Back when other kids were collecting Spiderman comic books and Wacky Packages stickers, Michael Smith chose to keep something more unique under his bed: copies of TV Guide Magazine.

Growing up on the West Indian island of Jamaica, which had just two television stations in the late 1960s, Smith's world changed from black and white to Technicolor when his family moved to Rochester, New York in 1970. Soon he was immersed in five whole channels with shows like "Starsky and Hutch," "Charlie's Angels," and "The Love Boat."

"I just became a television junkie," says Smith, who is considered a creative genius in the world of television. "I thought the greatest job would be to have something to do with making that TV stuff happen."

Smith, 47, has been a bona fide mover and shaker for more than a decade now as the award-winning senior vice president of marketing creative and brand strategy at the Food Network. Now he has a new network of his own to mold as the general manager of the new Cooking Channel.

After Scripps Networks took over The Fine Living Network, it was relaunched on May 31 of this year as the Cooking Channel with original programming, foreign chefs, and re-runs of beloved shows such as "Two Fat Ladies" and "The French Chef with Julia Child."

The new channel, which is described as the indie, in-depth version of the Food Network, has also premiered new shows such as Aida Mollenkamp's search for the best food artisans on "Foodcrafters" and "Drink Up" by New York City mixologist Darryl Robinson who shares history and tips on serving up great wine and cocktails.

Robinson, who worked with Smith to shape "Drink Up," says that behind Smith's somewhat quiet demeanor is a sharp and passionate leader.

"Michael Smith has a unique reserved quality, and he's very aware and cognizant of everything that happens around him," Robinson says. "He has an unassuming exuberance which he's more than happy to share with anyone who approaches him."

Mollenkamp mirrors the sentiments by saying, "Michael is the quiet but confident captain of the Cooking Channel. He is a very thoughtful person who knows exactly the kind of food people he wants this channel to attract yet has allowed us to achieve that in a way that still asserts our own personalities as hosts."

Smith's love of the television industry was initially fueled by an internship at KRON Channel 4 in San Francisco. His parents were not sure about the TV thing, so he earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford. He got a job as an advertising account executive with Young and Rubicam and went on to earn an MBA in marketing from the University of California at Berkeley.

Smith was having trouble breaking into network television until he happened to sit next to a CBS executive on an airplane. ''In life, sometimes things are very contingent upon chance," Smith says. The meeting led to Smith getting a job in affiliate relations with CBS. He went on to work for Disney/ABC Cable Networks in sales marketing and programming in the U.S. and Asia for eight years.

The Food Network was launched by CNN vets in 1993 with the signature all-food, all-the-time approach that the network had brought to news. Most shows were low-budget and frankly kind of dry.

Things started to shift when Scripps Network acquired the Food Network in 1997. They had a lifestyle hit with HGTV and its broadly appealing shows. In 1998, Smith was intrigued by the nascent Food Network and says they brought in him and a cadre of non-foodies with a fresh approach that spiced things up.

They knew they needed to go beyond the Gourmet Magazine and Saveur crowd and reach people who like to eat all kinds of food.

"There had never been a real articulation of the magic of food on television," Smith says. "Let's get out of the kitchen and explore the world through food."

The rest is television history, as shows like "Iron Chef," "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and "Good Eats" have practically created whole new genres on television.

He hopes to recreate the magic with the Cooking Channel with shows like "Food(ology)" in which Mo Rocca wittily covers food trends, "Unique Eats" which explores the best places for everything from comfort food to burgers to desserts and touching cultural borders with "Indian Food Made Easy" hosted by Anjum Anand. Blended with exotic and familiar faces like Nigella Lawson, Mario Batali, Graham Kerr and Roger Mooking, they're off to a delicious start.

"The Food Network has been around for 15 years," Smith says. "This is the next wave of food programming."

For shows and show times, visit the Cooking Channel at www.cookingchanneltv.com.

For recipes by Cooking Channel stars, click here