# Food Network & HGTV losing viewers...



## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

News via TV Week: Viewers Appear to Be Losing Their Appetite for Food Network, HGTV (apparently originally from NY Post)...

Click the link if you want to read the original, very short, article...

The article didn't mention one of the things I would have perhaps chaulked this up to: the creation of the new "Cooking" channel and movement of some of the content that had been or would have been on Food Network over to it. After rebranding the old channel (Fine living?) over to "Cooking" and putting content there, I would have expected to see viewership for Food Network go down since it seems the people behind the networks were simply fracturing their own audiences.

They don't mention that in the short blurb that the headline links to, but they do offer some other possibilities and comments following the article offer still more.

Either way it's not great news for Food Network or HGTV at this point but they most likely will make changes and perhaps find something that pulls in viewers again.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

They certainly haven't lost my wife. Those (and TLC) are her go-to channels whenever she's not watching something pre-recorded on TiVo.


----------



## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

This does not surprise me. The Food Network seems to be putting more of those shows based on the "Best Week Ever" formula where they have cooks and celebrities talking about their favorite thanksgiving dinner dish. 

If they don't have that then they have those stupid bake a giant cake shows, and for some reason when you make a 10 ft cake there is always some requirement to have to move the thing across a room or something. I also don't like those competition shows where the cooks get criticized by celebs on how crappy or good their stuff tastes. You can easily tell that Food Network is trying the MTV strategy of putting all of that dummed down dramatic stuff on to try to woo back viewers, but apparently it isn't working. 

I like the Alton Brown Good-Eats type shows, even though that guy is a little OCD on some of his techniques. The Cooking Channel seems to have programing similar to the early days of Food Network, so we have been watching that more. I also like the "America's Test Kitchen" show on PBS. I have no interest in seeing people get all dramatic and complaining behind each other's back about building a life-size Disney castle cake that is in constant danger of falling over and probably doesn't taste good anyhow.


----------



## frankmint (Feb 1, 2004)

That is what happens when you push out the chefs (Mario, Emeril, etc.) and put all your eggs in the personality basket (Guy, Guy etc.).


----------



## dwells (Nov 3, 2001)

DeDondeEs said:


> This does not surprise me. The Food Network seems to be putting more of those shows based on the "Best Week Ever" formula where they have cooks and celebrities talking about their favorite thanksgiving dinner dish.
> 
> If they don't have that then they have those stupid bake a giant cake shows, and for some reason when you make a 10 ft cake there is always some requirement to have to move the thing across a room or something. I also don't like those competition shows where the cooks get criticized by celebs on how crappy or good their stuff tastes. You can easily tell that Food Network is trying the MTV strategy of putting all of that dummed down dramatic stuff on to try to woo back viewers, but apparently it isn't working.
> 
> I like the Alton Brown Good-Eats type shows, even though that guy is a little OCD on some of his techniques. The Cooking Channel seems to have programing similar to the early days of Food Network, so we have been watching that more. I also like the "America's Test Kitchen" show on PBS. I have no interest in seeing people get all dramatic and complaining behind each other's back about building a life-size Disney castle cake that is in constant danger of falling over and probably doesn't taste good anyhow.


This- EXACTLY- could not have said it better myself. Food Network had a good thing going and screwed it up- it used to be one of our favorite channels, but now we watch the cooking channel more


----------



## IJustLikeTivo (Oct 3, 2001)

terpfan1980 said:


> News via TV Week: Viewers Appear to Be Losing Their Appetite for Food Network, HGTV (apparently originally from NY Post)...
> 
> Click the link if you want to read the original, very short, article...
> 
> ...


I blame it on Paula Dean and the Neelys. Way too much of them on the network.


----------



## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

Is that jackass Holmes on Homes still around? What a jackass.


----------



## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

Bob_Newhart said:


> Is that jackass Holmes on Homes still around? What a jackass.


Yes he's still around and why is he a jackass?

(You wouldn't happen to be one of those shoddy contractors would you?  )


----------



## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

One Holmes show is enough. We don't need two.

