SOLD! HGTV FLIPS OVER BIG RATINGS GROWTH
Gabrielle Union and her husband, the NBA’s Dwyane Wade, are entering the home-flipping fray.
A Property Brothers kitchen remodel in upstate New York. A Tiny House Hunters search on Hawaii’s Big Island. A Fixer Upper barn conversion — to a “barndominium” — in Waco, Texas. More TV viewers than ever are turning to HGTV, the lifestyle cable network built on real estate and home renovation.
HGTV is the top-rated entertainment channel on cable this month in prime time, a remarkable climb for a network that ranked 16th overall in 2012. Since January, it has averaged a fifth-place 1.7 million viewers, up 13% from 2015 in its fourth consecutive year of growth, at a time when many top cable networks are in decline. And all without a boost from scripted series, sports events or awards shows.
HGTV doesn’t appear to rely on any one series but a genre of unscripted program- ming it largely has to itself. Some popular titles: Fixer Upper (averaging 4.6 million viewers this year), Flip or Flop (2.8 million), Brother vs. Brother (2.6 million) and
Property Brothers (2.2 million). “That is the magic,” says Allison Page, general manager of HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country for Scripps Networks Interactive. “There’s a sense that if you like one show, you’re probably going to like the next one you try.
HGTV isn’t just about new homes, dream homes or vacation homes. Even in bad financial times, the network has thrived.
“They were able to move quickly during the last recession when the housing market was collapsing,” says Derek Baine, cable analyst for SNL Kagan. “All of a sudden, these shows on buying new homes were not going to fly because nobody could buy a house, so they kind of got into more renovation-type shows. ... They were able to pivot quickly.”
And while many cable networks air 13episode seasons of original series, Property
Brothers — starring Jonathan and Drew Scott — airs a new episode nearly every week.
The steady diet of programming comfort food is working.
“HGTV offers a safe and uplifting environment during these times,” says Gerry Philpott, president/CEO of E-Poll Market Research.
Programs cover every nook and cranny of HGTV’s genre, from house-flipping to interior design. Still, “we want to continue offering something fresh,” Page says, Two new shows feature celebrities: The
Monica Potter Project follows the actress as she restores her childhood home in Cleveland. And production has started on a special on actress Gabrielle Union and her husband, NBA star Dwyane Wade, as they flip a home.
They join Good Bones, with Indianapolis mother-daughter renovation experts Karen E Laine and Mina Starsiak, which returns for Season 2 in April.
“Even though making TV can be really hard, it’s also really, really fun. When we have fun, then the viewers at home have fun” E Laine says.