of content for YouTube, answered, "Freedom to own and produce the content you want, reach a massive global audience, take advantage of the social and interactive features the Web offers and get instant feedback from your viewers that allows you to iterate very quickly."