Ditto for Guy Fieri (or however it's spelled).

Man vs. Food is played out and Food Wars never took off.

Between Property Virgins, My First Place, House Hunters and House Hunters International, they've got basically the same TV show on for _hours_ each and every day. I like those shows, but dislike the lack of variety.

Same thing now with Chopped, Cupcake Wars and the other bake-off shows. Just 'cause it worked once doesn't mean it will work ad naseum. 



frankmint said:


> That is what happens when you push out the chefs (Mario, Emeril, etc.) and put all your eggs in the personality basket (Guy, Guy etc.).


Mario and Emeril were personalities too. But they did have better skills than some of the new wave personalities (Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, etc.).


----------



## Snappa77 (Feb 14, 2004)

jradosh said:


> Between Property Virgins, My First Place, House Hunters and House Hunters International, they've got basically the same TV show on for hours each and every day. I like those shows, but dislike the lack of variety.


^^^^^^ This.

I agree 100%.


----------



## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I have found that if I need to learn a cooking technique, it is on YouTube. So I don't need an entire channel to learn how to cook and I have noticed they use too much butter and other fats in their foods.


----------



## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

Food Network can still be a fun distraction and I enjoy the Diners Drive In's type shows etc...but hate the shows where the rich chefs spend an hour bragging about the "best food" they've ever eating...most of which is priced out of most viewers budgets etc.

If you want cooking class shows like the old days of FN, you do need to look elsewhere it seems.


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

The only show I've watched on the Food network in the last couple of years is Man vs. Food and I haven't seen a new one of those in months. Every time I go into my season passes, I make sure I lower its rank so it doesn't clobber a new show I really want to see.

Is there a show for beer or wine afficianados on one of the food channels?


----------



## IJustLikeTivo (Oct 3, 2001)

7thton said:


> I cannot believe how bad the Food Network has gotten.
> 
> The Worst Cook in America show is AWEFUL and obviously made on a shoestring budget. Chopped is terrible too and is/was basically the same show as Worst Cook...
> 
> ...


I agree with most of this but I give Irvine a pass. Mostly, he exaggerated on his resume and when caught, took a blow for a while. But, he came back cause, he is good at what he does and mostly entertaining. I dislike the Worst cook mostly cause I hate Burrell and really liked Dinner Impossible.


----------



## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

7thton said:


> Anne Burrell is overexposed/overused


I like her.

She's an actual, professional restaurant chef with a good pedigree.


----------



## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

cheesesteak said:


> The only show I've watched on the Food network in the last couple of years is Man vs. Food and I haven't seen a new one of those in months. Every time I go into my season passes, I make sure I lower its rank so it doesn't clobber a new show I really want to see.
> 
> Is there a show for beer or wine afficianados on one of the food channels?


Man v Food is actually on Travel Channel, so that's an issue right there. Currently, they're doing repackaged clip shows called Carnivore Chronicles. A new season, called Man v Food Nation, is expected later in '11.

For your second question, there's Drink Up and (reruns of) The Thirsty Traveler on Cooking Channel.


----------



## swinca (Jun 19, 2003)

Like others, I have defected to the Cooking Channel. So many of the shows on Food Network are just lame and silly. HGTV could use some new programming too. Most of the shows I liked are gone. And what's the point of Next Design Star if their shows aren't good and you never see the winners again? Aside from David Bromstad, which of those winners are still around? Well, there is The Antonio Treatment, but that sucks too.


----------



## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

I liked "My House Is Worth What?" with Kendra Todd. I'd love to see it on the air now with dramatically reduced property values.


----------



## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

jsmeeker said:


> I like her.
> 
> She's an actual, professional restaurant chef with a good pedigree.


Who can't seem to keep a real restaurant job for very long, is being sued for sexual discrimination and according to the foodie blogs is universally hated by everyone she works/worked with. Personally, I find her mannerisms annoying to the point of distraction, but YMMV.

