HGTV Ready to Ambush Viewers

New Shows to Help Audience Fulfill Domestic Dreams

By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 2/14/2011 12:01:00 AM

In shaping a new round of original series, HGTV is taking cues from viewers, who want their home and hearth wishes to come true.

“HGTV is a powerful brand in the marketplace,” general manager Kathleen Finch said. “We’ve listened to viewers and what they say they want — and that’s having our talent come to their homes and provide them with wishfulfillment programming.”

Making those dreams a reality for some, HGTV expects to serve up 20 new series and specials in 2011.

New series including HGTV’d, Room Crashers and Run My Makeover are in production, headed for summer debuts.

“We’ve signed or are in the process of signing 14 more people to join our on-air talent team. HGTV is going to green-light many more shows,” Finch said. “We’re in full-throttle mode.”

FANS GET ‘HDTV’D’

HGTV’d, coming in June, sends a different network star traveling across America in a specially-outfitted 18-wheeler, surprising fans with makeovers and over-the top home transformations. HGTV began taking submissions, requiring mini-essays, plus photo and video uploads, on Jan. 1 and had 15,000 entries that month alone.

Makeovers will yield designs from such network talent as David Bromstad (Color Splash), John Gidding (Curb Appeal: The Block), Genevieve Gorder (Dear Genevieve), Sabrina Soto (Get It Sold and Real Estate Intervention) and Vern Yip (HGTV Design Star).

Initial stops in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas yielded projects including a new family room and an outdoor karaoke stage, Finch said.

Finch, who believes HGTV’d will be a hit, said 13 episodes were ordered for a June premiere. “Then, we’ll take a slight break and do a second batch.”

The Scripps Networks outlet recorded modest gains in primetime and total-day viewership to 1.23 million and 688,000, respectively, during 2010. January brought its highest-ever primetime average audience, ages 18 and over, at 361,000, officials said, though Nielsen figures indicate total viewers averaged 1.34 million, flat with January 2010.

HGTV continues to tout its upscale female audience, saying its women viewers aged 25 to 54 have the seventh-highest median income among ad-supported cable networks.

Room Crashers (July), with HGTV Design Star runner-up Todd Davis, will ambush viewers in furniture or antique stores or home-furnishings outlets. “We’re going to tap them on the shoulder, and if they’re willing, go to their homes and work on a new master suite or living room,” Finch said. It debuts in July.

Tying into HGTV’s online community, Run My Makeover (July) will offer an interactive experience for viewers who watch the network and fantasize about being a designer.

Visitors to HGTV.com/RunMyMakeover can view photos and videos of a homeowner’s room and then decide which design elements, such as lighting, flooring and paint colors, will be installed. Host Alexi Panos and her design team and the homeowner will integrate the winning selections into the space — regardless of the outcome.

“They will get a full makeover, even if it’s not necessarily what they had in mind,” Finch said.

DISNEY IN THE YARD

In My Yard Goes Disney, HGTV brings the imagineers of Walt Disney World directly to homeowners. Topiary depicting a favorite pet or a Swiss Family Robinson-inspired tree house are on tap. “This is truly a case of taking a little of that Disney magic home,” Finch said.

HGTV is presenting Cari Cucksey in Cash and Cari and has lined up Emily Henderson, the season-five HGTV Design Star winner, to helm Secrets From a Stylist.

Americans are ready to reinvest even more in their homes, Finch said, and “HGTV viewers come to us for ideas because they love their homes and want to make them better.”