Food Networks idea of a "new" show lately seems to be to almost exactly copy another networks show and plug in one of their "stars" that I presume work cheap. They did it with Ace of Cakes (cake Boss), Man vs Food(food feuds) and now Kitchen Nightmares (Restaurant Impossible). I like Next Iron Chef, but it's basically a rip off of Top Chef. The whole network comes off to me as low budget with no imagination. As for HGTV, I used to watch it a decade ago, but I can't think of a single show I've seen from there in years. They went from the channel for DIY to the house buying/decorating channel and lost me. If my cable provider were to drop both, I wouldn't miss either much.


----------



## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

jsmeeker said:


> I like her.
> 
> She's an actual, professional restaurant chef with a good pedigree.


With terrible hair and hate her grunting!


----------



## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I was really getting into the Food Network for awhile, but my problem is there just isn't enough diversity. A lot of the shows are very similar and they tend to use the same hosts for multiple shows. Combine that with the fact that I'm trying to drop a couple of pounds and I just don't tend to tune in as much. Those shows make me hungry! I guess I got a little burned out.


----------



## smark (Nov 20, 2002)

We enjoy Chopped because at least it's a competition that has some variety to it most episodes.

Don't really care much for most of the other shows on Food Network/Cooking Channel though Cooking Channel has more things I would watch vs. Food.


----------



## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

They lost us last year when we went OTA. We were watching several shows on both HGTV and The Food Network. One of the very few things we miss about getting rid of cable.


----------



## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Big Deficit said:


> Who can't seem to keep a real restaurant job for very long, is being sued for sexual discrimination and according to the foodie blogs is universally hated by everyone she works/worked with. Personally, I find her mannerisms annoying to the point of distraction, but YMMV.


Hmmmm

Mario Batali seems to like her ok..


----------



## jdfs (Oct 21, 2002)

Jesda said:


> I liked "My House Is Worth What?" with Kendra Todd. I'd love to see it on the air now with dramatically reduced property values.


That title has always bugged the crap out of me!


----------



## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

jsmeeker said:


> Hmmmm
> 
> Mario Batali seems to like her ok..


But with his now huge restaurant empire, doesn't work for him and hasn't in years. I don't know her and take the blogs with a grain of salt (3lbs for her!) but the book on her seems to be a talented Sue Chef with a whole lot of personality issues that make her a poor fit in the kitchen. From what I've read, her career as an Executive Chef has been a disaster. Personally, I think she's a poor fit on TV too, but the FoodTV executives don't agree.


----------



## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

7thton said:


> The Worst Cook in America show is AWEFUL and obviously made on a shoestring budget.


Agree


7thton said:


> Chopped is terrible too and is/was basically the same show as Worst Cook...


Disagree. They are nothing alike.


----------



## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

jdfs said:


> That title has always bugged the crap out of me!


And now, you could replace the "?" at the end with the homeowner's horrified "?!?!!!$%#%"


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Big Deficit said:


> Food Networks idea of a "new" show lately seems to be to almost exactly copy another networks show and plug in one of their "stars" that I presume work cheap. They did it with Ace of Cakes (cake Boss)



Ace of Cakes has been on Food Network much longer than Cake Boss has been on TLC.


----------



## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

There was at least one beer show on the downloadable things provided by Tivo.


----------



## SteveInNC (Jun 23, 2005)

Much like when MTV still showed videos, I preferred FoodTV/Network when it was about cooking shows, rather than contests/realityTV/lifestyle. Cooking Channel has some of that previous feel, and reruns some of the older shows like Sara Moulton, but still has too many lifestyle shows.

HGTV has suffered the same fate, although I admit to liking the House Hunters + HH International just to see what houses are and sell for around the world, even though I'm never going to live in Costa Rica or Madrid, etc. The new Selling New York show doesn't appeal at all, since it's mainly super-high-end housing. I much prefer the smaller rennovation-type shows over the bring-a-crew-of-fifty-with-backhoes approach of some of the shows.


----------



## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

I love Chopped! It is like a play at home game. When the ingredients are unveiled we look and think, hmm, what can we do with that? Cooking is a hobby, so I like these challenges, mostly.

I like Anne Burnell, too, as Secrets of a Restaurant Chef is a nice new show comparable to, IMO, Tyler's Ultimate. A real cooking show, IMO.

That said, most of my cooking shows these days are on PBS.


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

SteveInNC said:


> Much like when MTV still showed videos, I preferred FoodTV/Network when it was about cooking shows


Sarah Moulton FTW.


----------



## SocratesJohnson (Sep 14, 2005)

Good Eats is the only thing worth watching anymore.
And I wish they still showed the original Japanese version of Iron Chef.


----------



## jami (Dec 18, 2003)

SocratesJohnson said:


> Good Eats is the only thing worth watching anymore.
> And I wish they still showed the original Japanese version of Iron Chef.


It's shown nightly (? I think?) on the Cooking Channel.


----------



## dylking (Jul 20, 2003)

SocratesJohnson said:


> Good Eats is the only thing worth watching anymore.
> And I wish they still showed the original Japanese version of Iron Chef.


Weeknights on the Cooking channel, and twice on Thursdays.


----------



## dylking (Jul 20, 2003)

Shows we watch on Food Network:
30 minute meals
secrets of a restaurant chef
iron chef america
worst cooks in america
next iron chef (when it's on)
next food network star (when it's on)
10 dollar dinners
arti party
unwrapped
triple d - occasionally, if nothing else is on 

shows we watch on Cooking Channel:
kelsey's essentials
*****in kitchen
united tastes of america
iron chef
week in a day

shows we watch on hgtv
don't sweat it (when it was on)

as you can see Food Network hasn't really lost us yet, but HGTV has, since DSI isn't on anymore, that I've found.


----------



## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

pdhenry said:


> Ace of Cakes has been on Food Network much longer than Cake Boss has been on TLC.


Point!:up:

my bad.


----------



## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

Is Wolfgang Puck still on Food Network? Last time I saw him he was on the air at 3am and taught me how to properly cook an egg.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Big Deficit said:


> but the book on her seems to be a talented Sue Chef with a whole lot of personality issues that make her a poor fit in the kitchen.


FWIW, it's "Sous-Chef" or "under chef".. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef#Sous-chef


----------



## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

Hank said:


> FWIW, it's "Sous-Chef" or "under chef".. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef#Sous-chef


[email protected]#$ auto correct strikes again. Though I should have noticed the change, so it is my fault. Got to stop posting from my phone!


----------



## Robin (Dec 6, 2001)

brettatk said:


> They lost us last year when we went OTA. We were watching several shows on both HGTV and The Food Network. One of the very few things we miss about getting rid of cable.


This.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Big Deficit said:


> [email protected]#$ auto correct strikes again. Though I should have noticed the change, so it is my fault. Got to stop posting from my phone!


Yeah... that's the ticket!!


----------



## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

Hank said:


> Yeah... that's the ticket!!


I text to my wife last night that I was going to buy a Ben Rothlisberger Jersey (inside joke) and it changed it to Bulgaria. Bulgaria??? I'm thinking of sousing them!


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

DeDondeEs said:


> This does not surprise me. The Food Network seems to be putting more of those shows based on the "Best Week Ever" formula where they have cooks and celebrities talking about their favorite thanksgiving dinner dish.
> 
> If they don't have that then they have those stupid bake a giant cake shows, and for some reason when you make a 10 ft cake there is always some requirement to have to move the thing across a room or something. I also don't like those competition shows where the cooks get criticized by celebs on how crappy or good their stuff tastes. You can easily tell that Food Network is trying the MTV strategy of putting all of that dummed down dramatic stuff on to try to woo back viewers, but apparently it isn't working.
> 
> I like the Alton Brown Good-Eats type shows, even though that guy is a little OCD on some of his techniques. The Cooking Channel seems to have programing similar to the early days of Food Network, so we have been watching that more. I also like the "America's Test Kitchen" show on PBS. I have no interest in seeing people get all dramatic and complaining behind each other's back about building a life-size Disney castle cake that is in constant danger of falling over and probably doesn't taste good anyhow.


Exactly.

Give me a eff'ing break with all the food competition shows. What utter garbage. But I suppose there's some mathematical formula that proves the advertisers will pay to reach the idiots that like those shows. Thus they've clogged up the airwaves with such trash.

As as aside, has anyone made the mistake of watching anything live lately? Ye gods but they've got a lot of commercials jammed in there lately. Anyway...

I like to learn about the food, a bit of travel or background related to it is nice. But spare me the screaming at a failed restaurateur, competing to cook *anything*, smug hosts hyping up themselves more than the food, etc. Which is pretty much all that's left now. Sigh... I miss the Jullia and the Two Fat Ladies.


----------



## dylking (Jul 20, 2003)

wkearney99 said:


> I miss the Jullia and the Two Fat Ladies.


Two Fat Ladies are on the Cooking Channel now


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

dylking said:


> Two Fat Ladies are on the Cooking Channel now


Perhaps I should've said "shows more like...". As in, some personality without being an ass about, informative without assuming your audience is entirely stupid (aka Deen, Ray, and the semi-homemade drunk chick). Show some respect for yourselves and your audience. But I guess that's too much to ask from the Food channel these days.


----------



## tivogurl (Dec 16, 2004)

SocratesJohnson said:


> Good Eats is the only thing worth watching anymore.


There's been an extreme paucity of new Good Eats episodes this broadcast year. It seems like there have only been 3 or 4 new episodes in the last 4 or 5 months.


----------



## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

dylking said:


> Two Fat Ladies are on the Cooking Channel now


SP set. Thanks for the heads-up. :up:


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

tivogurl said:


> There's been an extreme paucity of new Good Eats episodes this broadcast year. It seems like there have only been 3 or 4 new episodes in the last 4 or 5 months.


Yup, and watching AB host that stupid Iron Chef nonsense does a lot to harm whatever 'brand value' that might exist. So we get no new Good Eats shows because you're exhausted from all the Iron Chef stupidity? The motorcycle shows were clever, the boat ones not so much (leave the food travel to nitwits like Bourdain).

Anyway, like everything else in life there are ups and downs. It just looks like the Food network has swirled 'down' the drain.


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

terpfan1980 said:


> Either way it's not great news for Food Network or HGTV at this point but they most likely will make changes and perhaps find something that pulls in viewers again.


Ooh, I know -- wrestling!


----------



## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

Not wrestling - Food Fight!!!!!


----------



## dylking (Jul 20, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> Ooh, I know -- wrestling!


Jello wrestling - combine the best of both worlds!


----------



## SteveInNC (Jun 23, 2005)

dylking said:


> Jello wrestling - combine the best of both worlds!


Oh HELL No! They'd have Ina Garten wrestling Paula Deen...


----------



## BK89 (Oct 11, 2005)

Food network stinks now. I remember watching Mario's old show all the time. Now all they play is game shows and the Neelys (and paula dean, oh god dont get me started). Anyway, food network seems to be going the way of MTV when they stopped playing music videos and everyone stopped watching (at least people that don't like The Hills stopped watching).


----------



## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

I'd rather watch competition shows on food network than a vast majority of the cooking shows they have. There are just way too many people showing me how to cook tasteless hog vomit these days. There are a few of them who actually display real recipes, but they are being crowded out. At least with the competition shows such as Chopped you get to see how actual people in the industry cook (to some degree).

I like Good Eats but it can often wander into pointlessness. In my opinion, the two best actual cooking shows these days both air on PBS (America's Test Kitchen and the Rick Bayless show (Mexico: One Plate At A Time?)).


----------



## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

BK89 said:


> Food network stinks now. I remember watching Mario's old show all the time. Now all they play is game shows and the Neelys (and paula dean, oh god dont get me started). Anyway, food network seems to be going the way of MTV when they stopped playing music videos and everyone stopped watching (at least people that don't like The Hills stopped watching).


This started a long time ago.

And guess what? It worked. They grew the Food Network audience. But maybe they took it too far?


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

SteveInNC said:


> Oh HELL No! They'd have Ina Garten wrestling Paula Deen...


Which begs the 'roll in flour' joke, a reference made on a recent House episode too.


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

TAsunder said:


> ...you get to see how actual people in the industry cook (to some degree).


Which, if you've ever worked in food service you'd know bears little or no resemblance to reality. Most people would NOT want to know how their meal was prepared. They should, for the sake of their health, but if they did then they wouldn't eat out at all. As much as a I despise that English jerk screaming at people, those restaurants are more like most of them out there than anything you see on the shows.



> I like Good Eats but it can often wander into pointlessness. In my opinion, the two best actual cooking shows these days both air on PBS (America's Test Kitchen and the Rick Bayless show (Mexico: One Plate At A Time?)).


Agreed.


----------



## kilcher (Mar 6, 2002)

My wife still watches FN quite a bit. I'm pretty much down to Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and Unwrapped whenever I happen to catch them on. 

HGTV I still watch quite a bit. For some strange reason I'm really into flipping and real estate shows so I watch a few of those.


----------



## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

TAsunder said:


> In my opinion, the two best actual cooking shows these days both air on PBS (America's Test Kitchen and the Rick Bayless show (Mexico: One Plate At A Time?)).


There are tons of good cooking shows on PBS, but I guess that is dependent on your state's public television? I get 4 PBS channels (1 HD, 3 SD) on IPTV. I like the two shows above, and also like the following...

Simply Ming with Ming Tsai, which does an east-meets-west theme. (All the recipes today will use Greek yogurt and sriracha! Or parsley and tofu!)

Avec Eric, hosted by Eric Ripert. He is absolutely meticulous in the kitchen and ridiculously knowledgeable.

In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. Every episode has Julia cooking with some other skilled chef, a recent one being Rick Bayless. Recent being relative, as these are old shows from 1995 or so.


----------



## Hoffer (Jun 1, 2001)

I just did a search on HGTV looking for a thread to post this random thought in. 

Whenever my parents come for a visit, if the TV is on, she asks to turn it to HGTV. I never watch the channel when she isn't around. Except that I tend to watch it a day or two after they leave. I seem to kinda like the shows, but I get bored with them quickly.

I really like the International House Hunter show. It is cool seeing some Americans looking for a house in another country. 

I also liked this show in Des Moines where a guy buys junk and uses it to remodel people's houses. I would never want any of this crap in my house, but it is cool watching him work.

Anyway, my parents were up over this last weekend. Watched HGTV after they left Sunday and some Monday night. Haven't watched since.


----------



## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Hoffer said:


> I just did a search on HGTV looking for a thread to post this random thought in.
> 
> Whenever my parents come for a visit, if the TV is on, she asks to turn it to HGTV. I never watch the channel when she isn't around. Except that I tend to watch it a day or two after they leave. I seem to kinda like the shows, but I get bored with them quickly.
> 
> ...


My wife is an avid HGTV watcher. I call it the "real estate" channel. It seems whenever it's on, that's all they are showing. Some family moving to some town and a real estate agent shows them around. I could see where the channel could be useful if they actually show home and gardening tips, stuff like that. But honestly, I don't get the appeal of watching someone shop for a house on TV. But my wife loves it. To each their own.


----------



## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

My wife still tunes in now and then to watch the Hunters shows and the remodel shows. Not often, but a few times a week at least.


----------



## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> My wife is an avid HGTV watcher. I call it the "real estate" channel. It seems whenever it's on, that's all they are showing. Some family moving to some town and a real estate agent shows them around. I could see where the channel could be useful if they actually show home and gardening tips, stuff like that. But honestly, I don't get the appeal of watching someone shop for a house on TV. But my wife loves it. To each their own.


There are (or were) a lot more gardening type shows on during the day.


----------



## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

TAsunder said:


> There are (or were) a lot more gardening type shows on during the day.


Perhaps, but every time I see it on (usually after 10PM Eastern at night but occasionally during the day, it's about real estate.

Edit: did a quick look through the schedule for the next 3 days or so. Looks like about 70% Real Estate and 30% DIY type stuff. I guess the realtors pay a lot of advertising bucks for this channel. I'm discounting the infomercials they have on overnight.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

HGTV and TLC are my wife's go to channels when she doesn't have something recorded to watch. She loves the renovation type shows. Her current favorite is Love It or List It. I've watched a few episodes. I wish they'd make a similar show here in the US, because it's a pretty good show, but the prices and house styles are very clearly Canadian.


----------



## dtle (Dec 12, 2001)

I've been watching Travel Channel for more food related shows (Bizarre Food, Fast Food Nation).


----------



## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Wife watches (and DVRs) HouseHunters and it is her go-to channel too.

Triple D is a good show and I like Chopped, but a whole evening of them? No thanks!

Of course, the best cooking-related show is Top Chef - and that's on Bravo!!


----------



## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

The problem with food Network, is they have gotten away from actual trained Chefs. Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Guy Fiera, Melissa DeArabian, Jeff Mauro. none of them are actual chefs. They are restaurant owners or simply cooks. While they have enjoyable personalities, you can learn recipes and food techniques they present anywhere. Thus, nobody watches.


----------



## BrandonRe (Jul 15, 2006)

HGTV is my "turn on the TV on Saturday if there is t a game on I want to watch" channel. It's a background channel for me mostly. I agree that they need more US based shows.


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

BrandonRe said:


> I agree that they need more US based shows.


What, and miss out on hearing the odd names Canadians have for things? Still think 'eaves trough' is an odd name for a rain gutter. That and they sure do focus on insulating the hell out of everything (understandable up there in the 'great white north').

Meanwhile the CBC is shelling out the money to help make the programs. Given all the nonsense going here in the US regarding PBS, I somehow doubt anyone's going to be rushing out to fund new home improvement shows.

The thing that bugs me about the network is their tendency to run too many marathons of the same show. I truly despise the rental property shopping shows (house hunters?). Putting a whole afternoon of them in a row pretty much guarantees they'll get no viewing for that entire stretch. But then advertising traffic is a science that defies common sense (which could be fairly said about advertising as a whole).


----------



## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

wkearney99 said:


> I truly despise the rental property shopping shows (house hunters?). Putting a whole afternoon of them in a row pretty much guarantees they'll get no viewing for that entire stretch.


...from *you*.


----------



## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

lambertman said:


> ...from *you*.


Or anyone else that dislikes the show. It's just lame. At least with some of the other shows there's some backstory behind the reasons for the episode. Instead the international ones especially just smack of someone making a move for what seem like pretty poorly thought-out reasons. That and some of the places they get shown are just crappy. Which probably goes along with poorly thought-out budget behind the move. It's more sad than anything else.


----------



## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Don't hold back, now. Say what you really mean!

There MUST be an audience for this stuff or they wouldn't show it.

Not my cup of tea, but I'm probably not the target audience. Hard for me to criticize when there are people who get paid for these programming decisions, and they don't seem to be getting fired!


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

TonyTheTiger said:


> Don't hold back, now. Say what you really mean!
> 
> There MUST be an audience for this stuff or they wouldn't show it.
> 
> Not my cup of tea, but I'm probably not the target audience. Hard for me to criticize when there are people who get paid for these programming decisions, and they don't seem to be getting fired!


:up:

You are absolutely correct.

Although I loathe the House Hunters International series, for example, I figure a number of people like 'em.

I just find it silly when folks argue from the specific (their own personal tastes and preferences) to the general (they assume significant segments of the targeted viewing audience share those same tastes and preferences.)

Like you, I submit that HGTV/Food Network/Cooking Channel folks are trying to make money, and would not consistently throw goood money after bad. If these shows did not pull in enough of the viewers, those channels could not sell the ad time and wouldn't make money.

The markets being what they are, if programmers continued to choose poorly watched shows to air, the ad dollars would flow elsewhere and the TV execs would be out on their asses. Businees is unforgiving that way.

Because that hasn't happened, I figure my tastes are simply MY tastes, and others like the programming choices.


----------

